DERELICT SUNDAY

Pillbox : a small, above-ground fortification with narrow holes in the walls through which guns can be fired.

We went out after Church, as usual, looking for dereliction and came across three pill boxes between Stanton St. Bernard, near the Alton Barnes White Horse - in fact, in this shot, you can see the White Horse in the distance.

During World War II, Alton Barnes was used by the RAF between 1935 and 1945 for flying training, the runway guarded by these three pillboxes along the A361 Devizes Road and used as defences against possible enemy invasion.

These particular pillboxes appeared to have two entrances and are known as Pentagonal, being regular pentagons in shape, this type only being found at or near airfields.  However, I wasn’t brave enough to go down inside any of them - you never know, there might be rats inside!  

They are well camouflaged with a lot of long grass having grown over them, but of course, the whole point of them is to maintain an element of surprise against the enemy.  I think we may come over again during the summer, to see them even more camouflaged and perhaps peep into one but I will definitely need to have my hand held then.  I have just read that because pillboxes are well dug-in and naturally damp, they provide a stable environment for bats that would otherwise hibernate in caves - that settles it, I shall send Mr. HCB in to take photographs!

It was a beautiful afternoon, as you can see, with a cloudless blue sky and warm sunshine.  We found it very interesting seeing all these structures and having done some research and learning more about them, this has added to our enjoyment of the afternoon.

“A people without the knowledge 
     of their past history,
          origin and culture is like
               a tree without roots.”
Marcus Garvey

P.S.  Thank you for all your kind comments for yesterday's Blip, which are much appreciated.  I was in bed very early and slept for 10 hours!