Friday 19 October 2012

The Upper Thames Stopline Part 1

This stars the other side of the Thames from Appleton Common. My first walk was from Duxford with the Rural Explorer, we had hoped to see quite a few pillboxes but it turned out a disappointment with some due to the overgrown state of the riverside. I'll split the blog in to two parts with this one finishing at Radcot.

The first one you come to from Appleton Common is this one.





 It faces upstream towards a bend and is near Stonehenge farm.












 Walking on towards the Rose Revived you will pass this one literally, we did when we walked the other way. I only found out about it from a guy at work so I went back and found it.




 The next pillbox is off a tributary to the Thames, the river Windrush and out of all the pillboxes I have seen it was my favorite as it overhung the river.


 I think I was waiting to hear the bollbox had fallen in a sure enough somtime later I had the news it had gon in the river so I went around to take some pictures. The bank had been undercut so much that it gave way inder the weight and the pillbox slid the rest of the way




Just across the field nearby is another like it along the Thames this photo shows it from the field but it can be seen across the Thames if you walk along the Thames path.

 The next two pillboxes are impossible to see from the Thames path I searched them out on Google Earth then went and asked if it was OK to visit.
It's set back from the river and is surrounded in bushes like this , I came to it from a field and only just spotted it when I was on top of the thing.



 Next along is this one which is set back in a farm at Shifford, I went and asked if I could see it and they were fine and told me where the last one was thought it was on another farm.








 Next along is this one at Duxford to getto the pillbox we paddled across the ford though if you take the Thames path you can keep your feet dry. The pillbox suffers from flooding and was full of smelly water and old refuse sacks. It also has the ricochet wall removed.












 From Duxford you will come to  Chimney Meadows where you will see three this is the first.





 You have to love the second with the huge base it is sat on, as you can guess it floods round here, I've seen photo's of it surrounded by water.





This is the third and is inaccessible as it is now a home for bats though I must say it is suffering from erosion unlike the previous two which were in reasonable condition.





 The next you see is one near Tadpole bridge and again it is blocked off so no access. Carry on to Rushley lock and along from the lock there is what looks like the Upper Thames Patrol hut to see.








 The next couple of pillboxes are on the opposite side of the river Thames (Isis)








The next from this one is Radcot Lock though you do have to cross the bridge nearby to see it.









It's been cast using a couple of different types of shuttering and is a bit crumbly, there are also a load of concrete sandbags laying around.





Head from here to Radcot and you come across some interesting Anti Invasion Defense Sites or concrete brestworks.







This is the first which is the longest the second you need to go over the bridge past the pub and it is in the caravan site.








As you can see it is filled in which is a shame, it could have been a gunpit of sorts.















 Just before the bridge you will find this Type 28A which is the only one along this part of the river. over the other side of the bridge is a Type 22 that is in a private mooring.
          

I'll end this blog here and start the next from the other side of the bridge. You can read a more indepth artical on Geograph and see the next section here



                                                                                

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