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Report - - Grain Tower Battery - September 2021 | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Grain Tower Battery - September 2021

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Dragon_Urbex

Guest
Guest
I know this place has been done to buggery and back, but here's my take on it. Slightly different from the norm.

Potted History:

Grain Tower Battery is a sea fort out in the confluence of the estuaries of the River Medway and the River Thames, almost out in open seas. It was built between 1848 and 1855, and stands around 500 meters from the eastern tip of the Isle of Grain on Grain Spit, a sandbank submerged at high tide. A causeway was built out from land all the way to the tower. This still remains but is covered in mud! The tower’s fabric was substantially altered during both world wars to accommodate new guns to defend Great Britain. The tower was decommissioned in 1956, after being mothballed in a “care and maintenance” phase for twelve years.

The Explore:

It had long been a goal for myself and a group of friends to camp out at Grain and in September 2021, that came to fruition. We all met up one weekend with our respective camping gear and drove to Grain. I didn’t have Wellington boots, so I used plastic bin bags over my shoes to protect my feet. It worked quite well all things considered. We made the 500 meter walk with only one casualty – my friend Robin went head over heels into the mud and got splattered! Apart from that, we were unscathed. We set up camp in a sheltered area and explored the building all throughout the night. Dinner was a nice barbecue of burgers and sausages and kebabs. All in all, it was rather fun! However, the others all got rather drunk, so they had hangovers the next morning. That bit was rather amusing. Enjoy the photos!

1) The tower. You can see two of the group were climbing onto the very tip top of the tower. Bloody nutters!

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2) A more atmospheric shot.

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3) Looking at the officers' mess and land in the distance.

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4) The observation tower sections.

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5) The gun platform.

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6) The top of the ammunition lift. Looks a bit like a face.

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7) The gun platform part of the ammunition lift.

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8) The top room of the lookout tower.

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9) Looking over towards Sheerness.

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10) Looking down at the officers' mess from the observation tower.

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11) The ammunition lift in the magazine section.

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12) The ammunition lift from inside, with the iron gate to the right.

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13) Sunset over the mudflats.

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14) Long exposure showing the gas fired Grain Power Station.

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15) Long exposure looking out towards Sheerness and Queenborough.

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16) Wire wool spinning from the gun platform.

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17) A shot of the observation tower illuminated.

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18) Another shot of wire wool spinning, this time from inside the tower floor of the observation tower.

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Thanks for readin'!
 

pirate

Rum Swigger
28DL Full Member
Staying here overnight is pretty cool when the tide comes up.
Quite lucky you didn’t get a visit from the coastguard with the wire wool spinning,they’ve been know to get people off of there and give them quite a rollocking

nice pics:thumb
 
D

Dragon_Urbex

Guest
Guest
Staying here overnight is pretty cool when the tide comes up.
Quite lucky you didn’t get a visit from the coastguard with the wire wool spinning,they’ve been know to get people off of there and give them quite a rollocking

nice pics:thumb
I did it twice, the time in those pics and then the weekend afterwards too. Both times were good fun. And yeah, I was slightly worried about that considering there were torches flashing around on the beach but we were all good. And thanks! Quite pleased with how they came out. A little grainy in places, but then again, 'tis Grain. :P
 

Mikeymutt

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Nicely done. I enjoyed my visit in here. It was a second attempt as we had tried the year before but it was in may and an overcast day. And that tide did not go out even at what was meant to be its lowest point.
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
Staying here overnight is pretty cool when the tide comes up.
Quite lucky you didn’t get a visit from the coastguard with the wire wool spinning,they’ve been know to get people off of there and give them quite a rollocking

nice pics:thumb
Nearly 30 yrs ago a friend of mine had her 19th birthday here. Coast guard & police came alone and she spent the rest of the night in a cell at Southend! But its still somewhere I want to camp out in. I visited very briefly as my mate was paranoid re the tide. So only got around 10 mins here. :( Been meaning to revisit ever since.
 
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