Hi all, I've contributed to the chatter enough on here so I thought it was time to step up to big school and actually post something, I'm a first timer and hope not to exercise the new mods too much with this one.
I take more of a forensic approach so don't expect oodles of locations, probably just one or two lumps of concrete done to death so to speak and with a young family and a hectic job I don't get as much time as I'd like to indulge my hobby so posts will be few and far between.
Living in Derbyshire beyond the river Dove stop line we have a dearth of extant defensive structures, I guess that they figured that by the time Jerry got here it was all over.
I've been doing desktop surveys with GE and the captain's excellent overlay to try and find anything that may have been missed and after a couple of false starts ( a pump valve and a substation) this candidate appeared which unfortunately proved to be on private land. Initially I thought it looked like a type 24 with something built on it as the site is light industrial I figured these would be later structures.
Looking at bing maps the birds eye views seemed to point to something WWII in part. The site used to be the old sinfin Ordnace depot which was built or expanded (depending on the report you read) at the start of hostilities and finally closed passing into private hands in the early 70s. There's a well documented police post (S0012434) on the site.
what pricked my interest was this :
GE sinfin image by fanatical, on Flickr
A while ago still wearing my suit after a client meeting and with a handy excuse in case things went wrong I tail gated a delivery lorry to get through the security barrier so I could have a quick scope to see if my suspicions were correct. happily they were and after a quick leap out and scout round to see what access was like I decided that if I was to get any closer I needed sturdier boots and much much sturdier trousers, so I beat a hasty retreat.
recently I went back sporting a shirt and tie for respectability; sploring keks for practicality; and high vis for security friendliness..... oh and with a better camera, it being a Friday afternoon there was little lorry movement so after 20 minutes I decided that honesty was the best policy. I wandered up to the security gate asking if I could pop through and take a few photos of the bunker on the site, I explained I had PPE and after a moments thought the security guy said yes .. as long as I signed in it would be OK.
Signed in and promising to be back within half an hour I drove round to the PB and started snapping.
Against the clock and without a tripod I apologise for the quality of the pics and the the undergrowth didn't help either ( perhaps a visit in winter is warranted) - There is no internal access although this is blocked not sealed however there is one open embrasure through whcih I grabbed a couple of interior shots.
This plan will help make sense of the pictures it's not to scale but helps with the layout. What's really interesting about this box is it has three LAA wells attached to it - I've never seen this before not sure whether anyone else has - the AA wells are about 4' each side of the octagon and have an interior dimension of about 6' so they may be just rifle pits but going to that trouble doesn't seem to make sense when you have a perfectly good PB to hide in - anyone else shed light on clearances in an AA pit?
sinfin OD PB variant by fanatical, on Flickr
The type 24 is a thin walled version without stepped embrasures so I presume an early build - I couldn't tell whether the rear pistol ports were there due to the backfilled debris and the interior blast walls but their existence or absence would prove whether the AA pits were added later.
The interior is fairly unremarkable, standard fire shelves but oddly the AR wall is split and would consequently allow a round passing through either of the side embrasures to hit the man manning the other one.
here's an overall view
IMG_4631 by fanatical, on Flickr
if you zoom in you can see that the shuttering on the AA wells is misaligned I'm not sure whether this actually suggests a later addition or whether the complexity of the structure and the pour meant it was shuttered separately
The AA wells can be seen more clearly here as can the blocked entrance to what I'm calling the AA lobby which would provide access to all three AA wells an the PB proper
IMG_4632 by fanatical, on Flickr
The embrasures have been sealed in a rudimentary fashion I guess as this is on private land any employee messing about would get a rollicking
IMG_4633 by fanatical, on Flickr
Getting onto the roof the fact that the AA wells and the PB are part of the same structure becomes clear this shows the AA pit lobby to good effect and the entrance to the PB - it's heavily overgrown and full of debris so blocked not sealed.
IMG_4637 by fanatical, on Flickr
The AA wells have been backfilled with debris so theres no way to tell their original depth or what mount if any there once was.
IMG_4639 by fanatical, on Flickr
This seems to show that the last pour was completed on the AA wells and the PB at the same time (the main PB is to the left)
IMG_4640 by fanatical, on Flickr
This shot shows how closely associated the structures are
IMG_4641 by fanatical, on Flickr
and there is some evidence of a metal structure on top of the PB - a frame for Camo nets perhaps?
IMG_4642 by fanatical, on Flickr
Access to the whole complex was through this entrance into the AA lobby
IMG_4644 by fanatical, on Flickr
This shot shows the PB at the North East end of the main depot buildings in WWII this location would have been pretty much smack bang in the middle of the main depot buildings
IMG_4648 by fanatical, on Flickr
A couple of interior shots grabbed with flash whilst holding the SLR in a thicket of brambles - you can see why they boarded it up
IMG_4651 by fanatical, on Flickr
this one shows the split AR wall across to the other embrasure - PB entrance is to the left
IMG_4654 by fanatical, on Flickr
I'm really puzzled by this one I know some of the other ordnance depots have unusual PBs but Ive not seen one like this recorded before.
the site is at risk for development (although halted due to the recession) and the proposed scheme I've seen acknowledges and includes the police post but not this PB - does anyone know how we could get this protected ? does getting it on the HER confer any protection or would it have to be listed? at the very least it's unusual but it could actually be unique and I'd hate this to disappear
there are a few other WWII buildings on the site but they are right under the noses of the current tenants so I didn't want to push my luck - if anyone else plans a visit please be respectful to security it's unusual to get such an affable chap on a gate
I take more of a forensic approach so don't expect oodles of locations, probably just one or two lumps of concrete done to death so to speak and with a young family and a hectic job I don't get as much time as I'd like to indulge my hobby so posts will be few and far between.
Living in Derbyshire beyond the river Dove stop line we have a dearth of extant defensive structures, I guess that they figured that by the time Jerry got here it was all over.
I've been doing desktop surveys with GE and the captain's excellent overlay to try and find anything that may have been missed and after a couple of false starts ( a pump valve and a substation) this candidate appeared which unfortunately proved to be on private land. Initially I thought it looked like a type 24 with something built on it as the site is light industrial I figured these would be later structures.
Looking at bing maps the birds eye views seemed to point to something WWII in part. The site used to be the old sinfin Ordnace depot which was built or expanded (depending on the report you read) at the start of hostilities and finally closed passing into private hands in the early 70s. There's a well documented police post (S0012434) on the site.
what pricked my interest was this :
GE sinfin image by fanatical, on Flickr
A while ago still wearing my suit after a client meeting and with a handy excuse in case things went wrong I tail gated a delivery lorry to get through the security barrier so I could have a quick scope to see if my suspicions were correct. happily they were and after a quick leap out and scout round to see what access was like I decided that if I was to get any closer I needed sturdier boots and much much sturdier trousers, so I beat a hasty retreat.
recently I went back sporting a shirt and tie for respectability; sploring keks for practicality; and high vis for security friendliness..... oh and with a better camera, it being a Friday afternoon there was little lorry movement so after 20 minutes I decided that honesty was the best policy. I wandered up to the security gate asking if I could pop through and take a few photos of the bunker on the site, I explained I had PPE and after a moments thought the security guy said yes .. as long as I signed in it would be OK.
Signed in and promising to be back within half an hour I drove round to the PB and started snapping.
Against the clock and without a tripod I apologise for the quality of the pics and the the undergrowth didn't help either ( perhaps a visit in winter is warranted) - There is no internal access although this is blocked not sealed however there is one open embrasure through whcih I grabbed a couple of interior shots.
This plan will help make sense of the pictures it's not to scale but helps with the layout. What's really interesting about this box is it has three LAA wells attached to it - I've never seen this before not sure whether anyone else has - the AA wells are about 4' each side of the octagon and have an interior dimension of about 6' so they may be just rifle pits but going to that trouble doesn't seem to make sense when you have a perfectly good PB to hide in - anyone else shed light on clearances in an AA pit?
sinfin OD PB variant by fanatical, on Flickr
The type 24 is a thin walled version without stepped embrasures so I presume an early build - I couldn't tell whether the rear pistol ports were there due to the backfilled debris and the interior blast walls but their existence or absence would prove whether the AA pits were added later.
The interior is fairly unremarkable, standard fire shelves but oddly the AR wall is split and would consequently allow a round passing through either of the side embrasures to hit the man manning the other one.
here's an overall view
IMG_4631 by fanatical, on Flickr
if you zoom in you can see that the shuttering on the AA wells is misaligned I'm not sure whether this actually suggests a later addition or whether the complexity of the structure and the pour meant it was shuttered separately
The AA wells can be seen more clearly here as can the blocked entrance to what I'm calling the AA lobby which would provide access to all three AA wells an the PB proper
IMG_4632 by fanatical, on Flickr
The embrasures have been sealed in a rudimentary fashion I guess as this is on private land any employee messing about would get a rollicking
IMG_4633 by fanatical, on Flickr
Getting onto the roof the fact that the AA wells and the PB are part of the same structure becomes clear this shows the AA pit lobby to good effect and the entrance to the PB - it's heavily overgrown and full of debris so blocked not sealed.
IMG_4637 by fanatical, on Flickr
The AA wells have been backfilled with debris so theres no way to tell their original depth or what mount if any there once was.
IMG_4639 by fanatical, on Flickr
This seems to show that the last pour was completed on the AA wells and the PB at the same time (the main PB is to the left)
IMG_4640 by fanatical, on Flickr
This shot shows how closely associated the structures are
IMG_4641 by fanatical, on Flickr
and there is some evidence of a metal structure on top of the PB - a frame for Camo nets perhaps?
IMG_4642 by fanatical, on Flickr
Access to the whole complex was through this entrance into the AA lobby
IMG_4644 by fanatical, on Flickr
This shot shows the PB at the North East end of the main depot buildings in WWII this location would have been pretty much smack bang in the middle of the main depot buildings
IMG_4648 by fanatical, on Flickr
A couple of interior shots grabbed with flash whilst holding the SLR in a thicket of brambles - you can see why they boarded it up
IMG_4651 by fanatical, on Flickr
this one shows the split AR wall across to the other embrasure - PB entrance is to the left
IMG_4654 by fanatical, on Flickr
I'm really puzzled by this one I know some of the other ordnance depots have unusual PBs but Ive not seen one like this recorded before.
the site is at risk for development (although halted due to the recession) and the proposed scheme I've seen acknowledges and includes the police post but not this PB - does anyone know how we could get this protected ? does getting it on the HER confer any protection or would it have to be listed? at the very least it's unusual but it could actually be unique and I'd hate this to disappear
there are a few other WWII buildings on the site but they are right under the noses of the current tenants so I didn't want to push my luck - if anyone else plans a visit please be respectful to security it's unusual to get such an affable chap on a gate
Last edited:
