Aldershot Command: Fleet / Farnham stop line

Aldershot Command: Fleet / Farnham stop line

Crookham to Ewshot


Where do i start. 31 pillboxes over 2 days of being out there. I still never got to everything due to rain stopping play today. The first day out was sunny and the second lashed it down with a thunderstorm which trapped me a few times in pillboxes waiting for it to abate. During the two days out i got permission to view in a rear garden, on farm land which threw up a 24 which is not on the DoB (big thanks to the farmer who was very helpful in directing me and allowing me free range over his property), and another sat on Tadpole lane which is either not on the DoB or in the wrong location. A more thorough bit of background research might throw up a few more goodies for me as there are apparently 72 pillboxes in the area. Going around in circles on MOD property got me 2 out of the 8 pillboxes so i need another visit over there. Walking is permissible in the area so i had no need to panic. Being on MOD training ground it felt like a BFT was being groaned out of my tired bones at that point. That is when the heavens opened briefly and i got fed up hunting for elusive pillboxes in head height ferns. I was also directed over to another pillbox not on the DoB but i need to confirm this. This will be posted up in the order that i visited - so erratic !!

Anyhow:

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0008858


Sat up on a back in a junction and sat in a corner of a field, the usual explore of crawling on hands and knees to get through the bushes. I have learnt rapidly to double layer up to prevent too much damage from scratches. I also take those trusty secateurs with me to cut my way through and area that would very often make it inadvisable to attempt. The worst obstacle being dried out brambles.

Chicken wire netting and cammo hooks.









PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0007843

On the Western edge of Ewshot Lane, South of Stillers Farm, Ewshot. This pillbox was fairly overgrown so i gave it a little clean up to get the photos i needed. It's also a great time for a break, catch my breath and map read to plan my next pillbox. Thankfully this area is so concentrated in defences that i wouldn't have to go too far.











Having such a flooded interior it often means perching precariously on the edge and firing off a few photos around the AR wall in the hope that a decent photo can come of it all. The drop off in distance for a flash can often be disappointing and i try to use natural light if available. I have come of second best sometimes with a flooded interior.

The last remaining evidence of an AT ditch that ran down the side of Riddings Copse.





PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0011104

Avondale Lawn Tennis Club, Crookham. Parking up opposite to the club and with polite applause and the ping of the tennis ball, i walked past the bored children watching their parents fulfilling their dreams. I walked into the club and asked for permission to visit the pillbox which was sat to the rear of the tennis club house. Permission granted i could walk around at leisure and go about my business. 

Again a flooded interior. The damp mark up on the side of the internal walls indicates i caught this pillbox at low tide.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0007844

A permission visit as the crop was being bought in on the adjacent fields where i wished to visit a pillbox. The farmer was fantastic and we sat and killed some time talking about the late crop going over. The crop being harvested was valued at 100K and sadly past its best. Lovely bloke who was so helpful in directing me to the pillboxes.
In a field full of frisky horses who thankfully kept away from me while i cut a way into the entrance. I seemed to need to do this to most of the pillboxes but it was something i needed to do to get to the interiors.

After chopping away at the brambles i could finally climb into the pillbox. Interesting crawling in backwards into a flooded pillbox!! I almost came a cropper in this one by falling in backwards with one of my feet still outside the entrance.

Having had a really great chat with the farmer, i fully expected to just get to the one pillbox in the field. I was so grateful when he also pointed me in the direction of another pillbox that was sat more centrally in the field. This is so often why it is better to engage a farmer and seek permission as local knowledge is so much more informative than a stranger with a map.

Sat in an adjacent field and under a small copse of trees lay this 24. Not marked up on the DoB.

Now marked up on the DoB. It had originally been marked up as a removed pillbox and not plotted from an original survey done of the area.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0011101

Again my lack of gardening skills were put to the test.



Another flooded interior.

Heavily damaged on the brick shuttering.

Flash earth link to pillbox position.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.24....7&r=0&src=msl

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0011106

On the N side of the A287 road, E of its junction with Redfield Lane, Crondall.
Again a mass of cutting was required to expose a way in and around the pillbox. I never do easy!!

Again a flooded interior prevented me walking around inside.

 

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0007863

On bank below house at junction of Church Lane and Tadpole Lane, Ewshot.
The roof of this pillbox has been incorporated into a patio and as a result it is not possible to enter.

As you can see the embrasures are built onto different levels and so though based on a type 24 build - this could be classed as an unusual and interesting variant.











On bank on North side of Dare's Lane, West of Ewshot village.









Again having to chop my way into the pillbox.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0016930
At East end of ridge overlooking Ewshot Recreation Ground.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0006795
Towards the East end of ridge overlooking Ewshot village.

This ridge leads down to a line or 24's and two Vickers Emplacements. The area is very heavily defended with another two Vickers Machine gun Posts and a further heavy concentration of Type 24's in Riddings Copse.

Skipping the first Vickers emplacement due to a couple sunbathing on top of it, i went to the next one and then the 24 further in the field. I came back for the Vickers later on that day.

VICKERS MACHINE GUN EMPLACEMENT: S0007861











The view of the blast wall to the left and the main entrance to the Gun emplacement to the right.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0007862

















Sat in the middle of two Vickers MG Emplacements the one i need to visit next is sat in the background of this photograph.



The array of fortifications in this area is massive and not surprising considering the proximity to British Army bases. As a result of this the reports will be broken up and documented in sections. The area is an amazing place to visit as a result.

Thanks for reading this report.