Pillboxes, thrills and heartache!: Swinley Forest (Bagshot)

I finally took my first trip out of the year last week due to the usual winter of flooding, cold, wind and lovely British weather. Winter is the best time to go out Pillbox hunting. Most of the pillboxes are more readily exposed due to bare branches finally exposing what is often the needle in the haystack task of Pillbox hunting. If entering onto a farmers land there is less chance of an irate farmer chasing you across fields and challenging you. In such instances it's always best to seek permission and engage anyone who owns the land before attempting to sneak around and pee anybody off.
In this instance i had nothing to worry about as i was just going for a lovely walk in Swinley Forest and then driving to the localities of the other defences around Deepcut and Pirbright. The preparation was made as usual by mapping my route on an OS map, detailing what i was expecting to find. Feeling a little rusty after a 6 month lay off from this passion of mine i packed my food, drink, ciggies, torch, maps and ensured my camera and phone were both fully charged. The day itself turned out to be a balmy 20 degrees and perfect weather for a lazy stroll around in the solitude of Swinley Forest. Parking up in a local pub car park i made my way along the A30 to Park view,

The only real surprise of the day was the sight of 4 cylinders which had dual purpose. Primarily they were used as aircraft stays/tie downs but were doubled up to provide quick and mobile effective roadblocks.
Sat right on the corner of Park View and the A30.

A gentle walk up Church Lane to view the war memorial and then up the aptly named Vicarage road and i was finally off into Swinley Forest.

Swinley Forest is still just starting to recover from a fire which devastated a large section of this area and with the logging in the area, low laying gorse and tinder dry grass it is seemingly bleak but remote and an ideal haven for anyone seeking isolation. A 15 minute walk along the track, under and over a fence and i spotted the first of two pillboxes set up on the upper ground.

As with most pillboxes located close to urban areas but remote enough - the pillbox is frustratingly heavily chavved up. Rubbish strewn around inside and evidence that the internals had been set on fire at some point in the past.

5 embrasures in all with the man field of fire looking down from its commanding position into the valley.

View of the recessed porch detailing the cammo ties.

Internal shot of a gun embrasure showing the embrasure shutter hinge mounts, and the area for the fixing plate for an LMG. The shutters were usually made out of asbestos and on occasion on a well preserved pillbox - these are still to be found in place. Attached to the inside of the shutter would have been a hook and wire which would enable the shutter to be closed and fixed in place from the inside. The shutters were designed only for blackout purposes. In addition, hessian sacking was used as an internal blackout curtain.

A shot of the twin embrasures and damaged interior due to fire.

Having sat down for a breather to soak in the mid-morning sun and the cooling breeze, i then moved off to locate the second pillbox which was sat to the rear and in a clearing.

Marked up on the DoB layer as :

PILLBOX: S0011122

I'm not sure how or what caused such structural damage to the entry porch to the Pillbox but there is complete separation from the body of the pillbox. Perhaps a half hearted attempt was made to destroy this pillbox, but in such a location i cannot see the reason why that would need to happen. After the war why the land was reclaimed back by the farming community each farmer was given £5 to get rid of a pillbox by any means at their disposal. No mean feat and thankfully something that meant the farmer often just left the defences in situ and either incorporated them into existing field boundaries or simply farmed around them.

The image below shows part of the blackout curtain rail.

Still within the confines of Swinley Forest and located on one of the offshoot paths of Lower Star Post is a large configuration of pimples, rails, AT ditch, Dragons teeth and the overall combination is intriguing. Detail is sketchy about this area but it is thought to be a D-Day training area. Much of the defence works are partially buried under dried out ferns and so it is difficult to detail how much is actually laid out and hidden. The walk to this area was pleasant despite me losing my bearings at one point and having to locate myself on GE and then regain my bearings. Much of the area is either tree stumps, roughly hewn ditches and so as a result, very difficult to get a location point.

Sat out in the wooded area past the AT ditch, there is a plethora of pimples and teeth. The photograph below shows teeth that are not in their natural position and have probably been moved and laid onto their sides.

The AT ditch to the side of the defence works. Now used as an off road cycling area,

PILLBOX (PREFABRICATED): S0011018

Walking back and heading over the main road to what i hoped would be the prefabricated pillbox i eventually found a route over to the railbridge where is should have been located. No such luck. It has possibly been destroyed. There is a large telecoms mast and an old water storage container in this area. The only evidence of some form of structure is detailed below but looks to be too heavy a build for a prefab.

Finally back out into the car and a drive past some areas of interest which i would pick up on a second visit out to the area. I drove past Pirbright Firing Ranges and headed off towards Blackdown Barracks.Parking up in Old Bisley Road i walked back to the pillbox sat on the junction of Deepcut Bridge Road.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0010170

A type 24 pillbox which is bricked up and with the embrasures rather crudely plated up.

Official designation: FW3/24
Shape: Irregular hexagonal
Five faces of 8ft (2.4m) in length externally and a rear face of 13ft (3.96m) with two rifle loops and an entrance 2ft (61cm) wide.
Those with thinner walls (up to 15ins) have rifle embrasures built in; the thicker-walled version (up to 24ins) has pre-formed embrasures designed to accommodate light machine guns (LMG’s).

Back into the car and along the B3012 south of Basingstoke canal and at the S Bend of Brunswick Road and the rail bridge. There are a cluster of defence works which would have had the duel purpose of protecting the rail bridge and Elizabeth Barracks on the other side of Basingstoke canal.

PILLBOX: S0010182

A type 22 pillbox sat facing towards the bridge approach. Further back towards the Basingstoke Canal would have been another pillbox but this has been removed.

Official designation: fw3/22
Shape: hexagonal
Walls are around 12″- 15″ (30-40cm) thick
Internal measurement between opposite walls is around 10ft (3m)
There are usually (but not always) rifle loops in five of the six walls and an entrance in the sixth.

AT cylinder on its side and laying off to the side of the road. Further down the track and heading off towards the Canal bridge are further examples which seem haphazardly placed at the bottom of and AT ditch.