Tilehurst Type 26 query !!

Hi all ;
Went searching for this little baby today.It has been misplaced on the D/O/B database overlay for Google Earth and is actually shown as being in a field on the opposite side of the Thames (S0001703).It is very unusual in this part of the world (ie West of Reading) to find a Type 26 pillbox.

It stands on the brow of a hill immeadiately to the side of the main Oxford Road leaving Tilehurst and backs onto a High embankment above the GWR mainline.


What seems unusual is the size of the embrasures !! If you look closely it seems as though they have been partially filled in at sometime.-although if you look at the way the concrete has weathered it couldn't have been long after the box was built- But why leave a small slit opening why not just block it up totally !!
Anyone got any ideas ?

Hi Fluffy...have a look at the link below. It shows a variant which has twin embrasures like yours. I don't know why they've been partially blocked up, but the ones shown on the link below aren't a huge amount larger either.

http://s134542708.websitehome.co.uk/pillboxes/html/type_26_3.html

Is'nt that along side the road, I'm sure I remember seeing it befor now. I have noticed the dicrepency you mentioned, The one shown north of Wallingford bridge is shownin Hydrulics research grounds when in fact it is just bythe swimming pool. Could be for bats by the way.

Nice pics-did you manage to take any photos inside ?

Aha, you found this one:

'Observed from a high speed train' or something. Wondered where it was!! By the Roebuck?

I went to a party in Tilehurst once. Very dodgy place, very uncomfortable

Most interesting -cheers Fluffy

Landie_Man said:

I went to a party in Tilehurst once. Very dodgy place, very uncomfortable

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with Tilehurst lad!

On the flip flop, I went to a party at the Roebuck once, and it was fine.

The box is next door to it but the last tiem I saw itthe pub had shut down. I went past the box on the train today and it looks small and square. On the plus side I did see one just ouside Pangbourn in a small holding that look like it is used for a stable, might be worth investigating.

Yes DN Thats what i read !! Must have amazing PEEPERS that guy !!
I've been scouring the area with my eyes for the past year (virtually every day ) by train and never saw it till last week and i knew it was in the area.How it was spotted in the first place by train is nothing short of a miracle !!!!
PS: I last visited the now defunct Roebuck pub in 1984 wearing a pair of bondage trousers and my leather jacket full of punk rock badges / studs etc only to find it FULL of HELLS ANGELS !!! HOLY SHITE !!! Still had a pint though--just drank it rather quickly !!!!
PPS in those days wasnt interested in lumps of concrete went there for shots of BR class 50 locos on main line services out of PADDINGTON !!! THOSE WERE THE DAYS !!!

Haha, yeah I've had a couple of ganders down there and couldnt see it, even when stood still!!
Now I've seen the photo I remember where it is. Back in my sea scouts days we used to have a boathouse opposite the Roebuck. Spent many a monday night down there.

Still can't figure out the embrasures on this thing though, unless they were purely for observation.
What are they like on the trackside? The same?

Funny thing is i cant remember seeing any embrasures on the railway side just the very slab sided pillbox shape.!! Owing to the undergrowth (even in early March) i couldn't see a way into it either !!!
Now you dont think that very conviniently placed inspection panel (on the pavement in front) is at all sinister do you !!!?

Hmm, now you mention it, yeah!
It's a weird one this one, as if it's exactly where I think is, it'll cover the main road (maybe the railway bridge aswell?), but also overlooks that big railway cutting, which would be a great vantage point for it. Nobody's geting up that embankment in a hurry. I find it hard to imagine the pillbox standing much of a chance if it's intention was to guard the road, rail seems much more logical. Maybe having roadside embrasures would have drawn too much attention on it's weak point. Im quite intrigued, and after finding loads of stuff in Reading that's not on DOB im tempted to add it to the list.

I was bored and had some spare time so I thought I'd investigate this one a bit more.
All of the embrasures have been blocked up like this, although the most likely reason is for bats, I cant help but think it'd be a tight squeeze, even for them.
On the other faces there is only one embrasure, but as much as I tried, I could not find any entrance either, blocked or not. Maybe that inspection panel is the way?
From my research, it seems most of the remaining pillboxes and shelters in Reading's suburbs were either buried over or blocked up in the 50's. That would seem about right for this one by the looks of it.

I did get a couple of pics, Ill pop em up later on.

DigitalNoise said:

I was bored and had some spare time so I thought I'd investigate this one a bit more.
All of the embrasures have been blocked up like this, although the most likely reason is for bats, I cant help but think it'd be a tight squeeze, even for them.
On the other faces there is only one embrasure, but as much as I tried, I could not find any entrance either, blocked or not. Maybe that inspection panel is the way?
From my research, it seems most of the remaining pillboxes and shelters in Reading's suburbs were either buried over or blocked up in the 50's. That would seem about right for this one by the looks of it.

I did get a couple of pics, Ill pop em up later on.

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You could be right about the bats.There's
a pillbox by Freshford nr Bath that has been converted by the local bat group as a bat roost,however by the growth of lichens on the bunged up embrasures in the photos I would guess this one was done sometime before bat conservation became fashionable.

Found bat boxes on one round where I live, there is a photo of them in my thread.

Hope it's OK to be resurrecting an old thread but this pillbox is less than a mile form my house - I walked passed it every day for 6 years on my way to the station.

The slits are there for bats apparently. I've nothing more than my old man's word for that and as everyone knows, father's know it all

There are loads of pillboxes in and around Tilehurst, it was the junction of two parts of the 1940's GHQ Stop Line - if you go a walk in Sulham there's all manner of weird WWII constructions.

Does anyone know if there are any ready plotted walks to explore these locations or where I could find some? Most of the ones I know of are on public land although there are a few in private ownership.

Thanks

Hi Fat_J and welcome to the forum. The link in my sig will take you to the download location for the Google Earth overlay of the Defence of Britain database which should show most of the sites in your area. If any are misplaced or missing please let me know and I'll correct the set accordingly. I tend to use wheresthepath to plan any explorations without trespassing.

Cheers

Steve