Animedragon

Please don't go, this place won't be the same without you.

Onion

Yeast

It's been nice and sunny here with a top temp of 24C, but with a light breeze to keep it from getting too hot.

Solemn Promise

Ouch! Too hot for me . Currently 16 C, here which is much better .

A photo from last weekends outing. 4079 Pendennis Castle letting off steam.

Education

A weeks paid holiday

In

I'm rewatching Aquatope on White Sand. A nice little Slice of life series about two girls working in an aquarium.

389

Huge House

675

Work is the curse of the working class

Lightning

@Sarada It's on a headland that sticks out into the sea. You can drive as far as the car park at Brean beach then you have two choices, climb the steep 200 steps to the top of the headland and then walk just over a mile to the fort, or you can walk along the access road which is steep but easier than the stairs but adds about another three quarters of a mile to your walk. @Eris I think that it would have been quite a peaceful place to be stationed, as far military bases can be called peaceful.

I was like that when I was at work, my workmates knew there was no point in trying to talk to me until I had a cup of tea in my hand

Thank you. It wasn't a very large fort, I think it had about 50 soldiers stationed there. The crazy guy's action damaged quite a lot of it I think but it didn't change the size. It was a lot larger in WW2, if you look to the right in the first photo you can see the foundations of the WW2 barracks.

Headaches like that are really nasty, I hope you'll soon be felling better.

Thank you. The forts were sometimes referred to as "Palmerston's Follies" because they cost a lot of money to build and in the end were never used for purpose they were built for because the expected French invasion never happened.

It's derived from the English phrase "Here's my two-penny worth" it basically means "here's my contribution for what it's worth". I usually feel bad when I ask people if they want to do things with me and the regularly turn me down or just don't reply to my messages. I know my friends have their own busy lives to lead and I know they don't hate me and I don't expect them to put me before their family and such like but it's a bit depressing to get a refusal almost every time. To be fair to them a couple do, on occasion, ask me about doing something together.

She's quite right, carving names on trees damages them by creating wounds which act as entry points for pests and disease.

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.

It's been hot here today at 23C