Blaster Bates was the name used by Derek Macintosh Bates (5 February 1923 – 1 September 2006), an English

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s and

demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

expert and raconteur, who was born in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

. He made a series of sound recordings from the 1960s to 1980s, recounting bizarre and funny experiences from his long career, and tales of his hobbies of

motorcycling Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. For some people, motorcycling may be the only affordable form of individual motorized transportation, and small-engine displacement, displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in ...

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

. He was much in demand as an after-dinner speaker. His tales often featured coarse language. Once, for instance, he was hired to clear out a farm's

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...

using explosives, an episode Bates described as "The Shower of Shit Over Cheshire". On another occasion he surprised a young couple in what he described as 'a compromising position' whilst clearing trees for the

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

racing circuit, an incident which gave the Knickerbrook corner its name. Bates served with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a Handley Page Halifax bomber pilot, and then learned his explosives skills as a

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

specialist. After the war he returned to his previous employer

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

, hoping to resume his old job, but was told "We're cutting down, you know". Bates then started his own demolition business, drawing on his wartime expertise. He later noted that it was a good decision, as "over the years I've managed to do all right while Rolls-Royce have gone steadily bust". He was known for carrying sticks of explosive in his pockets, even producing them while giving testimony in trials, to the horror of the court. Most

high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

s are harmless unless used with a detonator, but this is not generally understood. Bates had

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

. In August 2006 he was admitted to hospital with

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

, and on 1 September 2006 he died, aged 83. He was buried at St Mary's church in

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East borough of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock, Cheshire, Wheelock. At the 2021 United Kingd ...

town centre.

Recordings

Currently available CD re-releases in the UK *''Laughter with a Bang'' +bonus tracks from 1001 Gelignites (CD BBCD01) (2003) Label: Topic Records *''TNT for Two'' +bonus tracks from Hunting and Shooting stories (CD BBSV17) (2003) Label : Big Ben / Tangent *''Watch out for the bits'' +bonus tracks from Gelly Babe (CD BVBSV16) (2002) Label : Big Ben *''Blastermind'' +bonus tracks from Lift off (CD BBSV18) (2007) Label: Big Ben / Tangent Original LP & cassette releases Label – Big Ben *Vol. 1 Laughter with a bang BB00.01/BBMC1 Mono 1967 *Vol. 2 1001 Gelignites BB00.03/BBMC3 Mono 1968 *Vol. 3 TNT for Two BB00.05/BBMC5 Mono 1969 *Vol. 4 Watch out for the bits BB00.07/BBMC7 Mono 1971 *Vol. 5 Lift-off BB00.09/BBMC9 Stereo 1973 *Vol. 6 Gelly Babe BB00.11/BBMC11 Stereo 1975 *Vol. 7 Blastermind BB00.13/BBMC13 Stereo 1980 *Vol. 8 Hunting and Shooting stories BB00.15/BBMC15 Stereo 1984 Video *''Stand Well Back'' (VHS Video, PAL format, UK only) – live on stage Other known recordings *Dunlop footwear Promo, extracts from ''Lift-off'' on Flexi-disk, given away at stand 36, Harrogate 1978. *Blast it, (Cassette only) compilation. *Blaster Bates with Redditch Controls, Marston Paxman and Norgren at the Stratford Hilton. *:Recorded March 1977 and given away as Christmas gift to Imperial Metal Industries staff and customers (Label – Tangent). Bootlegs *Blaster Bates at Huntingdon Hall 4 October 2003 Book *

References

External links

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/lastword_15sept2006.shtml
Obituary in ''The Independent''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Blaster 1923 births 2006 deaths British World War II pilots British World War II bomber pilots Diabetes-related deaths English male comedians People from Crewe Burials in Cheshire 20th-century English comedians Comedians from Cheshire