This explore was a bit different! There was a meet-up for members of a few different UrbEx online communities. I'd been along to one a few weeks earlier with Funky Moped along for the ride, but she was working this time and I knew Professor Dart would love to go! It was a great evening, saw some new friends, and met new people. Great music and a good explore! We stayed overnight and had a fun party, sadly ruined by an almighty migraine I had, but otherwise it was lots of fun! :)
The next morning everyone was up early(ish) (or did we not sleep?) and packed up ready to leave. Access to the site is gained via a long road (feels like MILES!) which was a bit of a pain when angry secca came driving down to see a line of maybe 40 odd weary and hung-over explorers wandering back down to the cars... hey ho!
The History:
(stolen from Wikipedia because honestly I couldn't have written it better!)
"Cliffe Fort is a disused artillery fort built in the 1860s to guard the entrance to the Thames from seaborne attack. Constructed during a period of tension with France, it stands on the south bank of the river at the entrance to Cliffe Creek in the Cliffe marshes on the Hoo Peninsula in North Kent. Its location on marshy ground caused problems from the start and necessitated changes to its design after the structure begin to crack and subside during construction. The fort was equipped with a variety of large-calibre artillery guns which were intended to support two other nearby Thamesside forts. A launcher for the Brennan torpedo—which has been described as the world 's first practical guided missile—was installed there at the end of the 19th century but was only in active use for a few years.
Cliffe Fort saw about 60 years of usage as an artillery fort, from its completion in 1870 to its disarmament in 1927. It was repurposed during World War II to serve as an anti-aircraft battery on the approaches to London. The fort's military career ended when it was sold off after the war to the owners of a neighbouring aggregates works. Today it lies derelict, overgrown and heavily flooded. It is not accessible to the public and is in a poor and slowly deteriorating condition which has led it to be listed as an "at risk" heritage asset." (Wikipedia, 2015)
The Explore:
As mentioned above, Professor Dart and I walked down a looong road towards the site, which sits on some kind of quarry or sand something or other. There were apparently a few different entrances but we had to clamour over a sand dune and squeeze through a tiny arch way to get in. Luckily a few friendly faces were already in so our camping gear was hoisted over the wall from above. I've now invested in a much lighter sleeping bag and sleeping mat which will be really useful next camping season I reckon, no-where near as heavy as my backpack was this time!!
The Cliffe Fort is flooded in the middle but luckily the second level and top level are still very much intact and run all the way around the fort. PD and I only explored the second level as neither of us are particularly good climbers (I feel we need to work on this PD!) but some of the other explorers climbed up to the top and also onto the tower which can be seen in pictures below. all in all we had a great party and the whole thing was really interesting. I'm particularly proud of my sunset pictures! :)
The photos:
The next morning everyone was up early(ish) (or did we not sleep?) and packed up ready to leave. Access to the site is gained via a long road (feels like MILES!) which was a bit of a pain when angry secca came driving down to see a line of maybe 40 odd weary and hung-over explorers wandering back down to the cars... hey ho!
The History:
(stolen from Wikipedia because honestly I couldn't have written it better!)
"Cliffe Fort is a disused artillery fort built in the 1860s to guard the entrance to the Thames from seaborne attack. Constructed during a period of tension with France, it stands on the south bank of the river at the entrance to Cliffe Creek in the Cliffe marshes on the Hoo Peninsula in North Kent. Its location on marshy ground caused problems from the start and necessitated changes to its design after the structure begin to crack and subside during construction. The fort was equipped with a variety of large-calibre artillery guns which were intended to support two other nearby Thamesside forts. A launcher for the Brennan torpedo—which has been described as the world 's first practical guided missile—was installed there at the end of the 19th century but was only in active use for a few years.
Cliffe Fort saw about 60 years of usage as an artillery fort, from its completion in 1870 to its disarmament in 1927. It was repurposed during World War II to serve as an anti-aircraft battery on the approaches to London. The fort's military career ended when it was sold off after the war to the owners of a neighbouring aggregates works. Today it lies derelict, overgrown and heavily flooded. It is not accessible to the public and is in a poor and slowly deteriorating condition which has led it to be listed as an "at risk" heritage asset." (Wikipedia, 2015)
The Explore:
As mentioned above, Professor Dart and I walked down a looong road towards the site, which sits on some kind of quarry or sand something or other. There were apparently a few different entrances but we had to clamour over a sand dune and squeeze through a tiny arch way to get in. Luckily a few friendly faces were already in so our camping gear was hoisted over the wall from above. I've now invested in a much lighter sleeping bag and sleeping mat which will be really useful next camping season I reckon, no-where near as heavy as my backpack was this time!!
The Cliffe Fort is flooded in the middle but luckily the second level and top level are still very much intact and run all the way around the fort. PD and I only explored the second level as neither of us are particularly good climbers (I feel we need to work on this PD!) but some of the other explorers climbed up to the top and also onto the tower which can be seen in pictures below. all in all we had a great party and the whole thing was really interesting. I'm particularly proud of my sunset pictures! :)
The photos:
|
|
 |
||||||
|
 |
 |
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||
|
 |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment