Location Report Archives - Page 12 of 33

21 February 202122 February 2021 By Liam Heatherson

B-17 Crash at Canvey Point

The Canvey Archive has a large collection of memoirs, photographs, and by CloudScout” href=”https://beyondthepoint.co.uk/historic-locations/canvey-island/the-second-world-war/b17-crash-site/#48142577″> shared is here: http://canveyisland.org/documents/DHB_v2_Med_Res.pdf On the 19th of June 1944 a formation of B17 Flying Fortress American bomber planes were heading back to their base in Kimbolton, and it was pilot Lt. Lloyd Burn’s 29th mission. The Heavenly Body II was the…

20 February 20212 March 2021 By Joe Mander

New Tavern Fort & Milton Chantry

Situated on the opposite side of the River Thames to Tilbury Fort, New Tavern Fort was one of several built to protect to London and the surrounding area. Built on the site of ‘New Tavern Inn’, construction started in the 1780’s and lasted some 13 years. In the following century, between 1865 and 1879, the…

19 February 20212 March 2021 By Joe Mander

Rawreth HAA & POW Camp

Driving through Rawreth Industrial Estate you wouldn’t have a clue that you were driving past some old Prisoner of War buildings; but they were once known locally as “Rawreth Camp” or “The Gunsite”. According to the Rochford District Community Archive, the site was constructed at the start of the Second World War, in 1940, originally…

16 February 202115 March 2021 By Liam Heatherson

Billericay Spigot Mortar Emplacement

Defending Billericay’s railway line and bridge lies an abandoned spigot mortar emplacement – a crude form of defence designed for use by the Home Guard during the Second World War against invasion. It comprised of a brick pit with ammunition recesses around the sides, and a pedestal with a stainless steel pin in the top…

16 February 202116 February 2021 By Joe Mander

Hester’s Tourist Resort on Canvey

Two busts that stood in ‘Poets Corner’ of the Winter Gardens, today in the Canvey Heritage Centre. Photographs of Frederick Hester, and his monrail before & after electrification. Also images showing interior of his winter gardens. Have you heard of Frederick Hester, the man who promoted Canvey in the early 1900s to make it a…

15 February 202117 February 2021 By Liam Heatherson

Salvation Army Colony & Brickworks

In 1891, the Salvation Army established a Home Farm Colony in Hadleigh where the Hadleigh Downs Country Park lies today. The Salvation Army Jetty was used in the early 1900s to load off and on goods, mainly bricks, made at the Salvation Army brickworks located at the bottom of Chapel Lane. The bricks were then…

14 February 202115 February 2021 By Joe Mander

Shornemead Fort

Shornemead Fort was one of many built along the Thames to protect London from an invasion. The fort was built on the site of a previous battery which started to be built in 1847 however after six years of intense building, the marshes couldn’t support the weight so a new re-designed fort, Shornemead, was built instead. The…

14 February 202115 February 2021 By Liam Heatherson

RAF Rochford Pillboxes

Back in Easter 2014, the two BTP boys, and occasional accomplice Jack, set off to investigate pillboxes once defending Rochford airfield – now Southend airport. This is when the article was written and most of the photographs taken at this time – since then, ongoing development has changed much of the farmland but the pillboxes…

14 February 202116 February 2021 By Joe Mander

The Crowstone & ‘Hard Paths’

A few metres out into the river at Chalkwell Beach lies a peculiar obelisk stranded in the water. From the shore, it looks like a mysterious ruin of an ancient civilisation, although it is in fact the ‘Crowstone’ installed in 1836/7. It replaced a smaller stone post that was set in place in 1755. The…

14 February 20212 March 2021 By Liam Heatherson

Tilbury-Gravesend Ferry & Old Terminal

On a sunny, yet brisk, weekend the BTP boys decided to head to Tilbury to catch the ferry over to Gravesend with guests Michael Clark and Jack Swestun. This 300-year old historic tradition cost us just £3 for an off-peak return. We were impressed the service – rough, ready, and no-mess, being allowed to wander to the…