Today is June 6th which was an important date in 1944 and I was reminded of this when we passed remains of some of the many WW2 defences found around Tyningham in East Lothian. In common with other places on the east coast of Britain anti-invasion structures were installed on low lying coasts in 1940 to slow down any German invasion.  One type of defence was made of concrete to stop tanks and armoured vehicles.   Large reinforced concrete blocks were made and placed in lines to prevent any invading vehicles from moving inland. These large concrete cylinders were placed beside a track and could be rolled across if necessary.  Steel bars would have been inserted into the holes in the concrete block and then lowered into the slits of the concrete block on the other side of the track.(extra)  The defences were continued to right and left by a line of cubic blocks.
 
We were glad that we had the freedom to wander as we wanted as this would have been impossible almost 80 years ago. The strong on-shore wind with the sun obscured by haar for much of the time meant that the sunhats and suncream stayed in the bag and we were glad to have our fleeces as we ate our picnic beside the defensive blocks. When we returned to the car the thermometer had risen to 12C and as we drove home the temperature quickly rose to 17.5C but unfortunately cloud then prevented us from having the high temperatures that many others had.  A disappointing end for many people who were hoping to sit out after a busy day at work and one of the troubles with living near the North Sea coast with the sea mist or fog in summer.