M3 Corridor - GHQ line - Dipley Copse to Damale's Farm

Continuing off on the trail of the defences around Dipley i made a very very early start the next morning.  Once there was sufficient light to safely cross the boggy woodland i headed out across the fields of Dipley Copse.  Marked up and eventually found were 7 pillboxes which were in varying condition.  Some, despite being covered in foliage were relatively easy to access.  Once certainly wasn't and was completely covered in brambles. One was only possible to see from one side of a hedgerow and completely covered and inaccessible from the other side.  the other Pillboxes i managed to cut my way in using the secateurs which are now a vital part of my equipment used when going out hunting.  Hating bramble and Hawthorn bushes with a vengeance, i can tolerate the nettles, but not getting spiked and caught up in the thorns.  

Still, dawn was breaking through and judging by the grey old sky - i knew the day would be cut short by the rain.  I eventually finished up at 10.30 and made my way home.

Running in a line along the copse and behind a small brook, there are three pillboxes.  After that the ground clears into open fields where there is an extended line of four pillboxes.  Onto the first of the three:


PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24):S0011201

North of Murrell Green.  Facing North.
Completely covered up and it was only using my torch that i managed to locate the pillbox in the low light.  It was hidden in amongst the hawthorne, nettle and ivy.  I managed to cut a crawl through - just enough for me to get in and so i only took the torch and camera with me.

 

The first evidence of a cammo mount in place.

PILLBOX :S0011172

Off the Dipley - Phoenix Green road, signposted 'Borough Court'. 

The EDoB states this as unclassified, and referring to my small plan it has an X shaped AT wall, three embrasures and is square in design.  This is not a small pillbox as you can see.  The exterior brick shuttering is again splitting away due to the usual passage of time and trees taking root anywhere they can.  To me it looks like a Type 26 variant.  The design of the Pillbox is also unusual for the GHQ line.

PILLBOX :S0011200The exteriors were only possible from the side and the rear and these were minimal to say the least.

Crossing the field and getting to the location of a type 24 S0011171, which was completely covered in brambles, i cut my way through 2FT of brambles before it beat me.  I could not see a hint of brickwork that would have encouraged me to carry on.  this pillbox is set low in the ground so even that never heped me to wade through enough of the brambles to even stand on its roof.  This one had me beat for now.  I shall return to this are with heavy shears to give it another go.  After so much effort, i then walked across to the other pillbox which initially looked to be in the same condition.  Thankfully this one was just covered in head height ferns and nettles- an easier option of just wading through and kicking back the ferns around the shuttering.


PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24):S0011171
Success at last.

The view of both pillboxes.  S0011171 is to the right of the photo.

Walking up along the track and sat in the line of the trees to the left of the field.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24):S0011203

Again so heavily overgrown that i was happy that  managed to get inside.  Some nice little period features still remain.

Walking up the track and following the line of the fields as if heading up towards Damale's Farm is another Type 24 sat facing across another adjacent field.  Despite attempting to jump the steep bank, this was too dangerous for me so i took the only shot of the pillbox i could, checked back on myself and was greeted with an impenetrable mass of nettles.

Thanks for reading the report.

M3 Corridor Hazeley

Part two of this report into Hazeley and its surrounding areas yielded a large concentration of pillboxes in the are of Bannisters Copse, Stoken Lane just north of Dipley, Hazeley Heath and Hazeley Bottom.  The area lays in a natural dip in the land and some of the pillboxes offer a commanding position overlooking Creek Farm.  There is still one pillbox mapped which i never visited mainly due to it being in the rear on someone's garden but it's there for future reference.  The concentration in the area is amazing with seven pillboxes in this area alone.  These are connected to the line of defences that were detailed in the previous report.  This line of defences takes us to Church Crookham and connects through to Aldershot and Farnham.  Church  Cookham lies on the GHQ line - the most important of a number of fortified Stop Lines constructed as a part of the British Anti-Invasion preparations. This is one of the most heavily fortified sections of that line.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0011184  

On the lane from Mattingley to Hartley Wintney and Hazeley Bottom. 

Cycling down a dirt track until i came out onto terra firma at last on the junction of Stoken Lane, i placed the bike into the tree line and went looking for the first of the pillboxes along this lane.  Sat on the right of the road as you look towards Creek Farm, the area was again damp, dark and loaded with mossies.  The prevalence for Holly Bushes in this area meant i had to hack my way through to the field that the pillbox was sat against.  The embrasures faced out onto the road but the visibility in this area has long gone with the dense growth of trees and bushes.  

The embrasure facing towards the road.  As you can see from the gloom in there, not fun!!

Part of the shuttering has fallen away.

Initially fine with the cows in the fields - they are certainly nosy buggers and came wandering over to have a closer look at me.  I must be a cow magnet.  For a while, with me not wanting to scare them off - i hunkered up in the pillbox until the burping, farting beasts lost enough interest in me for me to get out and continue on my way.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0011180

Opposite Creek Farm. Type 24 pillbox; brick-shuttered - faces W. Pillbox - type 24. Waterlogged. X-shaped internal blast wall. Embrasure shutters in place. 

These pillboxes are posted up in the sequence that i visited them as i intended to double back on myself and eventually head back the way i came.  Therefore this pillbox is in the field up the lane from Creek Farm and is a part of the line of pillboxes that connect through from Hazeley Farm through to the weirs and Dipley Farm further south.  

If you look closely at the photograph below you will see slight indentations at the leading edge of the roof where cammo poles were originally on place.  

Even during the summer months there is still evidence of a tide mark on the inside of the pillbox.  As this is at the bottom of the field this must be a natural run off.  I must have got to it at low tide but it was still flooded out.

The 'Fletton' process was invented in Fletton, Peterborough in 1891.  Fletton bricks are made from Lower Oxford clays: this clay has certain qualities of stiffness which enables it to be stamped into the shape of a brick under hight pressure. The process uses clay straight from the ground and no added water.  The unfired bricks are therefore placed into kilns with no pre-drying, making it a faster and more effective way of producing bricks in vast quantities.  The relative cheapness of the whole process is at the expense of the external appearance of the brick, and its ability to withstand great external stresses. 

View overlooking the area of Creek Farm and the hedgerow where another pillbox sits in the field.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0006792

Opposite Creek Farm, S of 'Shoulder of Mutton', Hazeley. 

Sat in the brow of the field and affording a field of fire across to the approach road of Red Hill towards Hazeley.

X shaped AR wall.

A tantalizing shot (below) of the pillbox sat in the field and right on the hedge line of the lane. Despite a second visit to the area i still couldn't get to this one.  I will need to seek permission from the farmer. 

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0011179

ANTI TANK CYLINDER: S0011177

On the riverside by the bridge at Dipley, nr. Mattingley. 

Driving down into Dipley itself, there were two pillboxes and the above Anti Tank Cylinders.  One of the Pillboxes was located in the car park of a disused or converted pub and being of small village mentality - as soon as i turned up i was challenged and asked what i was doing.  At first it was thought i was off for some illegal fishing!!.  Err no.  I only managed to get to the cylinders before darkness closed in and need to revisit for the pillbox sat further up in Dipley Mill and the first pillbox mentioned.  The area where the cylinders are located had been turned into a picturesque typical quaint village garden.  The lawns were excellently maintained and as you can see, the Cylinders were partially obscured by flowers.  The entrance into the garden was a tight squeeze though!