I stopped at the Cafe on the cliffs overlooking Canty Bay the other Sunday and to a walk along above the cliffs to have another look at the Buildings of Gin Head...
This is of coarse where top secret radar jamming techniques using captured German radar were used along with another invention called Windows where foil strips dropped from aircraft led German Radar to believe a huge force of ships was heading to Port de Calais and that the force heading for Normandy was a decoy, this fooling deployment is responsable for saving countless lives of soldiers as the Tank regiments were kept at Calais...
Buccaneer nose cone used used for radar testing equipment during the Cold War Years
Perched on the cliffs this place would make the ultimate man cave with all the out buildings that could be used to keep all your toys, there is even a crane to move your non running military stuff!...
With my second Surly Pugsley 2.0 built and rolling 29+ I went a cycle east out of town a short ride to stretch the legs, G was working day shift so after some time in the Man cave it was good to get a wee cycle in...
Always a pleasure to visit the Dunbear and have the place to yourself,
Got a load of pictures of the newly built bike...
As you will see the build is everything that was on the first build of the other Pugsley 2.0 bike!
I followed the cycle path down to Dunglass bridges beside the A1 on the county border with Berwickshire to go have a look again at a WW2 artefact still visible today...
Rewind to June 1940, The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had been evacuated off France at Dunkirk and things did not look good for the future of the UK as we knew it, We were on our knees with most military equipment wrecked and abandonded on the beach at Dunkirk, shipping being sunk at an alarming rate by U boats in the Atlantic we were an island and very much now on our own...
The likely hood of An invasion by an Army that had swept through Europe in 6 weeks was very real indeed...
Remaining Army which was now also made up of French and Polish troops that escaped were put to work helping building coastal defences that would try to slow any landings, And your always seeing many of these defences still visible today on our beach cycling rides, along with Anti tank traps and blocks , machine gun pill boxes, barbed wire, landmines etc...
The home guard were tasked with preparing to try slow any landing that made it ashore by blowing up railway and road bridges on major routes, it was believed The wide East Lothian beaches were a prime landing area in German plans for forces to then move to capture Lieth docks in Edinburgh, then with the Royal Navy taken care of by U Boats the door would have been open for occupation of Scotland...
The bridge beside the present A1 bridge over the Dean was in June 1940 along with everywhere else prepped for demolition...
Take a walk underneath and you can see the sandbag walls still there where the explosives would have been placed, the sand has kind of turned more into a hard fine gravel in over 80 years...
Returning home I followed the John Muir Way (JMW) coastal trail towards Torness and reflected on just how close things were in 1940 to changing forever. It puts into real content just how amazing people were back then in their resilience and resourcefulness and helping each other during dark times. That summer of 1940 must have felt like an eternity as a handful of RAF fighter planes and young pilots fought and for many died and were horrifically burned and scarred for life battling for Air superiority, and Londoners then endured the Blitz bombing but did not give in, but got stronger, as did the RAF...
Were an amazing country with an amazing history though most folk nowadays don't give a moments thought as they walk past war memorials.
Most of the Men and Woman that survived WW2 are now no longer with us but they will always be remembered...
Humans are still having wars when you see Ukraine today, I guess humans are destined to destroy the planet and each other, were definitely having a good go at it...
Anyhows best make the most of life and enjoy your hobbies and interests with your loved ones and friends...
Since a kid i loved coming out here with my Dad and looking at the WW2 stuff that's nearly all still visible in the growing dune system above the high tide line at Gullane point, today all on the Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve. Most of the tank blocks are still in amazingly good condition despite being built in the summer of 1940 as Great Britain hurriedly built the coastal Crust anti invasion defence barrier along the east coast of the UK for the expected defence against the German War Machine that had swept right through Western Europe taking many countries by total surprise...
Some soldiers of other countries including Poland escaped to the UK to carry on their fight and were involved in helping with the construction....
The spelling of Wednesday as `Wedenesday` a possible clue on this block dated 21st August as most of the signed blocks here were set on or around that date that the makers signed before they had dried...
Not sure how a German military mark was left though it is reversed... prob a youngster having a laugh...
Though as we read today the reality of invasion was very real indeed and things could have been very different today if things had went there Germans way...
Wonder what T Black did after the war?... his named is etched in several...
The blocks ran high across the Reserve and along the coast to Aberlady, where they again started at Gosford Bay at Green Craig all the way to Port Seaton and must have been some sight...
The Anti Tank stopping blocks were just one measure, Anti glider poles on flat areas, mine fields, Machine Gun Pill boxes, trenches behind machine gun pilll boxes, ant tank trenches, flame fourgasse sites, barbed wire and mortar mounted were hastily built... all to slow an invading force to allow deployment of defenders...
I uncovered this mortar mound a few years ago and around the same time found and uncovered one at Fernie Ness both situated on a slightly raised area overlooking their target areas...
The large machine gun pill box has nearly disappeared and gives an indication of the growth of these dunes as it would have once looked out across the flat sands and today has a 70 foot dune in front of it, I wonder what else is buried out here amongst the blown sand?...
Wee film, song is `Seeya Later` by Boards Of Canada
Monday cycle with good friend Sanny who visited for a cycle around some WW2 coastal defences, we visited several areas starting at Drem Airfield, site of the former WW1 and WW2 RAF squadrons. I have done some big articles on Drem Airfield including a film which you can read and view wartime pics and the film I made here;
Today was for pictures for a bigger day out were riding elsewhere for a future magazine article Sanny is working on, more info on what it is later, I never filmed today as Sanny was busy with his own pics and note taking from my own knowledge of here, so again I am going to share the film I made around here 10 years ago on RAF Drem which includes audio from pilots interview who flew from here when they served before in The Battle of Britain and later in the War...
The Blog won't post a direct link to here from YouTube for some reason, but you can watch it here on this link; RAF Drem, 70 Years on...
It does though link this other film you will find interesting;
I live in East Lothian, S.E. Scotland.
I fill my time with my hobbies, interests and passions. Often cycling along the coast here. I ride steel bikes with big wheels, I like to enjoy all interests of the coast, Its scenery, wildlife, local history, with my other interests in art and music when out and about...
I was diagnosed with Relapsing remitting Multiple Sclerosis in August 2018, it`s early days but i plan to continue to live my life as i have and show that having a medical condition like MS does not mean you need to stop enjoying your life,
Please excuse the bad grammar, i am working on it!
