Traces of occupation at Plemont

With most of the Plement holiday camp eyesore removed, the old observation point bunker M3 has been revealed, along with what appears to be the start of a footpath from the far carpark.Also note the bunker on the sea side of the coast path - more later.

On the way to the bunker, a view of the least enticing laundrette I've ever seen (maybe I haven't travelled enough!).

And so to M3, the west side...

.. around to the north-east corner...

.. and from the east side, we see that a covered corridor is open at each end, with the entrance to the bunker well sheltered in the middle.

A mortar position is a little distance away to the east.

Next, we scrambled down to the cliff path, and then from there found our way to a machine gun position with shelter, below M3. This vaulted metal shelter is open at each end...

.. (looking back) with ways in from a protective passageway each end (no torches needed in this one, it's light in the daytime).

If you make your way around the outside, or through the passageway, you reach one of those semicircular MG "table" positions. Here we're looking back (to the west) at the shelter bunker.

In the same direction, halfway along the passage, the entrance on the left....

.. is this one, now from the other direction. The shelter is to our right here, with another couple of entrances behind us to the right.If you want to visit this one, be prepared to deal with gorse!

Back to the more well known fortifications, the centuries old guardhouse later adapted by the occupying forces as a searchlight position, as seen from the tower...

.. here. I'd be grateful to hear what's under the concrete on the left, which is part of the footpath at the moment - if anyone knows?

A little distance to the east of that tower, and in line with the final stretch of the lane as it reaches the parking area, some kind of shaft provides a little mystery, and the possibility that there's a bunker beneath? Whatever lies below, the drop is a few feet at least.

 Could it be this one? The angle of the tower in the background looks about right to me. UPDATE : see the comments for confirmation that this is the Luftwaffe Flugwache position (lookout post) - thanks go to Matthew Costard, Vice-President, CIOS (Jersey) 

UPDATE And another mortar & tobruk ringstand has been revealed near the lane to the far carpark (you have to climb a bank to see it)...

 ... it's right next to the small pumping station which appears to be staying put.



Return to bunkers index page

Getting misc-y again

Up at the airport, a huge new cargo handling shed is making the area look a bit overdeveloped.

The Esplanade certainly is. Traditional old Jersey buildings got flattened for this latest monstrosity.

And why not rip up the greenery at the waterfront...

 .. to build even more temples to Finance?

- never mind, a replacement carpark on the Simply The Best site will make up for the lost spaces, the extra walk will do us good I'm sure :(

Another great idea - put a huge electricity substation in the middle of the upper park!

And rip up the grass here at Bel Royal because it's too much effort to mow it, and restore it to a 'natural look'.

On a more positive note, the First Tower station cafe has a bright and cheerful new paint job....

.. colourful even with the light behind it. I approve!

I got a laugh from spotting this at La Rocque :)

A new Condor ferry. Not sure about the pink and yellow, I have to say.

At the berth. Quite a low tide today...

This afternoon it would have been possible to walk from the beach by Gorey Castle, to Anne Port, around to Archirondel...past the end of the unfinished breakwater...

.. all the way to St Catherine on the beach...

 .. and clamber up to the slipway there. That's one heck of a low tide!

Back to town for more low tidings, and here's the castle high and dry...

 .. and looking past the fuel berth, the hermitage rock on the castle breakwater and a mine control bunker.

Festive Greetings. My Top Ten posts.

I hope you had a reasonable Christmas... this crapaud wishes you all the best for 2015.

Might as well copy VFC a bit and list my Top Ten posts - but for "all time" as they say, in this case since May 2010 according to my stats page.

At #10, the specialist topic of bunkers drew in the "crowds", around 350 views since I posted in April this year : http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-best-view-bunker.html

At #9, another specialist subject where viewers almost certainly came direct from a Google search : http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2011/01/roches-douvres-lighthouse.html

I think the same applies to the rest of them too, rather than there being any huge bunch of regular viewers. At #8 : http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2012/08/wow-bing-aerial-map-view-beats-google.html

At #7, people looking up the story about Operation Hardtack 28 and Captain Ayton at Egypte: http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2013/05/egypte-ayton-lair-and-les-rouaux.html

#6 : searches about Battle: http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2010/08/battle-of-flowers-moonlight-parade-2010.html

An oddity at #5, it was only a short message with no pictures: http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-new-year.html - but it mentioned technical issues with YouTube and British frame rates, so I guess I'm not the only one to have noticed the problem and searched for info!

#4 : a definite Specialist Subject: http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2010/10/db9-superyacht.html

#3 : even more specialist and one of my more geeky excursions into nerdiness: http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2012/08/jersey-post-collection-boxes-2012.html

The Top Two reveals what the internet is really for, apart from cat videos and smut - nostalgia.

#2: http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2012/04/tourism-decline-lost-attractions.html

My most read page has been viewed 4422 times since appearing a year and a half ago (would you be happy with those stats? I'd be interested to hear).

#1 http://crapaudmatic.blogspot.com/2012/05/tourism-decline-hotels-gone.html

Have a Happy New Year!

A circular walk around Millbrook and Mt Felard, with bunkers

For this walk we parked in the second layby after First Tower, then after playing with the traffic, took a footpath between two houses...

.. a neat and tidy 5ft-wide path which takes you into Seafield Avenue. Keep left and you'll arrive at the inner road... 

.. here. If you manage to cross you can take a look at...

.. a good water feature.To the right here, you can see daylight coming through from the other side of the wall. To the left, a long dark pipe to the beach.

Looking back.

A bit farther along the road, and there's an unnamed steep footpath up on the right.

 Not a lot to see, and no turnings off either side, but near the top...

.. a bit of concrete looms into view...

.. ooh, that looks occupation-y. Under all those leaves are probably steps down into a small shelter, I imagine.

It doesn't look like an observation post, or a gun position, or a telephone cable bunker, so I'm guessing it's an Action Point like the one near Rozel Manor or the one at Le Catillon, Grouville.At the Rozel one there are holes in a similar position to these metal fixings. 

Not a lot to see on the other side. Good view, but there's just a hint of concrete bunker roof amongst a weed patch.

From the hill, you'd be able to spot this if you weren't too busy concentrating on driving around the bend without any collisions.

Up the hill a bit, and hiding in the bank are some steps that led to the bunkers in the field above. More of that in a moment or two, but first we head up the track farther down the hill from here...

.. (a private track but hey).. a memorial bench sits by the track to the nearby houses, and by a rusting relic and some stones.

Interesting, the woodwork here appears to be blocking access to something suspiciously like some German Concrete.Maybe a knowledgeable reader can let us know...?  And those stones? Well, if you prefer your history a little older than WWII, you may already know... 

.. the official list of prehistoric sites says ...

.. it's a megalithic structure moved here from a field nearby (when the Hotel Cristina extended their carpark?) in the 1970s...

field 819 being here next to the hotel on an old map.

So, back to the bunkers once reached from those old steps. Looking over the field north-west from the stones, and there's the observation post for Battery Fritsch in the hedge. The battery was a little distance away, 4 field guns in fields between Rue de la Blanch Pierre and Mt Felard.The guns were moved later in the war to Maufant, becoming Battery Dietl.

We took our chances with angry farmers and twitching net curtains and made our way around the field (no crops were present to be damaged in the process) and in the north facing hedge there's this...

..farther along heading east, another...

.. and finally the Obs Post itself. This is taken when I was facing the sea direction...

.. and clambering into the hedge, this time I'm facing the airport.

Facing back towards the bay, this is the view south-ish, with the bench and stones ahead.This is all private land, so it's up to you to decide whether you want to cause an incident or not :)

From there it was all downhill, literally. There's a German construction here (converted into a garage) if you venture in off the road, and then to complete the walk you may as well enjoy Coronation Park, cross the avenue and wander past the casemate bunker and old station cafe before arriving back at the carpark. Not a bad bit of a stroll with some historical relics thrown in :)