Pics: Pillbox near Southport, England

As it was such a nice day yesterday, myself and Pegasus decided to take a sunday afternoon ride out on our motorcycles to the seaside town of Southport which is on the west coast of England.

On our way back home we stopped to have a look at this wartime Type A28 anti-tank gun emplacement which sits on the intersection of two rivers and is aproximatley 150 yards from the main road.

It was a little dissappointing that we couldn't gain access to the interior of the pillbox and had to make do with just peering through the apertures.

This is looking at the pillbox from the other side of one of the river


Front elevation




The gun mount


The interior

 

Well done, that man!
Type 28s of any variant are rare in my neck of the woods.

 

Thanks, Gordon.

I thought you would like it.

 

These are the small rivers that the pilbox overlooks.The main road is on the other side of the hedges in the background.



The second room in the pillbox.


I have photos of the pillbox which were taken 10 years ago and show the inside as being dirty and full of debris. At some point in recent years the interior has been painted and cleaned out.

 

Nice pics, John. This type of pillbox can be found in considerable numbers along the River Thames in Oxfordshire.

 

Thanks, Martin.

The pillow is about a mile or so from the coast and is also sited next to the main coastal road.

Altcar gun range is also close by which was used as a military training ground during the war. So I guess the pillbox could have been part of the camps defences.

 

You might be interested in this. The pillbox was lived in by an ex-soldier until 2008.


Recluse lives in war bunker for 12 years
Feb 16 2008 by Vicki Kellaway, Liverpool Echo

IT’S a wartime relic – a tiny but supposedly impenetrable box from which our brave Home Front boys planned to surprise the Germans.

But to former soldier Anthony Quinn this concrete pillbox – with its bleak interior and minimal comforts – was home.

Now the 40-year-old, who hunts for his food and lives without water or electricity, will be evicted.

The pillbox, on Alt Bridge in Formby, is owned by Leverhulme Estates which will turf out Mr Quinn because he is trespassing.

But Mr Quinn, who catches fish and traps eels to eat, says he is preserving history and has never claimed any benefits.

He said: "If they are so concerned about the place, why have they never done anything with it?

"I’ve cleared it all up. I call it my Irish log cabin."

Mr Quinn, known locally as Lobby, discovered the pillbox’s potential when he was sleeping rough. It is thought he has lived there for months.

He said: "The pillbox was full of rubbish. A friend suggested I move into it and I’ve lived here quite happily since."

The pillbox is clean and tidy with a table and chairs and Mr Quinn’s lamps and candles.

It even has double glazing and a door – installed by one of his friends last year.

But now Mr Quinn will be evicted after losing his battle to remain in the pillbox at Liverpool County Court on Thursday.

A judge dismissed his protest and awarded the estate a possession order.

It means the High Court Sheriff can evict Mr Quinn if he refuses to leave.

Graham Tongue, from Leverhulme Estates, said his attention was drawn by the double glazing installed in the pillbox.

He said: "It was an open and shut case. The defendant was a trespasser and had no right to be there."

Liverpool Echo - News - Liverpool Local News - Recluse lives in war bunker for 12 years

 

Thanks Ian. I always say English law is centuries out of date, and that story is a good example. The landowners have done nothing with it, have no plans for it, but spend money to kick out a homeless man out of it.
He was looking after it, wasn't he?

 

I agree, but the purists could argue he had damaged the historical aspect of it. After all a pillbox with double glazing isn't something i've seen in the history books...