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 exp ...

s and

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

expert and

raconteur A humorist ( American) or humourist ( British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show busin ...

, who was born in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

. 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- displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in the most populous ...

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/ tusks, horn/ a ...

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 missiles c ...

. He was much in demand as an

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

. 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 trea ...

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 track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...

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 United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during the Second World War as a

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its orig ...

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 rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the militar ...

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 ...

, 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 e ...

s are harmless unless used with a

detonator A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electr ...

, but this is not generally understood. Bates had

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

. 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, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

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

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is the name of a historic market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach itself as the largest, Elworth, Ettiley Heath ...

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 *Vol1 Laughter with a bang BB00.01/BBMC1 Mono 1967 *Vol2 1001 Gelignites BB00.03/BBMC3 Mono 1968 *Vol3 TNT for Two BB00.05/BBMC5 Mono 1969 *Vol4 Watch out for the bits BB00.07/BBMC7 Mono 1971 *Vol5 Lift-off BB00.09/BBMC9 Stereo 1973 *Vol6 Gelly Babe BB00.11/BBMC11 Stereo 1975 *Vol7 Blastermind BB00.13/BBMC13 Stereo 1980 *Vol8 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 * BBC TV Appearances or Contributions *24 Hours 08-March-1966 LCA7927J. *: Nelson's Pillar in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

blown up, after the top was blown off by the IRA. Reporter

Alan Whicker Alan Donald Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a British journalist and Television presenter, television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary televisio ...

. Compilation on demolition. *It takes all sorts 13-03-1967 19SX8562. *:Blaster talks about his career. Includes many of his amusing anecdotes. Interviewer: John Hosken. *:Now aged 43. Got into demolition by accident. In RAF during the war & learned about explosives there. Now blows up all sorts of things: *:"I've got a touch like a bloody midwife". *:Art of getting chimneys to drop in exactly the right place. *:Has blown himself up – was playing about. *:Has put rockets on the back of a motorcycle. *

Look North ''BBC Look North'' is a name used by the BBC for its regional news programmes in three regions in the North of England: *''BBC Look North'' for the BBC North East and Cumbria region *''BBC Look North'' for the BBC Yorkshire region *''BBC Look No ...

14-Dec-1970 A:RNL5186T. *:Blaster talks to David Seymour about his career and about how many chimneys he's blown up. * Nationwide 25-March-1974 A:LCA3413R. *:Blaster demolishes three chimneys. *:Old factory chimney, camera pans from l to 2 others. *:Blaster arrives, Danger Demolition signs. *:Crowd watch. *:Blaster retreats. *:Blast & 1st chimney falls. *:Crowd reaction. *:Blaster & assistant run from behind stack. *:Blast & it falls neatly behind wall. *Look Stranger – The world of Blaster Bates 6 May 1974 LGF6321T. *:Film about Derek 'Blaster Bates' one of England's leading professional destroyers, who travels the country blasting chimneys, bridges & redundant factories, clearing trenches & canals; he is also a comedian using experience as a blaster. * The Fivepenny Piece Show 11 May 1979 NMRD805R. *:An

Outside Broadcast Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video c ...

concert from the Poco-a-Poco Theatre Club in Stockport. Fivepenny Piece sing some of their own songs with Blaster as special guest. *Nationwide 17 March 1983 D:LCAC311E. *: Hugh Scully reports on how Blaster makes a living by blowing up chimneys. *News 30 September 1983 ANBC773T. *:Blaster demolished a chimney which has been part of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

skyline since 1870. *:Sheffield: ms chimney with group of people standing nearby. *:Man starts dominoes falling on model of chimney, the dominos set off some gelignite which demolished model chimney. *:Actual chimney being demolished. *Look North 30 September 1983 RNLF739L, *:John Thirlwell reports from Sheffield where a former BSC chimney is being demolished for an extension to Whitbread's brewery. *:from chimney, Bridge Street, Sheffield to marquee. *:Inside of marquee with Michael Cairney preparing

dominoes Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

. *:Blaster explaining charges & spectator. *:Blaster saying he does not like dominoes. *:Dominoes falling in chair & igniting. *:Chimney falls. *

Pebble Mill at One ''Pebble Mill at One'' is a British television magazine programme that was broadcast live on weekdays at one o'clock on BBC1, from 2 October 1972 to 23 May 1986, and again from 14 October 1991 to 29 March 1996. It was transmitted from the Peb ...

25 October 1985 E:NBMH111D. *: Josephine Buchan talks to Blaster about the 75th Anniversary of the motorbike & the present exhibition at the NEC. *Windmill-House and home 3 November 1985 LCHE133D. *:Demolition montage and clip of a Blaster after dinner speech. *Look North 25 November 1985 RNLH348L. *:Ken Cooper reports from Sharlston where Blaster demolished a large chimney – including interview with Blaster. *Gosling's Ganders 15 May 1987 RNWC738D. *: Ray Gosling meets Blaster at

& explodes marsh land to make a pond. Blaster tells jokes and clip from ''The Fivepenny Piece Show''. *Coast to Coast – Wild boars, a shooting star and a Norman knight 27 February 1998 NMYK291D.

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 Deaths from diabetes English male comedians People from Crewe Burials in Cheshire 20th-century English comedians