Continuing out towards Harwich and the Stena terminal, we noticed a McDonald's. We dropped in to check on the bank transfer. No surprise — it hadn't gone through. But we had the bright idea of using our MasterCard to make the booking instead. That worked, and we booked a crossing for tomorrow morning,
This left us with the whole day to play with, so we decided to take a day off and go touring, to Landguard Fort, the site of the first (and last) marines defence of the British mainland, against the Dutch, in 1667.
We had a wonderful day at Landguard. It happened to be 'Talk like a pirate day', so there were lots of activities happening with a pirate theme. The guides, in pirate costume, were delighting greatly in taking muskets up to the walkway round the inner parade ground and firing them off. The walls round the parade ground focused the sound into it, and the noise was phenomenal — much to the delight of the kids, and one springer spaniel, who was eagerly anticipating the command to rush into the water to bring the bird back to shore!
The history of Landguard is fascinating, in that it had never been out of service between 1540 (when Henry VIII's fort was built on the point) right up until its final decommissioning in 1956. A particularly famous battle took place here in 1667 when a force of 800 Dutch marines tried twice to storm the fortress, but were successfully repulsed by the 200-man garrison under Captain Nathaniel Darrell. An interesting sidelight is that the cannon shot from the fort, striking the shingle beach, effectively raised the beach's pebbles as shrapnel — what would have been called 'grapeshot' at the time — against the invading Dutch. Landguard was responsible for maintaining the minefield guarding Harwich Haven (the only major deep-water port between London and the River Humber) The Haven also witnessed the surrender of the German submarine fleet in 1918. The fort was a major anti-aircraft defence against the Germans during the Battle of Britain, lying right beneath the main German flight path into London.
Gertie waiting patiently in the car park!
In the 1870s, a 12.5 inch gun like this 38-ton giant
fired an 818 pound shell up 4,000 yards,
using two 80 pound cartridges of gunpowder.
It took 17 men 5 minutes to fire a round!
Gertie waiting patiently in the car park!
In the 1870s, a 12.5 inch gun like this 38-ton giant
fired an 818 pound shell up 4,000 yards,
using two 80 pound cartridges of gunpowder.
It took 17 men 5 minutes to fire a round!
After spending time in the fort, we went round to the Landguard Nature Reserve, wandered round the outsides of the fort, and towards the major container shipping terminal of Felixstowe. This is a popular daytime jaunt for the locals, who like to walk the shingle beach, go bird-watching or blackberry-picking, or fishing, or rock-skimming across the water, or just watching the activity loading and unloading the containers from the huge ships. There's a cafe right at the viewing pint, and it's very popular!
Our luncheon companion at our table!
Our luncheon companion at our table!
On our way back from Landguard, we picked a layby on the way back towards Harwich and the Stena Terminal. Purely by chance, we happened upon the same layby we had stopped at about a year ago, on our way to Sutton Hoo!
Gertie and her bedtime companion
The moles have been busy!
Another stunning sunset!
Distance driven — today, 95 miles ( 153 km ); to date, 28,919 miles ( 46,541 km )
Lost another message into cyber space. Don't know how to get them back. Loved the bunny/hare and the ?partridge. The moles had indeed been busy-dangerous for walking in that paddock. If they are blind why do they burrrow up to the open? ventilation? Earthworms on the way? Take care and much love Cathy
ReplyDeleteLandguard plus blunderbussed pirates looked to be a giggle. Those cannons were huge-part of my cyberspace message! cathy
ReplyDelete7 days in Holland? What is it like? Do tell. Have read the last four enough now. love Cathy
ReplyDelete