Just a few more Northumbrian Pillboxes

[jonney]

Well the weather hasn't been too kind this week with snow and torrential rain but I was determined to get out and about so even though the sky was cloudy I grabbed my chance. As the title suggests these are a few more pillboxes from me. These ones are again from Northumberland and are the start of me tying up a few loose ends and clearing the stragglers from the todo list.

First up we have the couple from a small village (blink when your driving through and you'll miss half of it) of Bothal. I'll start with pillbox S0013378 a type FW3/24 all be it a modified version as the rear has been extended and the door is in the wrong place. There are no internals of this pillbox because the farmer uses it as storage and asked me not to photograph inside. It used to have a corrugated iron false roof as camouflage as you can see in the next photo taken back in 1980 (By Alan Fenwick not me) but sadly this has long gone

What it looks like now

notice the block in the right of the embrasure, I have seen this a few times round Northumberland now (usually on the middle embrasure of the long wall in lozenges). They are shaped to fit the contours of the embrasure corners and were used to block part of the line of fire. The only explanation I can come up with for the use of these is that they would stop the gun needing as much space to move side to side giving more space to the embrasure next to it. Any other theories are always welcome

Next up is loophole/embrasure wall S0013377 again this has changed over the years. A few years ago it had a concrete canopy behind the wall but now this has been turned into a shed and the loophole itself has been turned into a letterbox, it's just a hole in the wall now

And finally from Bothal we have this little beauty, pillbox S0013380 a bee hive sandbag type covering the bridge and the old saw mill

entrance

The roof sheets are starting to collapse

The only internals are through the embrasures as I am too big to squeeze inside this one lol

Moving swiftly on we have a fine example of a type FW3/22 pillbox at Longhirst Middle Moor

This step was a first for me I've never seen one like it before

internals

this one floods a bit

And lastly we have a Lozenge pillbox at Earsdon

pillbox number P408

internals

Well that's all folks
Thanks for looking hope you enjoyed this little tour

Cheers Jon

 

[RichCooper]

Nice bit of ww2 porn there mate First ive seen with the hole in the dividing wall ?

 

[jonney]

Nice bit of ww2 porn there mate First ive seen with the hole in the dividing wall ?

It's only the second one I've seen mate the other was in a lozenge at Mitford a few miles away (pillbox P350 [ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=21074[/ame])

 

[RichCooper]

Maybe an area thing or the same builder ? After all this time Ive just noticed your northern lozenges have a diffent embrasure design to the E Yorks types god im observant must get to specsavers at some point

 

[jonney]

Maybe an area thing or the same builder ? After all this time Ive just noticed your northern lozenges have a diffent embrasure design to the E Yorks types god im observant must get to specsavers at some point

The embrasure layout and design varies mate depending on the location as does the door position but this layout is the most common round here

 

[Munchh]

Nice variety of little treasures jon thanks.

Should be up your way 1st or second week in May, so look forward to seeing some of these in the flesh. PM you nearer the time.

The numbers probably relate to serial numbers.

 

[jonney]

Nice variety of little treasures jo
n thanks.

Should be up your way 1st or second week in May, so look forward to seeing some of these in the flesh. PM you nearer the time.

The numbers probably relate to serial numbers.

spot on mate I won't be far away. I think the numbers are like you say serial numbers used by the local command centre

 

[flyboys90]

Thats a great collection of PBs,thanks for sharing.

 

[sennelager66]

I love pillbox S0013380. it has been rare for me to find the sandbags used for anything other than a culvert so that is a fascinating find and something i'd love to come across. The outer skin intrigues me as it was either built and then skimmed which seems an interesting approach to building a PB.

Thanks for putting those photos up.

 

[jonney]

I love pillbox S0013380. it has been rare for me to find the sandbags used for anything other than a culvert so that is a fascinating find and something i'd love to come across. The outer skin intrigues me as it was either built and then skimmed which seems an interesting approach to building a PB.

Thanks for putting those photos up.

There are quite a few sandbag pillboxes in Northumberland but this if memory serves me right is the first I've found with the render on it. My theory for this is it's location I think the render would have been easier to camouflage (probably just paint) than just the sand bags as I spotted it as soon as I approached the bridge it overlooks. You need a trip up this way I know the location of at least 12 of these pillboxes

 

[WinchItIn]

Very nice indeed jonney, pillboxes galore this weekend.

 

[jonney]

Very nice indeed jonney, pillboxes galore this weekend.

didn't manage to get half the ones I wanted to do done I was hoping to get another 5 possibly 6 lozenges done (I know 5 still exist and am not sure about the 6th one) but cannot grumble mate