South Gare (Redcar) WW2 concrete overload

[jonney]

Well it was another slow day so I decided to take a look at the WW2 remains down at South Gare on Teeside and I wasn't disappointed with what I found. South Gare was a strategic defense point during WW2 as it is a strip of reclaimed land right on the mouth of the river Tees and any shipping entering or exiting the river has to pass it. Also enemy aircraft trying to bomb Middlesbrough would have to fly over it and the long narrow beach would have made an idea landing point hence the large concentration of defenses in such a small area. Most of these have been removed although several still remain. Having looked on the DoB I have found a couple of mistakes one of which I will have to go back and take a look at because I missed a type 23 pillbox due to a place mark being in the wrong position (1 pillbox with 2 different numbers and the other being about 200yds away out of sight behind a sand dune)

Anyway on with the "Concrete Overload" hope you enjoy (very pic heavy)

First point of call was the Petroleum Warfare Bunker S0010157 (this formed part of a system to defend Coatham beach by means of burning petroleum on the sea)
Sadly the bunker was completely full of sand and I forgot the bucket and spade

Some metal work inside the bunker

The remains of pillbox S0010276

All over the place were these metal posts

Moving on I came to pillbox S0005912 which is something a bit special as it has a LAA post at each side

I think the boxes on the side of the LAA emplacements were water tanks to cool the guns

Then about 100yards away was pillbox S0005914

Mountings for ? (any ideas)

Recess in the walls under the embrasures

Bolts for the shutters

God only knows what these were for

Next up we have pillbox S0005915 the DoB says it's a type 23 but it is a vickers machine gun pillbox

Twin tables

right I think that's enough for now although there is still a lot more to come which I'll post up on here later on

Thanks for looking
Jon

 

[WinchItIn]

Nice one jonney, Quality pillbox porn pics.

 

[night crawler]

Think I need to borrow your rubber suit this is getting hot, when is the next installment.

 

[jonney]

Think I need to borrow your rubber suit this is getting hot, when is the next installment.

as soon as I get the photos sorted out mate. There are more pillboxes, the largest loophole wall I've ever seen, the remains of a coastal battery and some gun holdfasts still to come so stay tuned

 

[hamishsfriend]

Thanks for a detailed report, looking forward to seeing the next installment.

 

[jonney]

Right due to popular demand...on we go

next on the way I found loophole wall S0010893 which the DoB describes as: Loopholed boundary wall of South Gare submarine mining establishment. The concrete wall surrounding the establishment had a line of loopholes, 5ft above the ground and 9in x 9in on the outside, and 18in x 18in on the inside. The loopholes are 8ft apart.

inside and overlooking the loophole wall was a type 23 pillbox S0010894

entry into this one was not possible as you will see there was no ladder and entry is via the roof through the LAA emplacement

moving swiftly on I started searching for the spigot mortar emplacement S0010723 which I couldn't find and as I have seen photo's of I know it still exists. I think the reason for this is that the DoB has it marked as a pillbox and the pillbox as a spigot mortar anyway that's for another day as well. Pillbox S0010181 is built into the breakwater and I nearly walked straight past it

it has been back filled due to a road and a path being on the top of it

Entry would have been through the top of the pillbox

This pillbox also overlooked some gun holdfasts that are not as yet on the DoB. There were 4 concrete plinths but only 3 of them had signs of holdfasts on them, each one of them being different

plinth 1

plinth 2

plinth 3

plinth 4

then on to the remains of coastal battery S0005918. There were 3 guns stationed here

gun emplacement 1

Gun emplacement 2

looking from emplacement 2 to 1

Gun emplacement 3

and finally from here we have pillbox S0010165 which is half burried in the sand on the beach. I didn't have much time to photograph this one as the tide was coming in and the water was only a foot or so from the front embrasure

Well that's all from South Gare although I will be going back to find the spigot and the last type 23 but on the way home I took a wrong exit on a roundabout and whilst trying to find some where to turn round I found this type 23 pillbox S0010161

God it was a tight squeeze getting through the doorway and there wasn't much room inside

Well that's all folks was a busy day but I think it was worth it
Thanks for looking, hope I haven't bored you too much
Cheers Jon

 

[oldscrote]

That's three Sundays on the trot I've eaten my breakfast to the sight of concrete. Thanks Jonney a great feast for the eyes.

 

[WinchItIn]

hope I haven't bored you too much

Not me, been looking forward to the second instalment of photo's, Pure first class jonney.
Thankyou.

 

[Munchh]

Just superb jonney. Great work getting so many. Thoroughly enjoyed this, specially as I can't get out today.

 

[night crawler]

A veritable feast of pillboxes, for tea. Thanks for that.

 

[jonney]

Cheers for that guys glad you liked them

 

[Andymacg]

lots of concretey goodness cracking pics chap

 

[RichCooper]

Superb stuff mate Im lovin these concrete overloads

 

[Snips86x]

This is amazing. You've well documented this. Thank

 

[Foxylady]

I think everyone else has said it all! lol. Excellent finds and tour, Jon. Cheers.

 

[cptpies]

Jonney you are a star. I've switched the SME for the pillbox on the overlay.

 

[krela]

Bumping this so jonney can add some more info to it.

 

[sennelager66]

Cracking photos. It fair makes me want to visit the north. Thanks for sharing your porn.

 

[jonney]

First off I'd just like to thank Krela for bumping this thread for me and Rich Cooper for reminding me that I'd missed a couple of things from round here. First off I'll start with the type 23 buried in the dunes

pillbox S0005914 was on top of the hill in this next photo

the LAA pit

internals

Camouflage tie downs

just at the back of this pillbox ( approx 10 foot away) was a bit of an oddity (not on the DoB) the remains of a small brick built structure with what looks like a single embrasure any ideas as to what it was would be greatly appreciated

embrasure?

the two of them together

not far from these two was this possible block from a roadblock (I don't think it was originally positioned here though)

and finally to tie up all the loose ends from South Gare was the spigot mortar emplacement that I couldn't find last time. Well I nearly missed it again, after half an hour of looking for it I gave up and was heading back to the car when I literally tripped over it, turns out I'd parked the car about 20 foot away from it

Well that is finally all the defenses from round there done and dusted and if anyone is in the area I would recommend they pay them a visit. Thanks for being patient and waiting for the last installment, hope it was worth it

Cheers Jon

 

[RichCooper]

Nicely done mate Be interesting to find out what that brick building was maybe its time we teamed up and started taking shovels out