Defending the works

During WW2, German forces tried desperately to knock out steel production and ship building on Teesside (and elsewhere of course). There's always been a lot of industry here and knocking it out would have dealt us a serious blow. In the days of very primitive RADAR (and no RADAR at all for the first couple of year I think, or was that WW1?), it was also geographically a fairly easy target, being just across the North sea. Close enough for an air raid or assault from sea, but far enough away to quickly leg it without being cornered.

Needless to say, it was very heavily defended. There's loads of pill boxes and gun installations along the dunes and gare. Many have fallen in the sea, or been mostly buried under the shifting dunes, but some good examples remain. I found this one while out on my walk today.

Check out the two huge concrete blocks with the remains of a massive steel bolt in one of them. Hmmm. I wonder what used to stand on there.



The view from inside the pill box will make it pretty obvious what its purpose was. We must remember that the dunes weren't as big then. That big dune in the left of the view will have grown substantially as it accumulated drifting sand over the past 70 years, so the view would have took in much more of the sea when the pill box was put there.



There's a back window too. I wonder what that lets us see?



Oh yes, that would be the blast furnace then. The very heart of the steel works. Get that, and there's no steel production on Teesside any more.

 

You'm putting up some quality stuff tonight Clue

And welcome back FC

 

As opposed to the drivel I put up most nights

 

Don't think you'm ever put up drivel my friend

Might have put a bit of avant garde stuff