Dover Memories of WW2 - Fan Bay Deep Shelter

The National Trust have recently completed a project on the White Cliffs at Dover, involving excavating a series of tunnels which were originally dug out in 100 days in 1940/41 at the order of Winston Churchill to provide accommodation and protection to soldiers manning a gun battery defending the Channel.  The site also includes 2 concrete sound mirrors built from around the end of WW1 as an early warning system for detecting planes crossing the tunnel. Experienced operators could not only hear the planes, but identify their make, and hence whether friend of foe!  The mirrors were buried as "eyesores" in the 1970's, and the NT weren't sure if they still existed or were intact.  Their leap of faith however paid off, and both mirrors have been successfully recovered.

The tunnels and mirrors are now open to the public for guided tours, and I just had to take advantage of my free accomodation in Kent (i.e. visit to Mum's) and holiday to pay a visit.  The continuing good weather also helped!