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Dover Castle is a fascinating place and like many of these sites I visited, I only had time to drop in and see what I wanted to see before departing again, although you really need a whole day to spend there to see everything. On the grounds is this wee memorial.
2307 Dover Bleriot Memorial inscription
The Bleriot memorial is located on a slope to the eastern side of the point on which the castle stands and takes the shape of the Bleriot XI he flew.
2307 Dover Bleriot Memorial
The following image, stolen off the net, was taken from just past the furthest wee bollard, around where the gap in the two wooden fences is, in the previous photo:
https://doverhistorian.files.wordpr...july-1909-plane-courtesy-of-dover-library.jpg
This is the entrance to the tunnel network beneath the castle grounds, from where the RN conducted cross-channel operations and, significantly, Operation Dynamo, the evacuation at Dunkirk was managed. This is where the guided tours start from. Access is via a tour only and is strictly controlled. I don't understand why, but there was no photography allowed, but I didn't find this out until the guide caught me taking a picture of the ops room!
2307 Dover Castle tunnel entrance
Graffiti on the tunnel walls by those who built them.
2307 Dover Castle tunnels graffiti
On the tour, as with most things there days visitors have to suffer rather naff audio visual presentations that give stock video footage of the war up to the point of Dynamo. Really dull, but good to be in the place from where the operation was conceived and conducted.
2307 Dover Castle tunnels
This is the Ops room, from where Dynamo was managed. I was told off for taking photographs in here!
2307 Dover Castle Ops Room
Above ground again, this was an operations bunker built during the Great War and was used for air defence; there was a searchlight on the roof and anti-zeppelin guns in the surrounding spaces.
2307 Dover Castle OP
Dover Castle. Owing to time, I avoided going into 'Medieval World'.
2307 Dover Castle
The ramparts surrounding the castle were far more interesting to me. A 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun in its purpose built enclosure. This was in operation during WW2.
2307 Dover Castle AA gun
Aaah, the White Cliffs...
2307 White Cliffs of Dover
Just outside of Dover on the back road to St Margarets Bay is Swingate and surviving Chain Home towers. Built in 1936, their repurposing in modern times is obvious. Following the decommissioning of Chain Home, they became part of the Swingate Transmitting Station for FM transmissions and there were three towers in existence.
2307 Swingate Chain Home towers
A rather lengthy explanation here: Chain Home - Wikipedia
Swingate itself has considerable significance; the towers are located on the landing ground of a former airfield. Swingate was an RFC and RNAS airfield during the Great War, from where the first aeroplanes to head across to the continent departed. No.s 2, 3, 4 and 5 Squadrons, RFC and the RNAS Eastchurch Flight took off from this field and flew to France in August 1914, where they remained for the next four years. Nothing remains of the hangars that were built here, with this roadway being the only remnant of the site.
2307 Kent Swingate airfield
A memorial to the site's history.
2307 Kent RFC Swingate memorial
Next, Manston airport and the last, last visitor sites.
The Bleriot memorial is located on a slope to the eastern side of the point on which the castle stands and takes the shape of the Bleriot XI he flew.
The following image, stolen off the net, was taken from just past the furthest wee bollard, around where the gap in the two wooden fences is, in the previous photo:
https://doverhistorian.files.wordpr...july-1909-plane-courtesy-of-dover-library.jpg
This is the entrance to the tunnel network beneath the castle grounds, from where the RN conducted cross-channel operations and, significantly, Operation Dynamo, the evacuation at Dunkirk was managed. This is where the guided tours start from. Access is via a tour only and is strictly controlled. I don't understand why, but there was no photography allowed, but I didn't find this out until the guide caught me taking a picture of the ops room!
Graffiti on the tunnel walls by those who built them.
On the tour, as with most things there days visitors have to suffer rather naff audio visual presentations that give stock video footage of the war up to the point of Dynamo. Really dull, but good to be in the place from where the operation was conceived and conducted.
This is the Ops room, from where Dynamo was managed. I was told off for taking photographs in here!
Above ground again, this was an operations bunker built during the Great War and was used for air defence; there was a searchlight on the roof and anti-zeppelin guns in the surrounding spaces.
Dover Castle. Owing to time, I avoided going into 'Medieval World'.
The ramparts surrounding the castle were far more interesting to me. A 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun in its purpose built enclosure. This was in operation during WW2.
Aaah, the White Cliffs...
Just outside of Dover on the back road to St Margarets Bay is Swingate and surviving Chain Home towers. Built in 1936, their repurposing in modern times is obvious. Following the decommissioning of Chain Home, they became part of the Swingate Transmitting Station for FM transmissions and there were three towers in existence.
A rather lengthy explanation here: Chain Home - Wikipedia
Swingate itself has considerable significance; the towers are located on the landing ground of a former airfield. Swingate was an RFC and RNAS airfield during the Great War, from where the first aeroplanes to head across to the continent departed. No.s 2, 3, 4 and 5 Squadrons, RFC and the RNAS Eastchurch Flight took off from this field and flew to France in August 1914, where they remained for the next four years. Nothing remains of the hangars that were built here, with this roadway being the only remnant of the site.
A memorial to the site's history.
Next, Manston airport and the last, last visitor sites.
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There are some places you visited that I didn't even know existed.
