Heugh Battery

 My trip to North East England last month included a visit to the Heugh Battery.  A coastal defence fort (with a slight look of the old Airfix gun emplacement), this was the battery to first engage German warships during the Great War.  If you are in the area the Battery is definitely worth a look - highly recommended!

One of the Battery's two 6in guns.

The Battery viewed from the shore

I made a point of carefully scanning the horizon - but no enemy ships were in sight.

The yard behind the gun emplacements is filled almost to bursting point with more 'big toys' - including a Ferret and Chieftain.

Rapier launcher.  One of the few not deployed in London during the Olympics....

25 Pounder - more Esci than Airfix given all that detail!

The enormous 3.7in AA gun.  People who drivel on that "it should have been used against tanks like an 88" have clearly never seen one in the flesh.  It really is a big cumbersome beast (even compared to an 88).

Late model 40mm Bofors with extra shielding for the crew.

The 'static' version of the Bofors - clearly not intended for bouncing across fields in support of a division.

Not enough Bofors?  OK, here's another - the shipboard version.

A curiosity I'd never heard of - the Burney 3.7in RCL.

          

Another view of the Burney.

Little and Large again.  One can never tire of looking at Chieftains.

Above and below - on loan from the Firepower museum in London was this splendid WOMBAT.

    

Heugh Battery revisited

I visited this splendid fortification back in 2012, so the need for a lunch/dog walking stop en route to northeast England recently had an obvious solution!  The battery is located on the headland at Hartlepool, which is quite a nice spot.  The exhibits are much as they had been but I figure you can never have too many photos of Chieftains or Ferrets.

From the observation post I kept a lookout for the High Seas Fleet...

The battery bears a more then passing resemblance to the Airfix Gun Emplacement.

This time I had the opportunity to visit the small arms collection - they have some interesting stuff.

The cutaway Bren was instructive.

They even have some weapons which visitors may handle.  Clad as I was in blue and red, the Lebel seemed an obvious choice!  They wouldn't let me have the bayonet though....