Day 199 - Whitsand Fort

A happy hiker!

Angela is back! And to mark the occasion we took advantage of the glorious weather to walk back out to Whitsand Bay. However, instead of going back along the coastal path, we chose instead to take a series of footpaths through the centre of the peninsula. This afforded us wonderful views in all directions, with Plymouth to the east, the village of Millbank to the north, Whitsand Bay to the west and water everywhere to the south (not quite the Channel and not quite the Atlantic, but somewhere in between).

As you can see from the pictures, the land rolls and is either pasture for sheep and cattle or is farmed for some kind of crop. The elevation goes from sea level to 130 meters above sea level, so on this day we were huffing and puffing up the hills and strolling down them.

Looking east towards Rames Head

Whitsand Bay is, as is most of the headland,  an Area of Natural Beauty and is therefore protected from development activity. The area is a natural wonder with numerous varieties of maritime plants that at this time of year are in full flower. There are also many kinds of birds that make their homes along this shoreline.  Sitting overlooking it all is the Rame church, which was dedicated to St. Germanus and was originally built in 1259. It has no electric lights and still uses candlelight. In its graveyard we found a number of gravestones for children and drowned sailors.

Radar facility on top of the Whitsand Battery

Further along the clifftop, the path cuts down into areas of grass between rocky crags where holiday huts have been built and then makes its way back up to the Whitsand Fort. It's actually not really a fort, but more of a gun battery that at one time was part of a series of batteries built to protect the coast from invading French ships and to stop any invasion via the bay to the top of the headlands which would allow the enemy to be in sight of the naval dockyards of Plymouth.

Time for that drink?

Two major forts were constructed on either side of the Whitsand battery to protect the entire bay, but by the end of the 19th century naval ships were being designed that could bombard the naval dockyards of Plymouth and stay outside the range of the forts. So the Whitsand battery was built in 1889 to house guns that could fire further offshore. Three 12.5-inch guns were available during the First World War, but were deemed in 1920 to be not needed.  During the Second World War it was used as a radar installation and today the non-profit English Heritage maintains it. Because of the amazing views in all directions, a holiday home complex has been built adjacent to the battery with permanent lodges and open spaces for caravans and campers that are integrated into the battery itself. Our exploring of the area ended with a drink at the battery cafe and then a downhill walk back to Cawsand. 

Ale of the Day: Proper Job India Pale Ale, St. Austell's Brewery, Cornwall.