Some Welsh Pillboxes

These are some of the pillboxes I have come across while in Wales.  I had not gone out intentionally to find them but for the fact I kept a caravan in Built Wells so thought I'd see what was round there defence wise. What I found surprised me. I checked out the Defence of Britain site and saw there were some defences left.

 This one an Allen Williams Turret can be found by the War memorial though it's not it's original position and and I doubt was from the area it was restored by the local cadet force .

Outside town and over near the golf course you can see this pillbox.

 Looking at the embrasures which are larger that the ones I have normally  seen

Entrance is down the steps

Inside you find tree tables which show it was a Vickers Machine Gun Position.

The view out of an embrasure















and a shot of it from the outside looking in

Not something that is easy to spot and does flood a times. Not sure who to ask now as it is a small holding but is worth visiting

 This pillbox I came across while looking at an old dismantled railway on GE. It would have over looked a railway bridge at Natmel

 Entrance was beside the railway line.

Going inside this corrugated iron shuttering is coming away and nearly took my scalp off.














The ricochet wall was odd in that it was raised.

This is not something I have seen before

Some relics still remain like the wood shelf in front of the embrasure.

 Looking from the top of the pillbox towards the River Wye   where the railway used to cross on the left of the photo.

The last one is overlooking a bridge on the Elan Reservoir. The area looks to have been cleared at the time and I took the photo from the opposite side of the bridge. I have never been in this one as it was not that accessible to get to. There are more pillboxes to be found it Wales and I will post more when I come across them.

The Upper Thames Stopline Part 2

This section will take you from Radcot Bridge to Lechlaid though I have to admit I did it is two parts, the first at Kelmscott and the second Buscot. The Thames path will take you past all but two but I will mention these when I get to them. All the pillboxes in this section are Type 22's
I'll start at the first one you can see at Radcot.

From the bridge follow the Thames path and this is what you will see on the other side, it can also be seen from the bridge. I never visited it though I have no doubt if you ask you will be allowed.








Follow the path further and you should see this one come up on your right, and it is one of the cleaner ones I've seen.











You pass Grafton lock and a little further along you will see this pillbox, this is slightly being undercut by the Thames and does get flooded

Going on towards Kelmscott you come to another very close to the Thames and has a tree growing beside it. Kelmscott has four pillboxes near it.












 This is the second which you can see from the last pillbox.

Heading on towards Kelmscott you will need to head off the Thames path  and go towards Kelmscot Manor and just along the track on the left you will see this one which is the first that is not on the Thames path.

 Head back to the Thames path and go towards Buscot and after about half a mile you see this pillbox. You need to  watch out for Kilroy though.

This next one is about a Kilometer on though I came from Buscot to visit it. The top is braking up along the join but it is possible to get inside to look.

Next along is the first of the Buscot pillboxes, not sure it leans as much as in the photo but does have a number like the last one did.

The  next one I only just managed to spot it through the trees. when I first visited, It was situated on the Thames Water treatment plant.A while later I found out the property had been bought by a local  boat chandler who allowed me to visit

 Going on from Buscot Lock you will pass this pillbox.
As you can see it is a little worse for ware and I'm thinking it was used for target practise like a few others I have seen.
Inside it's very beaten up where the
concrete has been blown in and looks even worse than outside.

The river meanders from here to Lechlaide like it has all the way from Oxford so follow it to St Georges Lock and between there and Lechlaide you will see this pillbox across the river.

The last of the pillboxes I had come looking for though I am told there is one more to get near Cricklade. This ended a what turned into an epic that started with a couple of pillboxes near where I lived and turned into a hunt that went from Theale to Lechlaid looking for all the pillboxes that were left. I have started the Blue line along the River Kennet but have only just got as far a Newbury.

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