No problem dd. Ennerdale Rd. is next road down from Prenton Dell Rd. when heading for the Woodchurch Rd. railway bridge.
Had never heard of the bomb(s) that fell in Holm Lane. It does make sense though. Presume Fritz was trying to put the gun site there out of action. I'm assuming that the gunsite was the same plot that was marked "Hutted Camp" on older maps (see Chris's excellent map posts of a few weeks back). I do remember the camp was home to Hungarian refugees after the uprising in 1956. Don't think it was open for long. The refugees were found more permanent housing fairly quickly.
Some foundations lasted until the "new" houses went up on the site in the '70's (?)
Looking at maps and aerial photos for Storeton AA Battery, just southwest of where Chris marked there is some interesting marks on land in the 1970 aerial photo, these have gone by 1997 aerial photo, but the wooded area doesn't appear on maps before WW2. Some current maps include the road/paths through the wooded copse even though they stop dead at the open fields.
Went here today to see what I could find, what seems like foundations are still there, took a few photos to show you what's there.
Looking at maps and aerial photos for Storeton AA Battery, just southwest of where Chris marked there is some interesting marks on land in the 1970 aerial photo, these have gone by 1997 aerial photo, but the wooded area doesn't appear on maps before WW2. Some current maps include the road/paths through the wooded copse even though they stop dead at the open fields.
That 1970 photo tells a lot. It seems to me that those tracks mark the site & that the grid ref. in the archive is slightly wrong. They give SJ 3100 8394; the point in the photo where the track makes a 90 deg. turn is SJ 3105 8390, so about 50 metres out in one direction & 40 metres in the other. It also seems that the entrance was not from Red Hill Rd. but from Brimstage Lane, through what was then little more than scrub land. The formation of the entrance is very clear; it would have to have taken large vehicles. @ Neston Vasey: thanks for the pictures; I assume they are all in the woodland on Brimstage Lane?
Most interesting. Has the Starfish sites too. Starfish was the code name for the sites where they lit flares or had lights to misdirect enemy bombers. With regard to the Storeton AA site, interesting to see that they have it at the point where I placed a red pin in an earlier post & not nearer the wood as I suspected when I saw the 1970 photo posted by diggingdeeper. Of course, it's possible that those co-ordinates come from the same source, (very likely in fact), and that they are not accurate. Still, I've no idea how big these sites were so maybe both locations are within the site. The markings of tracks on the 1970 photo together with Neston's photos of the remains in the wood are very compelling. It's possible that there may still be someone local who could give a certain answer. It's at times like this that I'm sorry to be so far away.
In an attempt to locate the gun site precisely I'm enlisting the aid of the National Monuments Records who, in the past, have provided some very useful old aerial photos, e.g. of the Storeton radar site at the top of Lever Causeway. I've given them the grid ref. of the gun site so we'll see if there are any photos of it after the war. Unfortunately, I've just had an e-mail saying that at present, searches are taking about 25 working days, then there will be a further delay while they send the pics., so don't hold your breath.
Just been looking at the location of the New Ferry site - this looks extremely close to the outdoor pool, I am not sure when these baths were built but I would have guessed before ww2.
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Well, I've now had the pictures I was waiting for. They settle the matter once & for all, as they are some of the clearest aerial pics I've seen. The buildings are extensive & some remains are still there, as photographed by Neston Vaysey. Although the aerial pictures seem to show several bases, the records show that this site had just two 3.7" guns. Looking at the pics, there's not a tree in sight, so the woodland which is there now is only 50 years old. I know a lot of it is conifer, but some of the hardwoods at the edge of the road look older. Here's a link to the National Monument record of the site http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?h...source=text&nmr=&defra=&p=0# Here are the aerial pics; the 1946 one is at a scale of 5500:1 & the 1955 one is at a scale of 5000:1. this equates to about 12 inches to the mile. The 1955 is taken from a height of 15,000 Ft. Using these data, I've measured the size of the site & it was about 150 yards by 250 yards (I'm sure you youngsters can convert this to metric) I've included a modern aerial shot for reference. It would be interesting to know when the site was finally cleared; it doesn't seem to have been touched even 10 years after the war ended.
Well done Chris. They are indeed very clear photo's. It backs up my memories of when I used to mooch around there whilst still at school. 1958/9 ish. I couldn't recall any woodland at all. I remember the bunkers (?) being blown up by the T.A. I'd guess at early '60's ? You can even make out in the 1955 shot, the concrete fence posts around the gun emplacements!
The last time I passed this site, it was dark. I'd appreciate it if someone could take a pic. of the huge sandstone gateposts on the road & measure them; I reckon they're about 18" square. Also, a pic. of the trees near them.
![[Linked Image]](http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t86/neston_vasey/Iwantthisone.jpg)
