Blyth Battery Goes To War Weekend (Blyth Northumberland)

Last Sunday the 20.05.18 I visited my local Beach with the camera gear. where there were re enactments of how our soldiers defended our coast line back in the war. With Blyth being a main port for submarines in World War One and World War Two. The main grass area next to the car park was full of tents with people dressed up as they would of been as a soldier. One the floor were guns, equipment, ammo and all the supplies needed to camp out over a long period of time. there were also transport vehicles, jeeps a motorbike and an old fire engine with the water pump set up it would use on a trailer. also other tents set up a little way along the dunes. all surrounding the battery buildings. live singers singing songs from the war. fair ground rides for kids and lots a stalls selling sweets etc.

There was also a Rolls-Royce Meteor Merlin Engine on a trailer that actually still worked. Exciting stuff!!. The V12 750hp 27 Litre engine developed by Rover. Think it was used in the B52 planes. I was in the middle of taking some photos of some beautiful birds of prey they had there when I heard it fire up into life, so I quickly moved down the car park and managed to get up close and get a video of it on my phone. The huge roar of the engine could be felt through your body and the ground shaking as it was revved up. spitting flames from the exhaust, popping and banging. it uses a litre of fuel every minute. Even the smell was awsome, afterwards we were aloud to go up and have an even closer look.
Although I was feeling a bit rough from the night before I really enjoyed my afternoon out with the camera. below is a brief history on the battery and below some photos of the day. which can also be seen on my Facebook page and Instagram. Enjoy folks!!


World War One History

Blyth Battery is a coastal defence artillery battery, built in 1916 to defend the port of Blyth and the submarine base there during World War I, and upgraded for re-use during World War II. It is the most intact, accessible and intelligible coast defence battery on the North East and Yorkshire coast, with individual buildings and features of considerable rarity. It comprises two building groups – a twin coast defence gun emplacement and a twin searchlight emplacement, each with associated buildings, mostly in concrete with some brick. Each building group was in a compound surrounded by a fence, and the entire Battery was served by temporary hutment camps for off-duty personnel on adjoining land. Some buildings are partially sunken or built into dunes to conceal or protect them, and some were partially concealed with false roofs and structures.

Post WWI History

It was handed over to the local authority in 1925 and, although recommissioned for World War II, has since been absorbed into the wider recreational use of the Links, a 2-mile stretch of formal and informal open space south of Blyth town centre, comprising a long concave beach, dunes, mown grass and car-parks. All the Battery’s main buildings survive, most being vacant though some are in leisure-related use. Virtually all signs of the compounds, temporary hutment camps and false concealment structures are gone. The Battery’s buildings are scheduled and listed Grade II. The site is also within a local nature reserve.

Blyth Battery is open now til September every weekend for visitors to look inside also toured guides and volunteers to answer all your questions.

St Mary's Lighthouse

Over the last week I've visited St Mary's Light House a few times with the camera. the first was Easter Sunday and the tide was in with a horrible easterly wind making big waves crash against the promenade and up the bank towards the car park. My second visit was yesterday 06/04/18, sun was shining blue sky and the tide was out. great for getting some better pictures of the island, rock pools and the lighthouse itself. below is a brief history on the light house along with pictures from my visits there. Enjoy!


History:

The lighthouse and adjacent keepers' cottages were built in 1898 by the John Miller company of Tynemouth, using 645 blocks of stone and 750,000 bricks. It was built on the site of an 11th-century monastic chapel, whose monks maintained a lantern on the tower to warn passing ships of the danger of the rocks. The lamp was powered by paraffin, and was not electrified until 1977, St Mary's was by then the last Trinity House lighthouse lit by oil.

Decommissioning:

The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1984 (just two years after its conversion to automatic operation). At the time, its fine first-order fresnel lens was removed by Trinity House and put on display in their museum in Penzance. A few years later, St Mary's was opened as a visitor attraction by the local council. In place of the original, Trinity House offered a smaller optic from their decommissioned lighthouse at Withernsea, and this can still be seen at the top of the tower. Following closure of the Penzance lighthouse museum, the original lens was returned to St Mary's in 2011 to be put on display.

The lighthouse Today:

Since 2012 St Mary's lighthouse has been grade II listed. While it no longer functions as a working lighthouse, it is easily accessible (when the tide is out) and regularly open to visitors; in addition to the lighthouse itself there is a small museum, a visitor's centre, and a cafe. The cottage was upgraded with a wood pellet boiler in 2014.