Bunker at Les Laveurs Slipway

This bunker can be found at Les Laveurs slipway at the north end of the "5 mile road". It was part of Resistance Nest Lewis Tower.

The entrance is, of course, from the inland direction...

.. and it was sealed up with an iron gate years ago. But I recently discovered that someone has bent the bars enough to allow access. Naturally, in I went...

Turning left, a corridor. Without a torch, so far so good.

By the time I reached the doorway on the right, I could barely see a thing. I carried on straight down the corridor towards the little room on the left...

.. and it's the entrance protection gun position. Not too scary in here, with a little light coming in...

.. and with the occasional camera flash.

Back to the really dark room then, and with only a dim red glow from my camera's autofocus this really brought home the primal fear of not knowing what the heck is around you in almost pitch darkness. I didn't hang around too long, but returned a few days later with a torch and company :)
No idea what was through the rusty door. But the entrance on the left here...

.. is a small room which was probably the air conditioning room, as I think I've seen this kind of arrangement before.

Looking out from that room, with the way in on the right, and the rusty door on the left out of shot.

The corner above the rusty door. Historic graffiti.

Looking back to the way in. I think we've had enough in here.

Ventilation on the way out...

.. and it's good to see daylight again.

Up on top, the field of fire towards L'Etacq.

A position for when the action isn't too hairy... otherwise you'd really want to be safely inside!

Up on top of a nearby bunker in service as a museum, with a view towards the houses that replaced the Chateau Plaisir (where a 646 water bunker was demolished not long ago)

Can any experts tell us what this was, near the museum's bunker? Thanks :)


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Various

We recently enjoyed a bit of a rough high tide on a sunny evening, lots of people enjoyed the spectacle along the west coast...

.. lots of birds stirred up at La Pulente.

La Saline, with St.Brelade in the background.

Luxury houses take shape at the old Chateau site...

... closer.

St Aubin, and what variety of numpty approved that modern box up there on the skyline above the old traditional streetscape? I like up to date architecture but this is well out of place!

Numpties At Work, part II - sad to report the death of Common Sense. Several parking spaces have had to go JUST so that there is one entrance/exit opening. Was it really so bad?!!!

To the East then, and a good low tide goes out quite some distance beyond the end of the unfinished Archirondel breakwater.

A tide like that means you can walk in a straight line between La Rocque and the castle without getting your ankles wet.

At the harbour...

.. nice spot for fishing...

.. the old and new ferries...

.. from the Victoria pierhead.

To the Albert Pier, and the ramp has gone at last...

.. the top of the ramp used to be here.

View from Westmount...

.. a new carpark ready to make up for the spaces lost when the ruling elite of the island ignores The People and goes for total overkill on Selling Out to Tax Evasion/Avoidance and builds unwanted monuments to greed on the Esplanade.

.. closer. There's going to be a LOT more traffic down the 'waterfront' when this opens!

10 Wharf St - what was once the Golden Egg, latterly the Buddhabar, then Harlem....

.. is now the Tiki Hut

I used to quite like the ramshackle corner that was the Turkish Kitchen...

.. boarded up for redevelopment...

... now emerging as St. Helier's newest conveniences.

A Tesco in Jersey? Who'd have thought? We get to walk in from Sand St and emerge in York Street again.

Goodbye to the Type 646 bunker at Wn Lewis Tower

October 2014 and we hear that a bunker is due to be demolished along with the old Chateau Plaisir in St.Ouen.

 .. closer. It's a Type 646 bunker, used for pumping and storing water for the Lewis Tower resistance nest group of bunkers.

It was hidden within the Chateau building since the 1950s. This shot gives you some idea where...

 .. along with this shot from the bunker at the sea wall, looking inland.

A week or two later, and the site is cleared enough that we get a good view from the main road...

 .. closer. At this point, it wouldn't be too late to save it. But alas it wasn't to be. To make way for some wealthy people to enjoy luxury houses here, Planning decided not to take any action to save it.

First, the indignity of a toilet resting on the roof, then it became half a pile of rubble (I didn't take a shot last week)...

   

.. and now.. bye bye.At least the CIOS salvaged some metalwork for use in other bunkers that they open to the public.

There are other Type 646 bunkers along the Five Mile Road...

.. here's another. So maybe it's not too bad a loss. But please, Planning, can we have a bit more care and attention paid to historic buildings so we don't see any more disappear without due consideration?