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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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?

Out West in the morning sun

If you only venture out west on a Sunday drive in the afternoon, you probably seldom see these landmarks sunlit from the other direction. The Barge Aground.

Lewis Tower

The little white house at Le Don Hilton.

El Tico, with its bunker half buried in the car park...

.. here's another one. They don't seem to get much love, these ones - not having had Big Guns and without great coastal views they are a bit neglected.

Tower and Lighthouse.

Down the road past Kempt Tower.

La Rocco Tower when it's not a silhouette.

I've been meaning to show how Le Braye Cafe has changed in recent years, here it is at last...

... closer. Not just a terrace and serving hatch any more - and also a bit different since the Streetview shot from 2010.

La Rocco Tower on its reef, L'Etacq beyond on the right with the pinnacle rock, and beyond that, Sark and its Les Burons rocks to the east.

Bunker at La Carriere near La Pulente, with St.Ouen's Bay as a backdrop.

Bunker at Resistance Nest L'Oeillere.

La Corbiere...

.. and right a bit, from another place on another day. Looks like a big rock has fallen away on the right, leaving bare earth exposed.

Closer. How many people park there and don't realise that they're on top of a bunker?

Val de la Mare reservoir from Mont Rossignol. You can't drive along the tracks here any more, but there's a swing-gate entrance for considerate walkers.

After recent storms and heavy rain, the square fort's car park is now more of a model boating lake :)

Around the Chateau

Some shots taken recently around the old 'Chateau Plaisir' on the 5 mile road. As usual, leaving a comment (it's not difficult) is the best way to show me I'm not wasting my time :)

 Not getting a lot of use any more.

 A new kiosk this year, good luck to them.

 On the south side, I always assumed the 'Bars Open' sign was a relic but was surprised to find that it is indeed a functioning watering hole (or until they bulldoze the lot and built luxury houses here - as planned).

 Bit misty that day.

 We get a higher class of weeds in Jersey :)

 I've seen a couple of these spotty fellas year, no idea what they are.

 Beach, anyone?

 Nobody staying at the Barge on a nice day, what a waste.

 Might as well record this view before it goes...

 .. closer.

 Old war stuff.

 Probably one of the most exotic locations for a phone box in the British Isles.

 Looking towards L'Etacq.

 .. closer.

 .. and the other way, with La Rocco Tower in the distance.

 Looking up at Lewis Tower...

 .. a more conventional perspective.

 Straight road.

 That's all for now.

I'm not completely happy with Blogspot's changes to how I do all this. It's easier to upload photos, but I don't like the viewing gadget rather than simple links to the photos. It's a pain to resize them and left justify them one by one, even though the Div tags now solves the problem of vertical spacing which used to make my blog pages messy.

And it's a right old pain to re-order the pics, and keep the text on the right, sometime I just have to dig into the HTML view and sort it out in the code in there, which is time consuming and ****ing annoying!

So don't be surprised if I leave it a while now... I'm busy with other interests at the moment too :)

Have a great summer, if I go quiet for a bit!