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Animedragon

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  1. Animedragon

    Bodium Castle

    By Animedragon,


    General
    Bodium Castle is an impressive fortress, built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II. The castle has no keep and all the rooms and chambers are built around the outer defensive wall. This was characteristic of castle architecture in the 14th century. Sadly, while the exterior of the castle has survived largely intact the interior has not, although enough of the walls and foundations survive to allow some reasonably educated guesses about the interior layout.
    The castle has a round tower at each corner and a square tower in the centre of each wall, two of these towers contain the entrances. The castle is surrounded by a huge moat that gives the impression that the castle is standing in the centre of a lake rather than surrounded by a moat.
    Access to the main gatehouse was via a small octagonal island in the middle of the moat connected by bridges, one of which may have been a drawbridge. The gatehouse itself comprises two imposing towers and had three portcullises. Today the castle is accessed by a bridge going strait to the central island but the original access route was via a bridge set at 90 degrees to the castle entrance making it hard for an enemy force to charge the main gatehouse. The access to the postern gate was a much simpler affair with little defensive capability. However the postern was very low and narrow and the gatehouse featured murder holes in its ceiling.
    Viewed from the edge of the moat the castle has all the appearance of an impressive and powerful fortress but it is questionable if it was really intended to be a fortress. The outer wall has some quite large windows in it which are certainly weak points in its defensive capabilities. Indeed it has been questioned if this was really a fortified manor house designed to impress visitors rather than a castle because despite it's three portcullises and murder holes in the ceiling of the gatehouse the arrow slits in the upper levels are unsuitable for this purpose and some military historians have raised questions about the design of the the crenelations and suggest that they may have been purely decorative.
    However, the castle was involved in two conflicts. In 1483 during the wars of the Roses it was placed under siege by Richard III's forces and surrendered. During the English Civil War the castle was attacked by the Parliamentary forces and following its capture the castle was slighted, meaning that it was deliberately damaged so it could not be used as a fortress this involved destroying the interior buildings and bridges. 
    It has also been said that the moat could be drained fairly quickly by any attacking forces. The castle's 28 garderobes (toilets) discharged into the moat, so the castle was effectively surrounded by an open sewer so even if the attackers drained the moat it would not have been a pleasant area to cross.
    But whatever your opinion of its defensive capabilities, when viewed from a distance it presents the perfect image of a powerful fortress set in the middle of a lake and the very essence of what a mediaeval castle should look like. Which is why it appears on the covers of so many books about castles.
    Today the castle is owned by the National Trust and is a protected Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument.
     
    The main gatehouse and a classic image of an English castle surrounded by a moat.

    The postern gate, more a sort of tradesman's entrance. It was too narrow for a cart to pass though and too low for a horse and rider to pass through. It has been suggested that in the 14th century it was intended as the servants and tradesmen’s entrance.

    Another view of the heavily fortified main gatehouse and all that's left of the building on the central island.

     A view of the main gatehouse and one of the side walls.

    One of the side walls of the castle, the large windows were a weak point in its defences.

    The interior of the castle was destroyed after it fell to the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War.

    The various doorway openings in the wall give an hint of the upper floors of the castle.

    Another interior view showing the locations of doors and fireplaces in the upper floors.

    I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and found it interesting.
     
  2. Animedragon
    The hovercraft museum is on the seafront at Lee-on-the-Solent and is situated in one of the iconic Type J hangars within “Seaplane Square”, an important part of the former HMS Daedalus Royal Naval air base. The Type J hangers are all Grade II listed buildings and provided essential storage and maintenance facilities for seaplanes in the early 20th century and also played an important role in the development of hovercraft which were invented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell in the 1950s and developed by Saunders Roe. The SR.N designation stands for Saunders Roe Nautical.
    It is the world's only hovercraft museum. It has a collection of over 50 hovercraft of varying types and sizes.
    The collection includes both military and civilian hovercraft. Among the hovercraft on display are two of the craft from the 2002 James Bond film "Die Another Day"
    Sizes range from small one man hovercraft to the mighty SR.N4 "The Princess Anne" the worlds largest civilian car carrying hovercraft which could carry 427 passengers and 60 cars in its cavernous car deck. SR.N4 hovercraft operated between Dover and Calais for 30 years. The service eventually ceased because not only was such a huge craft expensive to maintain and operate but also the opening of the channel tunnel meant they lost their competitive edge on journey times across the channel. Only one of these magnificent machines survives and sadly it is no longer operational.
    The mighty SR.N4 hovercraft "The Princess Anne".

    The car loading ramp on the SR.N4. The orange ladder you can see is the access ladder to the flight deck.

    Inside the cavernous car deck which could hold 60 cars.

    Part of the passenger compartment on the port side of the SR.N4. There was another one on the starboard side giving a total of 427 seats.

    The flight deck of the SR.N4 "Swift", and sadly all that remains of the Swift.

    The BH7 military hovercraft designed for strategic operations and rapid deployment.

    An SR.N6 twin prop 'Super 6'.

    This is one of the hovercraft used in the James Bond film "Die Another Day".

    Three one man hovercraft.

    One of the SR.N4's four propellers, each blade is 21 feet long. 

    I hope you enjoyed reading my blog entry and found it interesting.
  3. Animedragon

    Brean Down Fort

    By Animedragon,


    General
    Brean Down is a headland between Burnham on sea and Weston super mare in Somerset and at the far end of it stands a fort. Brean Down Fort was a Victorian naval fortification built in the 1860s and designed to protect the Bristol Channel against a possible Napoleonic invasion. The fort is one of the "Palmerston Forts" which were built in several locations round the coast following a Royal Commission report about the defence of the United Kingdom prompted by concerns about the strength of the French navy. The name comes from Lord Palmerston who was Prime Minister at the time and promoted their construction.
    Some of the fort's buildings like the officers quarters and barrack block survive as do the gun emplacements. The fort was originally armed with seven 7 inch guns in three gun positions although the fort never saw any action apart from gunnery practise. 
    The end of the fort's operational life came to a sudden and dramatic end on the 6th of July 1900 when a soldier named Gunner Haines fired his rifle down the ventilation shaft of no 3 magazine. The magazine at the time contained three tons of gunpowder and the resultant huge explosion caused massive damage to the fort and as a result the fort was closed down. No one really knows why Gunner Haines did this because he did not survive to explain his action.
    With the start of the second world war the fort was rearmed with two 6 inch naval guns and searchlight batteries and was used as a testing site for experimental secret weapons. The foundations of the second world war barracks can be seen outside the fort.
    During the 1980s and 90s the original buildings were renovated and made safe so that people could visit the fort in safety. The fort is now in the care of the National Trust.
     
    A general view of the fort and its location.

    The barrack block.

    Inside the barrack block. Nothing survives of the original interior except a fireplace at one end.

    A world war two gun emplacement. The ammunition for the gun would have been stored in the compartments under the emplacement and along the side wall.

    The original 1870s gun emplacement and ammunition store.

    The officer's quarters. This is the most well preserved building on the fort and still has its interior walls, sadly it is not open to the public.

    Thank you for reading this blog entry, I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting.
  4. Animedragon

    Cleeve Abbey

    By Animedragon,


    General
    Cleeve Abbey is a medieval monastery near the village of Washford in Somerset and was founded in 1198 by William de Roumare with monks from Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire of the austere Cistercian order.
    The abbey was not among the more distinguished abbeys of the Cistercian order and suffered from poor governance and financial troubles. Although towards the end of its existence its fortunes, and living standards, had improved. A fact demonstrated by the expensive high status tiled flooring it had gained by then, some of which has amazingly managed to survive.
    The abbey church took several decades to construct and was of a conservative cruciform design with a aisled nave with seven bays, the transepts each had two side chapels. To the south of the abbey church a cloister was built surrounded by the domestic buildings.
    The abbey grounds were defended by a water filled moat and a gatehouse.
    The abbey was closed in 1536 by Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The abbey church was demolished so it could no longer be used as a place of worship but unusually the rest of the monastic buildings were left untouched and became a private house and passed though several owners one of whom was Robert Radcliffe the 1st Earl of Sussex who was granted the house in 1538 by the King. Cleeve declined in importance and by the early 17th century had become a farm and was extended by the construction of a farmhouse. In the 1860's the abbey was acquired by the Luttrell family of Dunster and George Luttrell began repairs to arrest the decay of the buildings at this time the site ceased to be used as a farm and was divided up into three rented cottages. Excavations on the site by George Luttrell in the 1870's supervised by the archaeologist CH Sampson traced the extent of the abbey church and discovered evidence of other buildings and features.
    Today Cleeve Abbey is one of the best preserved medieval Cistercian monastic sites in the country. Several of the buildings not only survived but survived surprisingly intact and are still habitable including the gatehouse, the 15th century refectory with its impressive roof, while the dormitory is one of the finest examples in the country.
    The abbey is now in the care of English Heritage and is a Grade 1 listed building and scheduled ancient monument.
     
    The Gatehouse where charity in the form of food, clothing or money was distributed.

    The arch on the left led to the Chapter House, the stairway led up to the monk's dormitory on the floor above. The top floor of the building on the right was the refectory.

    Inside the monk's dormitory.

    The amazing carved ceiling of the refectory. (an incredible survivor considering that this room was used for storage when the buildings were used as a farm)

    A closer look at one of the carved figures.

    All that's left of the Abbey church are the bases of the pillars of the nave.

    The Chapter House once stood between where the ruined walls are. The room with the round window was the Sacristy. The dormitory occupied the whole of the upper floor. The door on the far right was the night stair from the dormitory to the church so the monks didn't have to go outside on cold evenings. On the left of the ruined wall was the Warming Room where a fire was lit in the winter months so the monks could come in from the cloister and warm themselves.

    The 13th century tiled floor in the original refectory, an amazing survivor.

    I hope you enjoyed reading my blog.
  5. Animedragon
    The Blaenafon Iron Works which started producing iron around 1789 is the best preserved blast furnace of its time to survive from the beginning of the industrial revolution. Because the blast furnaces couldn't be allowed to cool down, unless it was for repair and maintenance, they were operated 24 hours a day seven days a week. For 12 hours each day men worked in the blistering heat of the furnaces constantly at risk from fire, molten iron and poisonous fumes. The molten iron would be at 1500 degrees Celsius which is hotter than molten lava.
    The ironworks also employed many children who often worked up on the top yard an area level with the tops of the furnaces where children under 13 and as young as 5 spent their days breaking ore for the calcining kilns that removed the impurities from the ore before it was fed into the furnaces from the charge houses built on the very top of the furnaces. The gases rising up from the furnace below and filling the charge houses would be at around 200 to 300 degrees Celsius.
    In 1842 government inspectors discovered 185 children under the age of 13 working in the ironworks, a quarter of them were girls.
    The workforce lived on the job in rows of small two storey terraced houses, which while small they were well built, the museum has a number of these set out as they would have been at different times. There was also a company ran shop on site that sold the basic necessities of life, however the prices charged were high and in the 1830s the shops provided a tenth of the company's profits.
    The iron works is a World Heritage Site and many of its structures are Grade 1 listed.
    This is a model, appropriately made of iron, that shows how the works would have looked when working.

    A general view of the works showing the foundry, the cast house for no.2 furnace and the Ballance tower.

    The balance tower is the most impressive of the remaining  buildings. It's a water powered lift that lifted goods 80 feet up to the level of the top yard. I had two platforms and the weight of the top platform lifted the bottom platform up.

    Another view of the cast house for no. 2 furnace and beyond that the foundry.

    The row of worker's cottages which were about 300 feet away from the furnaces. The mound in the centre is the base of a huge chimney stack for the boiler houses that once stood in front of the cottages, about where the railings are today.

    A view of the remains of furnaces 4 and 5, both of which have lost their cast houses.

    These are two of the calcining ovens on the top level beside the tops of the furnaces where the ore was prepared to be fed to the ever hungry furnaces below.

    I found the whole iron works to be a fascinating and interesting place to visit. So thank you for reading my blog and I hope you found it interesting.
  6. Animedragon
    Over the UK May Bank Holiday weekend, 2nd to 5th May 2025, I went to the West Somerset Railway's Spring Steam Spectacular. The railway has held these steam galas since the mid-1990s and I have attended most of them and have photographs of every Spring Gala since 2002.
    What's so special about these you might ask, well on a normal day the railway will run 4 or 5 trains in each direction per day with 2 or 3 steam locomotives in use. On a gala there could be up to 16 trains in each direction and 9 or 10 steam locomotives in service and they also run goods trains which gives some variety to what you can see, so you can see the appeal for railway enthusiasts like me.
    A brief bit of history. The railway originally opened in 1862 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway between Taunton and Watchet and was built to the broad gauge of 7 foot and a quarter inch it is a single line railway with loops at several place along the route where trains could pass each other. Watchet was at that time a major port on the River Severn as well as an industrial centre and exports from the port included flour, limestone, textiles, iron ore, paper and in later years car parts. On my first visit to Watchet in 1979 the port was still working and it was interesting watching ships come in, the whole port are was of course shut off from the town because of quarantine regulations, today the port continues to exist as a marina.
    But back to the history, the inhabitants of Minehead looked at the railway that ended in Watchet and wanted the railway to come to their town and they got their wish in 1874 when the line was extended to Minehead, this explains why the station building at Watchet is at a right angle to the station platform rather than parallel to it. In 1876 the Bristol and Exeter Railway became part of the Great Western Railway and in 1882 the line was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge. Williton station, one of the passing points, still has evidence of its broad gauge origins in the large space between the platforms it also has an original Bristol and Exeter Railway signal box.
    From the 1930s to the 1960s Minehead became a popular tourist destination and attracted thousands of holiday makers each year a so unlike many branch lines the station at Minehead can take a 12 coach train. But the line was included in the infamous Beeching Report as one that could be closed and even the opening of a Butlins Holiday camp in 1962 wasn't enough to save the railway and the last train ran in January 1971.
    But that wasn't the end of the railway. In February 1971 a group of local business men investigated the idea of acquiring  the line and running it as a private all year round commuter service to Taunton, for various reasons this plan didn't happen and today the line operates as a heritage steam railway, which is where we came in at the start of this blog entry.
    The railway today runs from Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, to the coast at Minehead and at 20 miles is England's longest Heritage railway and has 10 stations along its route, it is regarded as one of the country's premier heritage railways it still has a connection to the main line and on occasion special charter railtour trains, sometimes steam hauled, arrive at Minehead from places like London Paddington.
    I had a really enjoyable 4 days on the railway and the weather was warm and sunny which made waiting around between trains very pleasant. I took a huge number of photographs, some of which are below. When you look at these photos remember that all of the locomotives in them were rescued from a scrap yard as rusting heaps and have been beautifully restored to working order by their owners.
     
    The demonstration goods train arriving at Blue Anchor station behind heavy freight locomotive no. 2807. Built in 1905 the loco is the oldest surviving working GWR loco.

     
    A train in the landscape. A passenger train on its way from Dunster to Blue Anchor.

     
    A beautifully restored GWR Manor class locomotive no.7812 Erlestoke Manor departing from Crowcombe Heathfield station

     
    Two trains passing at Williton. Note the wide gap between the two tracks as a result of the station being built as a broad gauge station.

     
    GWR Saint class loco no.2999 Lady of Legend (running as 2986 Robin Hood for the gala) passing through Stogumber station. The area on the right was once the goods yard but is now a beautifully kept garden and picnic site, and a nice place to just sit and enjoy watching the trains go by.

     
    2807 on the turntable at Minehead station. This is how you turn 76 tons of steam loco round so its facing the right way for the return journey, and yes, the crew push it round by hand!

    Thank you for reading this blog entry, I hope you found it interesting and informative.
  7. Animedragon

    Glastonbury Abbey

    By Animedragon,


    General
    The story of Glastonbury Abbey story starts somewhere around 670AD when a Saxon church was built on the site, this was later replaced with a much larger Norman church, which was destroyed in a fire in 1184. 
    The ruins we see today are all that is left of the Great Church which replaced the Norman church and work on it was started in 1189. You only have to look at what remains to get some idea of how huge and impressive it must have looked when it was finished.
    In 1191 while excavating in the abbey cemetery the monks found, buried at a great depth, a wooden coffin which reportedly carried an inscription claiming it contained the bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. The bones of King Arthur were re buried in the abbey in 1278 in a black marble tomb at a service attended by King Edward I. Some historians claim that the bones had nothing to do with King Arthur and that it was all just a publicity stunt to gain the abbey more funds for its rebuilding programme, but who now knows what the truth is. When you stand in front of the sign and look at the place where the tomb stood it's not easy to dismiss it and walk away, the legend of King Arthur is as strong today as it was then.
    By the 14th Century the Abbey was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England and controlled huge tracts of the surrounding land. But things didn't go on forever, and the end came in 1539 as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII.
    The Abbey today is a grade 1 listed building and scheduled ancient monument.
     
    The view from the choir towards the Lady Chapel. The two huge pillars are all that is left of the supports of the tower and transepts. The railed off area is the site of the High Altar. (the sky colour was create with a filter)

    A view into the Lady Chapel. There was originally a floor going the full length of the chapel, the bridge walkway is a modern addition.

    Part of the outside wall of the Lady Chapel.

    This is, or was, the Abbot's kitchen and is the only complete building of the Abbey that remains.

    The sign marking the place where the tomb of King Arthur was sited.

    Thank you for reading this blog entry, I hope you found it interesting.
  8. Animedragon

    Kempton Steam Museum

    By Animedragon,


    General
    he Kempton Steam Museum is the home of the world’s largest working triple-expansion steam engine.
    The engine sits amongst two steam turbines and opposite an identical twin which is currently being restored.
    The machines stand 62 feet high, which is as high as four stacked London double-decker buses, and weigh 800 tons. They are similar in design and size to the RMS Titanic’s engines. The two engines and two steam turbines provided huge volumes of London’s drinking water from 1929. In 1980 they were replaced by electric pumps in an adjacent building.  
    The museum is located at the Kempton Park Pumping Station in southwest London which continues to supply water to London. The museum and its engines are housed in a Grade II* listed building, which is also a Scheduled Monument, and constructed from Portland stone and glazed bricks. The engine house is crowned at the rear by two tall brick chimneys which stand as a landmark for miles around. The powerful triple-expansion steam engines and turbine pumps have been preserved since 1995 by volunteers of the Kempton Great Engines Trust to ensure their engineering magnificence is preserved for people to enjoy and marvel at now and in the future.
    The museum holds regular open days when the huge engine is in steam and when running it is a magnificent sight. As the museum is not far from where I live I have visited it several times and on one occasion I was invited by one of the volunteers to climb to the top of the second, non-working, engine. I accepted this offer, but when I reached the top and stood on the top platform 62 feet above the ground I regretted my decision as I really have no head for heights! I did take the opportunity to take some photos from up there, holding the camera in my right hand while my left hand maintained a vice-like grip on the single guard rail. I have to admit that the climb down from the top was not the most enjoyable of experiences!
    * A photo of the outside of the building.

    * The triple expansion engine. The visitors and staff give an idea of how huge the engine is.

    * A closer view of the engine.

    * A photo of the very top level of the engine.

    * The view from the top of the second engine across to the working one. It's a long way down from up there.

    Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about these impressive engines.
  9. Animedragon
    A few years ago I visited the National Slate Museum which is located at Gilfach Ddu in North Wales. It was originally the workshops of now disused Dinorwic (Dinorwig) quarry and was built in 1870. The workshops catered for all the repair and maintenance work demanded of the quarry and its locomotives. The quarry which once employed well over 3,000 men was at its height at the start of the 20th century the second largest slate quarry in Wales (and thus, the world). The quarry closed in 1969 mainly due to a falling demand for roofing slate.
    The works contained a foundry which could cast a wide variety of items from signs to fences to machine parts, there was also several forges and a saw mill along with machines to cut slabs of slate to various sizes. The machinery in the works was powered by overhead shafts driven by a huge waterwheel which is 50 feet 5 inches in diameter and 5 feet 3 inches wide and is the largest working waterwheel in mainland Britain.
    The nearby narrow gauge Llanberis Lake Railway uses part of the building as its workshops.
    Several of the old workshops have been converted into display areas with old photographs of the works and the quarry which gave a fascinating insight to the lives of the men who worked at the quarry. Although called a quarry much of the slate was extracted from underground mine workings by miners working initially by candlelight and was a very dangerous job as explosives were used to loosen blocks of slate.
    As you will see from some of the photos it was raining very hard during my visit but despite the weather I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.
    * This is the main entrance to the museum, and as you can see it's a huge place.

    * This photo shows part of the area inside, the various workshops are arranged round this central square.

    * This photo was taken from the walkway above the foundry.  It is set up to show how it would have looked when it was a working foundry. The boxes on the floor are molds for casting various items for the quarry.

    * A photograph of two of the blacksmith's forges.

    * These are some of the cutting tables where the slate was cut to the various sizes as required.

    * Finally. This is one of the narrow gauge locomotives that would have been used to transport the waggon loads of slate around the quarry.

    Thanks for reading the first entry of my blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
     

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