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Re some of the posts on Fyngers Blog....Do you know of other sites around Nottingham where little known defensive/offensive structures of World War 2 still exist?? There must have been thousands built in the period when we expected an invasion.

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I think this link should show you the one in the field next to the junction of Nottingham Road/Bank Hill and Mapperley Plains. It's at the very top on the left as you emerge onto Mapperley Plains. h

Hi, carrying on the theme of desperate innovations in the defence of our island’s security and when you may have thought that nothing could be less inviting than resisting the enemy whilst being encas

Hi Jane. If you're around Cambs are you aware of the reinforced main street through Cambridge. After Dunkirk we were reduced to more or less one small tank division positioned south of London. It was

actually it was the HQ for 12 Group which covered the defence of the midlands as far south as ipswich, at the height of the battle of britain these "reserves" were employed as part of Mallory's "Big Wing" (having masses of fighters waiting in the air) controlled by radar plots. In the film B.o.B you see the stuka's attacking the radar stations prior to main assault, The Germans did not know it but they put out of action a 10 mile section of the radar and could have swarmed through undetected, another of the curious twists of the war like why did hitler stop at Dunkirk? and the accidental bombing of London that changed the luftwaffe plans

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There is a layer on Google Earth with all the defence of the realm sites on it (Whether still in existance or not). I can't find out how I found it now as it dissapeared when I updated GE recently It also had all the ex raiway stations on there as well

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There is a layer on Google Earth with all the defence of the realm sites on it (Whether still in existance or not). I can't find out how I found it now as it dissapeared when I updated GE recently It also had all the ex raiway stations on there as well

If anyone knows how to find it please advise

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Thats the fella!!!!

You have to remove a few of the layers that come with it but it's well worth looking at

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This is a photo i made as a joke for a freind but seems relavent. In the picture is me at foxwood at the top of calverton with a ww2 artiary cannon ow and a can of fosters. Its a lovely walk round there. When i fired it i think i hit Arnold wooops i didnt stay to find out.. :biggrin:

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Here's a little object for you to look out for.

A small, gleaming stainless steel bearing set generally in a circular concrete base, sometimes in walls, sometimes with a brick surround.

spig1-1.jpg

They are all over the place down here, at bridges, road junctions, rivers, anywhere of so called strategic importance.

Hardly anyone knows what they were for, some of you may know.

spig2-1.jpg

The spigot mortar, an infamous weapon, rejected by the regular army and dumped on the Home Guard, so dangerous that it was more likely to kill the poor sods required to fire it rather than the dreaded Hun invaders. This device was simply dropped on to the steel pin when it was required, how many of these fittings ever saw a spigot mortar in place is unknown, probably very few.

I live within the area of the famous GHQ defence line, the place is covered in bunkers and pillboxes of every kind. Some of these devices are amazing, the Allan Williams turret for instance. There was one set in the ground close to where I lived in Finchingfield, unfortunately a local do-gooder excavated it with a view to restoring it, it's remained rotting away in his yard for the past few years, despite my efforts to have it removed and restored at a proper museum dedicated to this sort of thing, Sywell by the way, give us your support.

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aw2.jpg

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AW turrets are very rare, few were built and installed, but it's not a publicly acclaimed item so who cares.

I consider that these WW2 reminders have so much significance to our past, especially when they are still within living memory, that all efforts should be made to prevent them being bulldozed into the ground and further items of British history be lost to future generations.

Thats my tuppence worth, either take the p1$$ or ignore it, it's up to you, a few constructive comments would be appreciated.

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It would be incredible to come across something like that , knowing its history.....i can remeber when all the houses in bilborough were prefabs and most still had the Anderson shelters in their gardens as sheds.

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theres still an old all concrete (ex ARP?) shelter just off radford boulevard on prospect street, any one remember (mentioned elsewhere) the one in cetre reservation of melbourne rd which later became a police post. there was also a quite substantial concrete half underground structure at back of where wrigleys wagon works was on hucknall rd, top valley area, another brick/concrete one again later a police post (maybe still there) was on the right on hucknall rd just after it crossed valley road, and at back of foreman's print works (again hucknall rd!) was a maze of underground bunkers near top of entrance to GCR Sherwood Rise tunnel, in 1950's such were lit by electricity and used as storage rooms, there were passages joining such, we played in them and every so often workers came resulting in us hiding or getting chased

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mmmkhl.jpg

I remember seeing one of these when I was a kid at Kegworth...next to the locks on the Soar at the bridge Kingston Road.

Strange how they considered this important enough to defend..in those days Kegworth was just an insignificant little village in the middle of nowhere....Soon to alter in the sixties with the coming of Ratcliffe power station...the M1...and East Midlands airport.

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poohbear - if you grew up in Keg'oth, did you know the Carpenter family? The mother taught at Long Eaton Grammar School and had twin daughters, Rachel and Judith, who also attended the Grammar School to do A-levels. It is my understanding that Judith may have died from cancer, but I do not know for sure.

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