Archive for August, 2011

Lympne Airfield – A Chance Discovery

Posted: August 29, 2011 by BTP Liam in Case Study, Event Review
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Hello all, it’s me BTP Liam back again, and I’ve got a visual feast for you to see today! I came across this goldmine while on my trip to Kent, over a week ago.I spotted an abandoned row of long ‘hangar’ like buildings. They were accessible, and were large hall like areas inside. Was 6-8 of these buildings. I stopped off to check them out, and came across a large two story concrete building, later found out to be a gas decontamination block. Unfortunatley, the unexpected trip had to be rather hasty, and I would have liked to have explored more thoroughly. I also found a strange entranceless pillbox. Later I heard it was a ‘pickett-hamilton fort’ which was a defence designed to be accessed through a ceiling hatch (I didn’t see this due to an overgrowing tree), and would slide to ground-level hydraulically to avoid obstructiong aircraft on the runway. There was also several short tunnel bunkers which were designed to protect people from air-raids. They were covered in earth, and most had caved in, but one which I managed to enter.

See the rest of the photos on Facebook here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.258122634209941.63713.238743826147822

I assumed the place to have been an airfield, and was correct. It was rather dominant in the First and Second World Wars, and was used for telecoms in the 70s. It trully was one of my favourite places to explore. Below is an extract from Wikipedia on the airfield:

“ It opened in 1916 by the Royal Flying Corpsas an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returned from, France. It was later designated as a First Class Landing Ground. In 1919, the airfield was turned over to civil use as Lympne Airport, serving until 1939 when it was requisitioned by the Fleet Air Arm as HMS Buzzard, later being renamed HMS Daedalus II.

In 1940, it was taken over by the Royal Air Force, becoming RAF Lympne once again. Lympne was heavily bombed during the Battle of Britain, putting the base out of action for a number of weeks. It was to have been the landing point for a German aircraft in a plot to kidnap Adolf Hitler involving the defection of pilot Hans Baur. Preparations were made by the Royal Air Force for his arrival. Later in the war, Lympne was used as an Emergency Landing Ground for bombers returning from raids in Europe. In 1946, RAF Lympne closed, returning to use as a civil airport which continued until 1984.”

For the other defenses of Kent I witnessed, hold on for a week or so, it’ll be coming right up!

The Dutch Cottage – Get there before it closes for the year!

Posted: August 25, 2011 by BTP Joe in Various
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Canvey Island was drained and embanked by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden in the 17th century. Numerous Dutch workers and their families settled here and they built rather unusual octagonal cottages of which two still survive. One cottage, in Haven Road, was built in 1621 and is still in private ownership after being restored and redecorated.

The other cottage, further west along Canvey Road, was built in 1618 and is now run, on the Borough Council’s behalf, by the Benfleet and District Historical Society as the Dutch Cottage Museum. Given to the then Canvey Island Urban District Council in 1952, it was restored, repainted and had its conical roof re-thatched ready for opening as a museum in 1962. Further extensive restoration works have been carried out to the cottage. The rooms of the cottage, which include a living room, passage and large and small bedrooms, now contain a variety of exhibits that illustrate the history of Canvey Island, including models of the types of sailing craft which passed the Island from Roman times onward. Attached to the cottage is a new exhibition hall that houses the many exhibits (including the fine collection of corn dollies).

I have been there myself, and I was quite impressed to see what was actually in there. This icon on Canvey Island, is probably one of the oldest and would make a nice hour out of the house! Below are the opening times.

The Museum is open from Spring Bank Holiday to September from 2.30 to 5.00pm, on Wednesdays and Sundays and 10.00am – 1.00pm and 2.00 – 5.00pm on Bank Holidays. Tel: (01268) 753487.

Occidental Oil Refinery Jetty – Mission Achieved, plus WW2 Boat

Posted: August 21, 2011 by BTP Joe in Event Review
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Hello all, this is BTP Joe and Liam here, after a long days adventure. We set out to explore the WW2 boat along the side of the short jetty platform, but conquered the real monster on our way. For months we’ve been wishing to climb the jetty, although BTP Liam never quite had the guts to do it.

Occidental Oil Refinery Jetty

As advice for all who wish to climb, then trust me, it’s perfectly safe and stable although keep away from the edge and do not go ‘tombstoning’ , you just have to ‘go for it’.  The jetty was built in the 1970s, and cost  almost 10 million. Although BTP Liam, me, didn’t venture down it, BTP Joe conquered a fair distance, finding some electrical boxes.

BTP Liam featured in front of the mile long jetty

Afterwards, we visited the ww2 boat next to the other wide oil refinery jetty. We found some bottles and smoking pipes nearby, which will soon appear in our ‘Finds’ page, above under the BTP heading.

World War 2 Boat

You can view more of our pictures over at our Facebook Group.

The Concrete Barge – She Ain’t Dead yet…

Posted: August 14, 2011 by BTP Liam in Case Study, Event Review
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Ever since this Canvey icon was believed to have been destroyed in 2003, by the sailing club at the Point, not wanting a piece of history within view (instead referring to it as an eyesore), we’ve all accepted – albiet difficult – that our Concrete Barge was gone, blown up overnight. Her 1940′s hull still infact remains at Canvey Point – it’s position can be seen in my previous post http://beyondcanvey.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/the-concrete-barge-rare-pictures-then-and-now/ . Although only the very base of this hulk remains, it still shows considerable concrete work, with metal rods protruding, giving an idea of her size. I took a small rod, hoping it will one day be a relic! The remnants are worth seeing, so go and take a look. Below are our finds:

As a further note, it’s now my turn for a holiday, so I’ll be in Kent, near Dover, on the lookout for some WW2 relics, while BTP Joe takes over until the Weekend. Also, I sighted Canvey’s last pillbox in Hole Haven – it not having been demolished with the building of the new road. We will visit it one day soon…

We’re expanding…

Posted: August 12, 2011 by BTP Joe in Website Update
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Hello, it’s BTP Joe and Liam here, and we’ve got news for you.

We have created a forum for Beyond the Point, and you can access it in our ‘links’ section to the left – post a comment, share some thoughts, or release your knowledge, and we’ll happy to hear! Get the discussion going…

Today, we will be dropping of some leaflets to Canvey Island library, and also displaying our fancy poster – pop on down and check it out!  Below we’ve included our poster, so print one of and spread them around.

 We’ve also below displayed the front cover of our leaflet so you know what to look out for!

Beyond the Point – In Depth

Posted: August 9, 2011 by BTP Joe in Various
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It is what is says! BTP Liam and myself are currently working together to bring a new page to you titled BTP, Behind the Scenes.

The page will include video tutorials filmed on our adventures explaining our goals for that particular adventure, in depth guides to the equipment that we set off with, ourselves travelling through the thick over growth and many more interesting things, such as, how to walk through weeds, bigger than you!

These will appear on the website within the next few months along with a chance to download a free interactive map, allowing you to explore where we have been, what we did there and also what we found.

BTP Liam and myself will keep you updated!

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