The "Photos From Today's Ride" thread. (Vol. 2)
Discussion
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yellowjack said:
An interesting investigation of a gun emplacement near Shoreham here... http://www.pillbox.org.uk/blog/245387/
It's clear from reading the piece that the author is certain that there is a great deal of confusion as to the placement of defences due to there being gaps in the physical history. He also seems convinced that there is a great deal of information still to be unearthed in archives. Which makes sense as there is a limited pool of people with enough interest and resources willing to devote time to pulling these old records and reading through them.
One thing to remember with pillboxes, though, is that what they look like now is not how they'd have looked when completed and properly camouflaged. The brick exterior is not factored into the pillbox's protection, either. It simply serves as permanent shuttering for the reinforcing steel and concrete. And they would often have been disguised as other structures, like sheds, barns, ice cream kiosks, beach huts, etc, or they'd have been effecively buried under soil and grass to try to blend them in to their surroundings. You often see smal infantry pillboxes with a thick layer of turf on the top. Some were then "dressed" with camouflage nets, and some had earth piled up in a slope at the sides too, but on farmland especially, this was often dug away after the war to maximise field space without demolishing the box.
This is a good example...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/28053...
...where the soil and turf on top has survived 75+ years of weathering, but any sloping earth sides it had are long gone, exposing that brick shuttering to weather and nature. Which means it's broken away revealing the reinforced concrete that the box derived it's protection from. More about camouflage and concealment of pillboxes and other defences here... http://www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk/defence-arti...
ETA: Another one I've found through a bit of study this afternoon while it's been raining... http://www.pillbox.org.uk/blog/250548/
Cheers YJ! I don't think that emplacement is visible any more. A couple of my cycling buddies work for a firm that is at the end of the toll bridge, so have asked them if they know about it. Defra are doing some flood defence works which are either very close to the emplacement or they have taken it out to do the work. There's at least two more inland, one where the railway crosses the river, and one where the road crosses it.It's clear from reading the piece that the author is certain that there is a great deal of confusion as to the placement of defences due to there being gaps in the physical history. He also seems convinced that there is a great deal of information still to be unearthed in archives. Which makes sense as there is a limited pool of people with enough interest and resources willing to devote time to pulling these old records and reading through them.
One thing to remember with pillboxes, though, is that what they look like now is not how they'd have looked when completed and properly camouflaged. The brick exterior is not factored into the pillbox's protection, either. It simply serves as permanent shuttering for the reinforcing steel and concrete. And they would often have been disguised as other structures, like sheds, barns, ice cream kiosks, beach huts, etc, or they'd have been effecively buried under soil and grass to try to blend them in to their surroundings. You often see smal infantry pillboxes with a thick layer of turf on the top. Some were then "dressed" with camouflage nets, and some had earth piled up in a slope at the sides too, but on farmland especially, this was often dug away after the war to maximise field space without demolishing the box.
This is a good example...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/28053...
...where the soil and turf on top has survived 75+ years of weathering, but any sloping earth sides it had are long gone, exposing that brick shuttering to weather and nature. Which means it's broken away revealing the reinforced concrete that the box derived it's protection from. More about camouflage and concealment of pillboxes and other defences here... http://www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk/defence-arti...
ETA: Another one I've found through a bit of study this afternoon while it's been raining... http://www.pillbox.org.uk/blog/250548/
Edited by yellowjack on Wednesday 2nd June 15:34
Ride to Maldon, then along the Essex coast to Holland on Sea, then back home a few days ago. Booked the night before to take advantage of the great weather we have been having, and included a couple of hotel stay overs and some swimming in the sea. 150 mile round trip - gorgeous
Edited by GSE on Sunday 6th June 08:23
Grey and much cooler today than it’s been for most of the week in the l’il old Grand Duchy. I wanted to go further today, but my reaction to my 2nd Pfizer vaccination on Wednesday rather took the wind out of my sails for the last few days. However.....
A few others had stopped for coffee and food in Hesperange. For whatever reason, the waiter wouldn’t serve me.
I won’t go back there.... I spent my money 200m away.
Loads of debris on some cycle paths today, although they’d been cleaned. We had enormous thunder storms on Thursday, and the Alzette river was very brown and fast flowing still today.
A few others had stopped for coffee and food in Hesperange. For whatever reason, the waiter wouldn’t serve me.
I won’t go back there.... I spent my money 200m away.
Loads of debris on some cycle paths today, although they’d been cleaned. We had enormous thunder storms on Thursday, and the Alzette river was very brown and fast flowing still today.
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