Thorpe Thewles Pillboxes

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jonney

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Thorpe Thewels is a small village on the A177 between Sedgefield and Stockton and is the home to 3 rather nice type 23 variants. They were positioned there to protect the 20 arch viaduct that once spanned the valley, sadly this was demolished in 1979

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Going

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Going

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Gone

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I only managed to get internals on two of the pillboxes as the third is on private land and I was refused permission to access it so I only got a few sneaky shots of it from the woods. Sorry about the picture quallity I had to use my phone again as this was an unplanned trip and I didn't have my camera with me. Anyway on with the pics

Pillbox 1 was situated in the village itself to the west side of where the viaduct would have been. Its a modified type 23 but the modifications must have been made when it was built, its not buried as most type 23's are, it has no raised platform where the LAA gun would have been mounted and a hole has been knocked through the side wall to form a door way (the reinforcing rods have been cut and bent over as well). It has only two embrasures

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Doorway

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Pillboxes 2 & 3 are on the East side of the old viaduct one on either side of the railway embankment. Both are buried type 23 variants, the variation being again they only have 2 embrasures. Entry would have been over the wall into the LAA gun pit. I'll start with the one I couldn't get inside

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I was thinking of climbing the fence but they were watching my every move so I thought better of it

The last one is quite well preserved

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The LAA gun mounting post lying in the bottom of the emplacement

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Further East along the railway line was a nice little triple horizontal rail road block

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The other side

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Well thats all from me
Hope you enjoyed this little report
Cheers for looking

Jon
 
Nice one again jonney even with a phone. Any reason they would not let you access the pillbox. :)

They were the horsey set mate and they were taking their horses out of the stables (which were at the bottom of the field) and letting them into the field. I think they thought I was going to photograph their horses and not the pillbox. To be honest they were very polite about it and I think if I had gone directly to them in the beginning then they might have been more accommodating but I was walking along the old track bed and spotted it through the trees so it was a case of scramble down the embankment and start taking photos. I think they got a bit of a shock seeing me appear from the trees
 
Thanks for this Jon, I haven't come across any 23's down here yet so it's nice to know they're out there. I can't believe they blew up that viaduct, safety reasons I suppose?

And they wouldn't let you onto their land to just photograph a solitary PB. No wonder we trespass, that's just plain selfish

EDIT: Ah, just seen your reply to NC. So it was the horsey set then, hair'n'teeth stirrup cup swiggers. Give me farmer john any day. :lol:
 
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Thanks for this Jon, I haven't come across any 23's down here yet so it's nice to know they're out there. I can't believe they blew up that viaduct, safety reasons I suppose?

And they wouldn't let you onto their land to just photograph a solitary PB. No wonder we trespass, that's just plain selfish

EDIT: Ah, just seen your reply to NC. So it was the horsey set then, hair'n'teeth stirrup cup swiggers. Give me farmer john any day. :lol:

Yeah mate at least with farmers you can have a reasoned debate about the purpose of your visit these just didn't seem interested at all
 
Ah some Sunday pillbox porn to liven up me day.I looked at the first four photos and though 'bastards' why blow up such a slender elegant looking viaduct.Must admit though that I have to be a bit careful about criticising the horsey set as I know and am good friends with a lot of 'em down here,they ain't all a bunch of idiots,there are a a lot of good folk amongst 'em.I guess it's like Urbexers a small minority get the majority a bad name.
 
Ah some Sunday pillbox porn to liven up me day.I looked at the first four photos and though 'bastards' why blow up such a slender elegant looking viaduct.Must admit though that I have to be a bit careful about criticising the horsey set as I know and am good friends with a lot of 'em down here,they ain't all a bunch of idiots,there are a a lot of good folk amongst 'em.I guess it's like Urbexers a small minority get the majority a bad name.

I'm the same mate I know a few myself and even they agree that some of them are up their own arses. There are good and bad in every part of life and in this instance the bad spoilt it for the rest of us concrete lovers, I know it's nothing in the grand scheme of things but I left feeling disappointed and wanting to know what state it was in inside. I will return to find out
 
They were the horsey set mate and they were taking their horses out of the stables (which were at the bottom of the field) and letting them into the field. I think they thought I was going to photograph their horses and not the pillbox. To be honest they were very polite about it and I think if I had gone directly to them in the beginning then they might have been more accommodating but I was walking along the old track bed and spotted it through the trees so it was a case of scramble down the embankment and start taking photos. I think they got a bit of a shock seeing me appear from the trees

We have had a lot of problems with horsey people on Geograph. They think you taking photo's of their nags to make and online catalogue for hores theaves. Even had one littlle twat start a anti geograph campagne on Facebook. They are right stck up lot. :mad:
 
Nice pics again mate thanks :) Good luck with a return trip I'd try exactly the same
 
We have had a lot of problems with horsey people on Geograph. They think you taking photo's of their nags to make and online catalogue for hores theaves. Even had one littlle twat start a anti geograph campagne on Facebook. They are right stck up lot. :mad:

if someone was going around taking pics of cars in your street you may get worried too, my wife owns a stables and six horses, other people keep there horses there and they can range from a £1500 "dobin" as they like to call them to my wifes £20000 stud arab, people not only have a financial investment in them but an emotional one too, they are just looking out for there property, horse theft is far more prevelant than most people imagine.

so a softly softly approach may sometimes reap rewards.
 
We have had a lot of problems with horsey people on Geograph. They think you taking photo's of their nags to make and online catalogue for hores theaves. Even had one littlle twat start a anti geograph campagne on Facebook. They are right stck up lot. :mad:

Not all of us are stuck up twats. :D

AND that's from a fellow Geographer. ;)
 
Not all of us are stuck up twats. :D

AND that's from a fellow Geographer. ;)

Not all indeed most have been quite accomodating only the minority have been funny with me and to be perfectly honest I don't even like horses but each to their own. Every landowner has the right to refuse entry to their land and I had to respect their wishes as I've refused entry onto our land before albeit for different reasons.
 
Nice to see these Jonney. Personally I wouldn't revisit there for a good while, they'll be on the lookout so better to keep them onside and make it easier for any future visits. Urbexers have a bad enough name from the few bad apples, why make it worse? One of the senior members of the PSG doesn't even post locations for the large number of unrecorded pillboxes he has found because he doesn't want them visited by anyone.
 
.............................................One of the senior members of the PSG doesn't even post locations for the large number of unrecorded pillboxes he has found because he doesn't want them visited by anyone.

Would that be the same chap that started the 'Urban Cowboys' thread capn? I was pleased to see you had replied to that thread with a more, shall we say, 'rational' tone.
 
Would that be the same chap that started the 'Urban Cowboys' thread capn? I was pleased to see you had replied to that thread with a more, shall we say, 'rational' tone.

I remember reading that,seemed a bit narrow minded to me but each to his own I guess
 
I remember reading that,seemed a bit narrow minded to me but each to his own I guess

John Hellis, to his credit, seems to be advocating avoidance of the 'My pillbox' syndrome, and the member base are very knowledgeable.

You can't see any threads at all unless you're a member, which means that like myself and the capn, you must be too Rich. I think Hydealfred also defended our image on there from memory.

I get email reminders all the time telling me I haven't visited for a while and I know they are aware of exactly who I am. :neutral:
 
Would that be the same chap that started the 'Urban Cowboys' thread capn? I was pleased to see you had replied to that thread with a more, shall we say, 'rational' tone.

It would be, and whilst he is a prolific documenter of sites and one of the most knowledgeable PSG members, keeping site locations to yourself is totally counter to the spirit and aims of the PSG and the majority of urbexers interested in historical sites of any type. I would encourage those of you who aren't members of the PSG forum to join it, as it could do with a slightly more cosmopolitan membership, although the insistence on using real names may discourage some of you. Also it's only 8 quid to join the PSG proper so give it a thought.

There, recruitment effort over, more pics please.
 
It would be, and whilst he is a prolific documenter of sites and one of the most knowledgeable PSG members, keeping site locations to yourself is totally counter to the spirit and aims of the PSG and the majority of urbexers interested in historical sites of any type. I would encourage those of you who aren't members of the PSG forum to join it, as it could do with a slightly more cosmopolitan membership, although the insistence on using real names may discourage some of you. Also it's only 8 quid to join the PSG proper so give it a thought.

There, recruitment effort over, more pics please.

No thanks, I believe in inclusiveness not exclusiveness. :)

Makes me laugh though if they're slagging off this site though. Not one of them has ever been in contact with me with any concerns. Although I may be getting the wrong end of the stick as I'm oblivious to internet politics and don't get involved with it.
 
As a secondary note to this, I personally firmly believe that all unrecorded sites should be reported to the relevant councils HER as they are important historical sites and I have reported and updated many of HER records myself. Since HER records are public, this blows apart any exclusive and misguided notion of "protection". Hiding things away is not a useful way to go about anything.
 
I wouldn't go as far as to say that they're slagging off this site krela. Some of them clearly do have an issue with visiting any site which involves trespass. Hence the 'Urban Exploration Cowboys' thread which appeared on the PSG forum.

A possible underlying reason for the 'niggle' is that some of them are writing books or other publications and we are kind of taking away the impact of such publications if you see what I mean.
 

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