Archive for June, 2012

Shoebury Visit Part 4 – Second World War Beach-Front Defences

Posted: June 27, 2012 by BTP Liam in Event Review
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So the long tiring day trip continued, this time going further north-west from the ‘point’ which Shoebury forms on the map.  Along the beach, nearest the battery, were two search-light castemates – one nearest had graffiti all over, whilst the further one along had little and featured the searchlight runner-rails intact (a metal circular strip in which the searchlight could be swiveled around on). These searchlights would have been used to spot invaders in the sea at night, and to mark where the nearby batteries should target.

Searchlight post 1 (also at start of article)

The view the searchlights would have taken advantage of

Searchlight post 2

The rail for the searchlight

We then came across a pillbox built into the seawall – probably the older one as it wasn’t level with the current seawall. It was blocked of at the back by a concrete block shoved in the doorway (come on at least be courteous to these bunkers!).

The pillbox top

The pillbox front with loophole

And finally we saw a boathouse used to store a boat which was part of the defence in some manner.

The roof

The inside

And that’s all for this part – we’ve still got to the actual garrison itself and the Cold War anti-submarine boom to do, so this trip will be a long 6-parter!

For pictures of the whole day from me, go to these addresses:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.334559163232954.78255.238743826147822&type=3

And for Joe’s go here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.334429693245901.78232.238743826147822&type=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAvQBoxslH0

 

Welcome to Beyond the Point

Posted: June 20, 2012 by BTP Liam in Website Update
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Beyond the Point is an organisation based on Canvey Island, dedicated to BTP Joe and Liam exploring and researching historical remains in South-East Essex. Ranging from everything from Medieval castles to nuclear bunkers, we follow our goal to enlighten you on the usually skimmed-over parts of local history.  In strong co-operation with local archives and museums, Beyond the Point compliments the work from archivists within the area. We produce documentaries on these sites, found via our YouTube Channel found in the video below, as well as the odd movie just for fun. We also have a Facebook Page containing over a thousand photographs from all our ventures. Read more…..

Please visit our community forum where you can share and interact with BTP and the history it explores. http://www.beyondessex.co.uk/

You can also purchase a 60-minute documentary DVD on the complete history of Canvey Island here http://beyondthepoint.co.uk/dvd/

Shoebury Visit Part 3 – Victorian Gunpowder Mills + Viking Rampart

Posted: June 17, 2012 by BTP Liam in Event Review
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So, after visiting the huge quick-firing heavy battery (http://beyondthepoint.co.uk/2012/05/05/shoebury-batterygarrison-visit-part-2-big-bunkers/), we proceeded to a pair of Victorian Gunpowder mills, tucked behind a building-type temporary metal fence. Luckily the area was clear, and the fence could be easily slipped out of the rubber base, joining the fences together, so we could quickly slip inside. There was a large possibly victorian outdoor building amongst a building material storage site, which was too fenced off. This is probably why the mills fell within the fence too, yet were still a distance off. It was all probably part of renovation for the garrison. One building was sealed, yet another’s door was open. It consisted of a doorway room with a cupboard, an the main room. In slight lighting from a mobile phone, it became a cosy place. It was immaculate in quality, and featured perspex over some sort of gunpowder funnel coming out of the wall. Along with the other building having lead covering part of its roof, we could tell that some sort of failed renovation project had been carried out on these buildings. The paint inside was immaculate, and all the little pegs existed on the walls for various items.
With a nice warm dim lamp, I could have lived inside there! A few cobwebs did cover the corners however.

The two mills happened to stand on what I only recently found out to be a Viking rampart/some kind of earthen wall to defend a Viking base. This was a nice thing to know, but a little too late to be able to embrace whilst we were there. The Vikings were essentially travelling raiders by boat, and with Scandinavia opposite the Thames, you can see why they might have ended up having a look around this area.

The possibly Victorian out-building

The two mills with earthen Viking rampart behind

The inaccessible mill with signs of later redevelopment attempts

Da boys in da house

The accessible one

The door-room looking into the main room

Various internal shots:

Some later reinforced device probably for gunpowder linked between the two rooms

 

Next on the trip was the various WW2 defence buildings on the seafront, and later the Cold War anti-submarine boom, so keep your eyes peeled.
For pictures of the whole day from me, go to these addresses:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.334559163232954.78255.238743826147822&type=3

And for Joe’s go here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.334429693245901.78232.238743826147822&type=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAvQBoxslH0

Canvey Island Guide Book & Flying Fortress Propeller Images

Posted: June 13, 2012 by BTP Joe in Various
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Hello everyone! It’s been a while since our last post because we’ve been busy with the stall in which we made a satisfying profit on the day. We met loads of wonderful people and many people bought our Canvey Island Documentary DVD, including our local MP, Rebecca Harris. You can buy yours now, here!

After an hour or so of scanning an old Canvey guide book, the page by page images can be seen in the gallery below! Canvey was seen and promoted as a holiday spot quite thoroughly over the past century but particularly in the early 1900′s when a popular man, Frederick Hester, was on the scene. (Read more here) Hester spent hundreds trying to re-vamp England and extensively promote it to Londoner’s; a place where they could go to breath sea air. Hester started to build a pier (which was planned to be 3 stories and bigger than Southend pier) and of course the Winter Gardens Tram line. Hester Unfortuantly became bust though and later died in 1934. Below are the images of the booklet. Image 1 is page 1, Image 2 is page 2 e.t.c (Hover over the image to view what number!! Sorry they’re not in order, WordPress is being stupid!!)

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As well as these images I also have a few more delights with thanks to Shirley Gartshore! ;) Below are images of the B17 Flying Fortress propeller which belonged to the plane which crashed at Canvey Point. You can read a very detailed account by Janet Penn here.

And now one last picture but this time a slightly different one. This photo below shows a crashed lorry but in the background on the right, we can see the Thorney Bay War defences from Tuesday 14th June 1977. If you zoom in and look just behind the lorry, you can see a long building which is the army huts in the Thorney Bay Camp. That’s all from me for now and expect a post by BTP Liam soon! I would like to ask please, for you support, in supporting myself in a competition that I recently entered. All you need to do is click the link here and watch the vid!

Tuesday 14th June 1977