The western balloon loop with loco shed.
The Okehampton Military Range Rowtor Target Railway is 2ft 6 inch gauge gauge line a few hundred yards long on the southern flank of Rowtor. It is dumbbell shaped, with a straight section paralleling an embankment for protection, and a balloon loop at each end enabling continuous running.
Targets were carried on unmanned Wickham of Ware motorised trolleys. The line was closed when I visited but apparently was reactivated sometime after my visit. However, it has not run since some of the tracks were damaged by grenades in the early years of the millennium.
This railway featured on the Channel 5 series "Walking Lost Railways" in shown in autumn 2018. The target trolley loco is shown on this programme.
Camera: Contax 139 + Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7 Planar Lens
for more photographs of Minor and Mineral Railways of Cornwall and Devon please click here: www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Railways/Mineral-M...
Tags: DARTMOOR DEVON DEVONSHIRE OF BRITISH ARMY ENGLAND UK 1984 www.jhluxton.com schmalspurbahn TARGET RANGE ROWTOR OKEHAMPTON DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK JOHN H. LUXTON PHOTOGRAPHY MINISTRY DEFENCE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE BRITISH ARMY MILITARY MILITARY ARCHAEOLOGY MILITARY DECAY INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY NARROW GAUGE ROWTOR TARGET RAILWAY ROWTOR MILITARY TARGET RAILWAY OKEHAMPTON MILITARY RANGE OKEHAMPTON MILITARY RANGE TARGET RAILWAY TARGET RAILWAY RAILWAY SCHMALSPURBAHNEN
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The western balloon loop and loco shed in the distance.
The Okehampton Military Range Rowtor Target Railway is 2ft 6 inch gauge gauge line a few hundred yards long on the southern flank of Rowtor. It is dumbbell shaped, with a straight section paralleling an embankment for protection, and a balloon loop at each end enabling continuous running.
Targets were carried on unmanned Wickham of Ware motorised trolleys. The line was closed when I visited but apparently was reactivated sometime after my visit. However, it has not run since some of the tracks were damaged by grenades in the early years of the millennium.
This railway featured on the Channel 5 series "Walking Lost Railways" in shown in autumn 2018.
Camera: Contax 139 + Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7 Planar Lens
For more photographs of Minor and Mineral Railways of Cornwall and Devon please click here: www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Railways/Mineral-M...
Tags: DARTMOOR DEVON DEVONSHIRE OF BRITISH ARMY ENGLAND UK 1984 www.jhluxton.com Luxton schmalspurbahn TARGET RANGE ROWTOR OKEHAMPTON DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK JOHN H. LUXTON PHOTOGRAPHY MINISTRY DEFENCE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE BRITISH ARMY MILITARY MILITARY ARCHAEOLOGY MILITARY DECAY INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY NARROW GAUGE ROWTOR TARGET RAILWAY ROWTOR MILITARY TARGET RAILWAY OKEHAMPTON MILITARY RANGE OKEHAMPTON MILITARY RANGE TARGET RAILWAY TARGET RAILWAY RAILWAY SCHMALSPURBAHNEN
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One of the cannon displayed in the Woolpack Battery on The Garrison at St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. These historic defences are conserved by English Heritage.
For more photographs of the Isles of Scilly please click here: www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Isles-of-Scilly
Camera: Contax RTSII + Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7 Planar lens
Tags: ISLES OF SCILLY ATLANTIC OCEAN ST MARY'S SCILLONIA SCILLY ISLES WEST COUNTRY WEST COUNTRY ENGLAND UK COAST HUGH TOWN HUGH TOWN ISLAND WWW.JHLUXTON.COM JOHN H. LUXTON PHOTOGRAPHY ENGLISH HERITAGE WOOLPACK BATTERY THE GARRISON 1991
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The Woolpack Battery - one of the several listed defence installations on The Garrison in the care of English Heritage.
In the background can just be glimpsed part of the island of St Agnes. Digitally reprocessed to monochrome.
For more photographs of the Isles of Scilly please click here: www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Isles-of-Scilly
Camera: Contax RTSII + Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7 Planar lens
Tags: ISLES OF SCILLY ATLANTIC OCEAN ST MARY'S SCILLONIA SCILLY ISLES WEST COUNTRY WEST COUNTRY ENGLAND UK COAST HUGH TOWN HUGH TOWN ISLAND WWW.JHLUXTON.COM JOHN H. LUXTON PHOTOGRAPHY ENGLISH HERITAGE WOOLPACK BATTERY THE GARRISON 1991
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Fort Perch Rock at New Brighton was constructed in in the mid-1820s to defend the River Mersey and the Port of Liverpool.
More photographs of Ford Perch Rock here: www.jhluxton.com/Military/Fort-Perch-Rock-New-Brighton/
Fort Perch Rock is a coastal defence battery built between 1825 and 1829, with the foundation stone being laid in 1826. The fort was built on an area known as Black Rock, and was cut off at high tide However, coastal reclamation has made it fully accessible.
Since decommissioning in the 1950s it has passed through several owners and traded as a museum though it has not been open to the public since 2016.
The Fort covers an area of about 4,000 square yards (3,300 m2), with enough space for 100 men. It was built with red sandstone from the Runcorn quarries. The height of the walls ranges from 24 feet (7.3 m) to 32 feet (9.8 m), and the towers are 40 feet (12 m) high. At one point it was armed with 18 guns, of which 16 were 32-pounders, mounted on platforms. It was nicknamed the 'Little Gibraltar of the Mersey'.
The foundation stone reads:
This foundation stone of the Rock Perch Battery, projected by and under the direction of John Sikes Kitson, Esquire, Captain in the Royal Engineers, for the defence of the port was laid on 31st March 1826 by Peter Bourne, Esquire, Mayor of Liverpool in the 7th year of the reign of His Majesty George IV. His Grace, the Duke of Wellington , Master General of the Ordnance.
The projected cost of building was £27,065.0s.8d. Kitson ensured that this budget was not exceeded, finishing the fort for a total cost of £26,965.0s.8d.
After decommissioning it was opened to the public by the Royal Artillery Association as a Museum from 1955. In 1958 it was sold by auction to local fairground operator Tommy Mann, famous for the narrow-gauge railway which operated in New Brighton Tower grounds, and business partner T. Kershaw for £4,000.
Unfortunately, during this period many interesting fittings including brass ware was stripped and sold. In 1976 Fort Perch Rock was sold to Norman Kingham who undertook a lot of restoration work supported by the Manpower Services Commission and volunteers.
The fort was operated as a museum / tourist attraction and events venue until 2016 when apparently maintenance problems led to its closure to the public.
Tags: 2020 English John H. Luxton Photography Leica Leica VLux3 Merseyside New Brighton UK www.jhluxton.com Wallasey Wirral England United Kingdom Fort Perch Rock MILITARY ARCHAEOLOGY MILITARY HISTORY MILITARY HISTORIC BUILDING FORT COASTAL DEFENCE Coast ENGLISH COAST PORT OF LIVERPOOL RIVER MERSEY CHESHIRE HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE
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