Author: Joe Mander

By Joe Mander

Sutton Hospital

Sutton Hospital opened as a cottage hospital in 1899, split across two semi-detached houses with just 6 beds between them. Just 3 years later it was moved to a new site with 12 beds across 4 wards and in 1930 moved again to its current location, which was named Sutton and Cheam District Hospital. As…

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By Joe Mander

Slough Fort

Established in 2012, the Slough Fort Preservation Trust (SFPT) was formed from a group of volunteers who all had an interest in history, and the fort. Forming a trust, the group work tirelessly to care for the fort by maintaining it and restoring it to become a public museum. In 2016, Beyond the Point attended…

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By Joe Mander

Burnham Minefield Control Tower

Once the Second World started in 1939, Britain was keeping a close eye on the east-coast of the country to prevent any German invasion. Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex was little more than a small yacht town before World War Two however the town became much more important when Germany invaded France. With Kent and South-Essex heavily…

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By Joe Mander

St Martin’s Hospital

St Martin’s Hospital in Kent has been described as being “truly remnant of the asylums of the early nineteen hundreds” and walking around this 129 year old building you can see why. With Victorian corridors spanning tens of metres and old wards with the original sashed windows, this building has reached the end of its…

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By Joe Mander

West Thurrock Pillboxes

Situated along the Thames foreshore, these two pillboxes were built around 1940 as part of a huge scheme to build almost 30,000 pillboxes across the country, but especially the south-east. Located about 530 meters apart, each pillbox sits on a corner of the Essex marshes, opposite Greenhithe. Men from the Home Guard would have been…

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By Joe Mander

Mid Wales Hospital (Talgarth Asylum)

Talgarth is a small, quaint market town in mid-Wales and as of 2011 was home to less than 2,000 people. Driving through the narrow country roads you’ll eventually get to two large concrete gate posts – the original entrance to the former Mid Wales Hospital, known as Talgarth Asylum. Due to increasing demand on other…

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By Joe Mander

Thanet Air Raid Shelters

Across the country hundreds of air raid shelters were built at the outbreak of World War Two, both above and beneath the surface with the majority built across the South-East. We’ve visited two shelters, one by the coast and the other down the road in Broadstairs. We haven’t published the location of these shelters to…

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