Wasn't quite sure where to post this as it seems to be a bit Military, a bit Underground, a bit Roadtrip and a bit Recce, but not really much of any of them..... It'll probably end up in the recycle bin anyway!
Timtom+ and I met up yesterday to do a recce down in Portsmouth and with a bit of time on our hands decided to hop across to the Heavy Anti Aircraft battery at Monument Farm.
There was a dear old thing exercising a pony in the paddock next to the site, so we decided to play it straight.
Mrs M is a diamond, her Dad was injured during the Gallipoli conflict WW1. When I said "Oh yeah, 1915" we were in!
She was in WRVS, and during WW11 she was amongst the crews manning the "small" 88mm guns that were dotted around the site. The four pits apparently housed 37lb guns with a 360 degree swivel because Jerry often used to cross the coastline further down where it was less fortified and then attack Portsmouth from the North.
She's not the owner of the site but suggested that today we could be friends of her son as apparently the farmer is less than eager for visitors!
We visited one pit as the others fall into ground occupied by a motorway maintenance company that had "some of their kit" valued at £50K pinched only a few days before.
As she led us across the paddock she pointed staight down andsaid "Oh yes, the HQ, mess, and accomodation was down there"
There was a bit of concrete sticking up with a small hole, I poked my compact in and took a quick flash shot
"But the entrances are all blocked and it's very dangerous" she said, so we followed her accross the paddock to look at the gunpit
Next to it was the magazine, which in the past has been used as an observatory
These steps lead up to the store above, and the gun
It was all very interesting, but both Timtom and I were throwing glances at each other which I took to mean "Gotta get into the HQ/mess bit"
So we wandered back that way, and amongst the rubble used to backfill it were "some sticks to stop the horses falling down the hole"..... We moved them and found this
It seemed to go round the corner and I heard Timtom banging on something quite some distance away. Even though it was flooded to about 10" it had to be done so I rolled up the old trouser legs and eeuugh!, 4" of water, 6" of yuk. That smelt bad. Real bad. Wearing shoes and socks!
Round the corner was this
and this
and this was the main entrance, sadly now backfilled
Oooh, a bed.... looks like 1940s vintage and suggests that Mrs M may be right
My pics are a bit crap as, yet again, I'm stuck with daughter's little point and click (........ Or maybe I'm crap??..... sorry it's a function of being as old as I am that the thread will wander a bit from time to time....)
Oh yeah, Timtom has a film SLR and I guess will be adding to the thread when his pics are developed. Hopefully he has some of the outside as I forgot Doh!
We rolled down the hill into Portsmouth (amazing, the SMART does a gazillion mpg going downhill!), checked out Brunel House, which seemed pretty secure to me and headed home.
It was still early so we thought we'd pay a quick visit to Butser Quarry and Limekilns, one of Timtom's favourite stamping grounds. Now I know why, it was great fun and very very photogenic (...... HHHmmm 400D!)
Turk would love it, there were so many flowering weeds scrambling all over and around the rusting machinery and vehicles.
I massacred a few shots with the little fe-100
I used to drive one of these in the late '70s, International, 414 I think
The beast, 1940s vintage heavy recovery truck
Cool graffiti here, calls himself Pornstar, "luvin' your mum since '81!"
Then came a bit of a shock..... someone, presumably little chav buggers, has burnt down the workshops, still, one man's vandalism.... another man's pics eh.
Pillar drill or Sentinel? At 6ft tall, I'd rather like this in my garden.
Nooo, not Timtom's mini
nice colours though
I just liked this
Well, there it is.... We had a great time, and Mrs H thinks I went sailing
Timtom+ and I met up yesterday to do a recce down in Portsmouth and with a bit of time on our hands decided to hop across to the Heavy Anti Aircraft battery at Monument Farm.
There was a dear old thing exercising a pony in the paddock next to the site, so we decided to play it straight.
Mrs M is a diamond, her Dad was injured during the Gallipoli conflict WW1. When I said "Oh yeah, 1915" we were in!
She was in WRVS, and during WW11 she was amongst the crews manning the "small" 88mm guns that were dotted around the site. The four pits apparently housed 37lb guns with a 360 degree swivel because Jerry often used to cross the coastline further down where it was less fortified and then attack Portsmouth from the North.
She's not the owner of the site but suggested that today we could be friends of her son as apparently the farmer is less than eager for visitors!
We visited one pit as the others fall into ground occupied by a motorway maintenance company that had "some of their kit" valued at £50K pinched only a few days before.
As she led us across the paddock she pointed staight down andsaid "Oh yes, the HQ, mess, and accomodation was down there"
There was a bit of concrete sticking up with a small hole, I poked my compact in and took a quick flash shot
"But the entrances are all blocked and it's very dangerous" she said, so we followed her accross the paddock to look at the gunpit
Next to it was the magazine, which in the past has been used as an observatory
These steps lead up to the store above, and the gun
It was all very interesting, but both Timtom and I were throwing glances at each other which I took to mean "Gotta get into the HQ/mess bit"
So we wandered back that way, and amongst the rubble used to backfill it were "some sticks to stop the horses falling down the hole"..... We moved them and found this
It seemed to go round the corner and I heard Timtom banging on something quite some distance away. Even though it was flooded to about 10" it had to be done so I rolled up the old trouser legs and eeuugh!, 4" of water, 6" of yuk. That smelt bad. Real bad. Wearing shoes and socks!
Round the corner was this
and this
and this was the main entrance, sadly now backfilled
Oooh, a bed.... looks like 1940s vintage and suggests that Mrs M may be right
My pics are a bit crap as, yet again, I'm stuck with daughter's little point and click (........ Or maybe I'm crap??..... sorry it's a function of being as old as I am that the thread will wander a bit from time to time....)
Oh yeah, Timtom has a film SLR and I guess will be adding to the thread when his pics are developed. Hopefully he has some of the outside as I forgot Doh!
We rolled down the hill into Portsmouth (amazing, the SMART does a gazillion mpg going downhill!), checked out Brunel House, which seemed pretty secure to me and headed home.
It was still early so we thought we'd pay a quick visit to Butser Quarry and Limekilns, one of Timtom's favourite stamping grounds. Now I know why, it was great fun and very very photogenic (...... HHHmmm 400D!)
Turk would love it, there were so many flowering weeds scrambling all over and around the rusting machinery and vehicles.
I massacred a few shots with the little fe-100
I used to drive one of these in the late '70s, International, 414 I think
The beast, 1940s vintage heavy recovery truck
Cool graffiti here, calls himself Pornstar, "luvin' your mum since '81!"
Then came a bit of a shock..... someone, presumably little chav buggers, has burnt down the workshops, still, one man's vandalism.... another man's pics eh.
Pillar drill or Sentinel? At 6ft tall, I'd rather like this in my garden.
Nooo, not Timtom's mini
nice colours though
I just liked this
Well, there it is.... We had a great time, and Mrs H thinks I went sailing
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