The continued march of the Kennet and Avon.

The Kennet and Avon Canal was fortified as the last line of defense for the Midlands and North of England during the second world war and it's guarded by numerous pillboxes.

Part of the GHQ line, the GHQ Line ran from the northern end of the Taunton Stop Line near Highbridge in Somerset, along the River Brue and the Kennet and Avon Canal to Reading, around the south of London south of Guildford and Aldershot, to Canvey Island and Great Chesterford in Essex, before heading north to end in Yorkshire.

Detailing such an immense are takes time and this report covered some of the Pillboxes that i have not previously visited. Covering and protecting areas such as locks, bridges, and rail line, some are easy to find and others are either inaccessible without waders or are simply so overgrown they are almost impossible to spot and document. Anyhow i decided to document these by going for a cycle ride which was both a blessing and a hindrance at times as attempting to hide the bike to go for an explore was a pain.

Anyhow onto the photos:

DEFENDED BUILDING: S0011424

Sat out on Burghfield Road just 100m south of Burghfield Bridge, this is a converted stable block that has has subsequent extensions added. Note the shutters appear fully intact.









PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0008879
Froud's Bridge, Woolhampton.

Originally existing as a pair before Froud's Bridge was built. This PB is in poor condition and the artillery embrasure faces out to the bridge embankment. Running almost parallel with the train tracks this would originally have had a commanding view of the Western section of the track.









An intact ventilation grill.



PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0008878
Woolhampton.
Sat just off the Bath Road and sitting facing over the train track further down the hill.
The first PB to put a smile on my face due to the intact brick shuttering that was in amazing condition. It wasn't an easy location to get to though due to a mobile burger van parked in the layby and people viewing me suspiciously as i peered through a gap in the double gate. I cycled off down the hill determined to get to the PB and found a gap in the hedging to place the bike before crawling under the wire fencing and into open ground.







Despite the clean exterior it is ruined inside. Structurally tidy though.



A little natural light.







A little R n R had to be done at the burger van afterwards.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0008509 With a little tilt!
W of Wickham Knight's footbridge on N bank of Kennet and Avon Canal, Woolhampton.
Easily missable when out cycling on the south bank of the Kennet, i was able to cycle down to this PB as the track was relatively clear. Pretty much covered over in Ivy as detailed it was still a successful find for me.

The entrance to the PB is on the East side and the embrasures are North, South and West facing.



The slight lean away from the bank of the Kennet





As is often the case - someone has set up home in here!







The North facing embrasure.



A mass of Ivy on the south face along the canal.



PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0008576
N bank of Kennet and Avon Canal, between railway and canal, between Woolhampton Bridge and Wickham Knight's Bridge, E of Midgham Station, Woolhampton.
Again easy to get too when you know how. Leaving the bike to the lap of the gods, i walked down to this 28 and finally got inside it. It was always an enticing site from the south bank. Perseverance pays off!

Someone has cleaned off the foliage which was attached to the Southwest corner but it is pretty evident the damage that can and is caused but letting nature take its course.





The view of the West facing artillery embrasure.







The North facing Infantry gun embrasure.



Picture postcard perfect.





West of Midgham Bridge
This area depicts two removed type 28s and an extent (condition unknown) type 28. The only evidence of the previous existence of a PB was sat right next to the lock gates.









PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0006481
Colthrop Mill, E of Colthrop Weir, Midgham, on S bank of Kennet and Avon Canal.








Facing South. The artillery embrasure was again facing West but was not accessible to view or even attempt to get inside. As you can see the PB is pretty much locked up for nosy people like me.



PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0006482
Near, and East of, Thatcham Station, on the N bank of the Kennet and Avon Canal, between the railway and the canal. To get to this PB i cycled to the back of the car park and onto a narrow path.

The view from the South bank.











PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0008864
Monkey Marsh Lock, on S bank of Kennet and Avon Canal, Thatcham.
Set very low into the bank when you view from the canal bank, the entrance is North facing and exposed.
A strange one this as i presume there was a logic in not placing the PB in another position. The gun embrasures face out into the field which is logical but the PB is vulnerable from a Western canal based attack. As most of the 28's are facing Westwards then one must have thought there was a logic in thinking an attack was to come from this area. BUT as Stop Line Green was meant to keep the last line of defence open for port evacuation / re-deployment of troops and supplies and the evacuation of civilians. Hmmmmmmm.




















As always something random for you all.





After cycling for 47 Km i decided to turn back at this point. Further research has indicated the areas i missed and other areas where further investigation needs to be personally completed. Looking forward to getting further up the line.

I hope you enjoy the report.

Another great report.

With regard to your thoughts about the last PB's vulnerability from the west. There seems to be a long stretch of canal to the west that almost certainly would have had two or three pillboxes along it that no longer exist. They would have supported this one by preventing a flanking manoeuvre. It's probably worth a mooch along that stretch of canal to see if anything survives, especially at the lock and swing bridge.

A great report as usual Senne The K and A is my favourite of the stop lines as the western end lies a couple of miles from my house.

Nice work Sen. Looks like you've got a piece of cut off rail track which brings a few things to mind. Any info on that?

The type 22 S0008864 looks like a 24 to me from the pics.

Munchh said:

Nice work Sen. Looks like you've got a piece of cut off rail track which brings a few things to mind. Any info on that?

The type 22 S0008864 looks like a 24 to me from the pics.

Click to expand...

This was sat on the North bank of the towpath just past Thatcham rail station. Looking around for more evidence I could not find anymore sat on the towpath. This was located next to a lock gate and others were placed on the waters edge. This could have been an original barbed wire entanglement which would be fairly logical given its position near the train station.
This is my start position heading out to Hungerford so an explore of the gun position next to the rail lines, the elusive PB, and any further investigation will be needed.

Great report mate, thanks for posting, I am loving the defended biudling, not found one myself.

Good work there, I've only been to the Thatcham one and still have to visit the Burfield building and the one at the bridge. So far I have got to Aldwermaston Wharf so I will be hikeing along from there next towards Newbury.

Some of the Kennet and Avon locks were turf sided - they didn't have masonary walls. The turf sloped into the lock just like the side of a normal bit of canal. This could mean that when boats went down the lock they got into trouble (grounded) on the side if they weren't far enough into the middle of the lock.

To stop this happening, rails were erected to keep boats away from the sloping bank. These obviously had to be supported to keep them vertical and to help when they got clobbered by boats.

When the canal was restored most if not all the turf sided locks were rebuilt conventionally. I wonder if the rails in the pictures were part of the structure that kept the boats away from the sides, that were just buried in situ when the lock was rebuilt. My dim mental picture of these locks fits that theory, but it was a long time ago....

First post, hello all.

Good post and thanks for the info.

Effingham said:

Some of the Kennet and Avon locks were turf sided - they didn't have masonary walls. The turf sloped into the lock just like the side of a normal bit of canal. This could mean that when boats went down the lock they got into trouble (grounded) on the side if they weren't far enough into the middle of the lock.

To stop this happening, rails were erected to keep boats away from the sloping bank. These obviously had to be supported to keep them vertical and to help when they got clobbered by boats.

When the canal was restored most if not all the turf sided locks were rebuilt conventionally. I wonder if the rails in the pictures were part of the structure that kept the boats away from the sides, that were just buried in situ when the lock was rebuilt. My dim mental picture of these locks fits that theory, but it was a long time ago....

First post, hello all.

Click to expand...

Your talking about Garston Lock http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1149668

The great Western Railway who owned the canal used old and knackered rail for general fencing purposes as did most other networks

Another top report mate thanks,always motivates me to get out as well grounded for a while though so keep em coming

Munchh said:

The type 22 S0008864 looks like a 24 to me from the pics.

Click to expand...

Its a shellproof 22. Along parts of the K & A and upper Thames they have the front facing walls thickened but not the back wall which has the effect of giving them a back wall longer than the front and sides, which superficially looks like a 24, but the angles of the front walls are the giveaway at 60 degrees.