Opened in 1943, Rivenhall was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as a combat airfield with various fighter and bomber units based there. In was closed following the end of the the war in 1946 although it was kept in reserve for a following…
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Silver End is a village in the Braintree area of Essex, constructed in the late 1920s as a self-contained ‘model village’ by Francis Henry Crittall; who established his Crittall Windows factory at the centre of the village. Crittall steel-framed windows achieved international popularity in everything from military buildings to the Titanic. Crittall aimed to provide…
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Seventeen miles west of Cardiff is the small village of St Athan’s, where this derelict village remains off of an unassuming country road. The idea for building a holiday camp first arose in 1923 when two philanthropists, co-founders of the Boys’ Clubs of Wales, visited a similar site in New Romney, Kent. The Boys’ Club…
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The SS Richard Montgomery was a US Liberty Ship, constructed in 1943. In 1944 it was part of a convoy delivering explosives with 7,000 tonnes on this ship along. Whilst heading to Sheerness on August 12th 1944, the ships anchor was caught in the sandbanks off the Kent coast, causing the vessel to become grounded….
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At the outbreak of World War II, the Port of London was the busiest port in the world. As such, a large proportion of supplies to the UK entered by ships navigating the Thames. The German Navy quickly sought to put a stranglehold on this route, and to this end, utilised a new secret weapon…
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Now an overgrown brownfield site, this was once the factory for one of the leading fireworks companies in the whole of the UK. Joseph Wells was the founder of ‘Wells Fireworks’ and established it in Dartford in 1837. He learnt his trade as an explosive lighter man, working along the Thames. The company rapidly became…
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Tilbury Fort has been defending London from the threat of invasion for over 500 years. Since the fort was built in 1539, under the rein of King Henry VIII, it has survived many wars and battles including the Spanish Armada. At its peak in the 1700’s there was an estimated 100 guns at the site. In…
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The plotlands was an area of natural land available for rent/purchase as holiday spots, popular with Londoners who wanted to escape to the countryside. No proper development was really carried out and the residences, pathways, and streets, were the handywork of those visiting Dunton for leisure. It was used as a plotlands site until 1980…
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Above the surface it looks like a normal country cottage, but beneath the building lies something completely different – a nuclear bunker. The only clue from above the surface is a pylon, although beneath the surface various rooms were build to accommodate a team to keep the country running in the event of a nuclear…
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After checking out Southend’s wartime sea-defenses, we then had a look from the seawall at the ‘Mulberry Harbour’ back in 2011, split in half and stranded out in the sea. Many people visit it out on speedboats e.t.c., or even walk out when the tide is exceptionally low. It can be seen clearly today even…
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