Why Somerset's canals and railways (still) bristle with anti-tank defences: the Taunton Stop Line
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2024
- A tour of some of the relics of the Taunton Stop Line, a system of WW2 anti-tank defences running coast-to-coast across Somerset and Devon.
0:00 Intro
3:46 River Parrett
4:59 Bridgwater & Taunton Canal
8:32 Chard Canal
10:17 Great Western Railway (Chard branch)
12:30 Policy turns against stop lines
15:24 Camouflaging the stop line
17:36 Conclusion / outro
Very interesting. At 67, I still learn something new every day.
I stumbled upon a pillbox while walking in somerset one day hidden in a wood near Admiral Hoods monument it was nice and dry inside, a couple of guys were living in it at the time, this was back in the 1980s when new age travellers were everywhere, they had put a log burning stove in it and had it comfortable, makeshift beds and furniture made from old pallets and items from the local landfill at Shepton mallet, I kind of hope someone might still be living it, they did say they were only staying there for the summer so they could go to festivals and music vents (there were loads of free ones back then in that area) they were heading to Scotland in the winter as a friend had a crofters cottage they could stay at, they had a sense of freedom I envied a lot.
In the North Somerset village where I live a posh 5-bedroom house has been built on the site of the old railway station.
The new owner can revel in the view of a pillbox in his back garden, because it is now a listed building so he can't demolish it 🙂
I like that there has been a convenient bench installed at 4:13 from which to sit and admire the 'pill box'
10:11 I think they were stepped to prevent enemy rounds from ricocheting into the pill box and recessed so the gun had a good field of fire while protecting the barrel from the sides
Correct
Yes, I was thinking of ricochets too.
To prevent small arms ricochet and to deflect any attempt to throw grenades inside by bouncing them off of an angled recess. One would have to be either a really good shot or be directly within its line of fire to throw ordinance inside.
Art Deco Odeon style!
Makes sense, but I suppose this raises the question, why are they *not* stepped on the (type 24) pillboxes?
Parts of the Green Line and the Taunton Stopline staying at Highbridge south of Weston was a great trip dozens of remains
Its amazing what is still about us in our day to day lives.
That Maginot Line got a lot of bad press but it did it's job where it was in place. I can imagine the British Army not really having a clue how to stop the German army if they landed in force with heavy weapons. Given we had no tanks left fixed lines may well have been the best option. Nice video and thank you.
Coincidentally wife & self were walking (and lunching) at Maunsel lock last week and en route noticed that one of the 'pill boxes' unlike all the others, appeared to face eastwards and directly away from the canal giving easy access to several compartments. We pondered that it had been (recently?) modified to provide walkers with a shelter against inclement weather. Thanks for another interesting topic to consider.
You got a thumbs up just for using the word inclement, and my only regret is I have but one thumbs up to give
@@philash824 Thanks for that Phil, I was of necessity attempting to use the vernacular of Mr. PD.... and very glad I spelt the word correctly 8¬)
Re Anti Tank Blocks - you would be surprised how little tanks can climb over a vertical obstacle - a 3ft high block would bring most modern tanks to a halt, let alone those of the 1940s.... they would have to bring up engineering assets to blow a gap in them
Did you mean " Blow" a gap in them ?
@@samrodian919 lol yes! editted
The people of Somerset are very protective of their rhubarb and prefer not to take any chances
Never mind the rhubarb, the cider is what needs protecting!
A walk along the Kennet and Avon canal east of Devises will reveal a host of pill boxes part of the defence line built in that area, Look carefully for the overlapping fields of fire. The idea of using canals as a defence lines goes back to WW1, with the use of the canal from Ypres to the sea, amongst others. It was a successful defence of the canal at Mons that gave the British army the chance to withdraw in good order to fight another day.
Thank you, P D. Scottish Taunton resident of circa 14 years, Newly Subscribed!
Intriguing upload, to say the least.
All the best. Stay free. Rab 🍻😎
I used to cycle up and down the canal as a kid. Was lovely to see the place looking much as it did when I way back then.
I always wondered why there where so many ruined bridges!
Thanks for the video and best of luck with future projects :)
The step opening for the gun port is degined as being easy to cast . Narrow at back end so the least opneing then widening for arc of fire. The pipe with holes in , is probably a monuting for a device such as a Blackler Bombard An anti tank spigot mortar. Messel's ideas were the same as the NAZI's. There are fortifications on the Western wal, built as houses. One haous at Gorey Jersey had the ground floor taken out and an identical replica built of refinforced concrete. Also towers built into Elizebathen and Tudor castles, were faced in identical granite stone work. One at St Quen is covered in beach pebbles.
In 1940 the prospect of a German invasion was credible and feared, so the introduction of stop lines to slow or contain an advancing mechanised wave was just about all that could have been thrown together with the resources, and in the time, available.
By later in 1940 (particularly, the failure of the Luftwaffe to gain air superiority of the English Channel) the chance of an invasion was judged to have significantly diminished, so the stop line strategy was deprioritised.
Most of that is simply theory and manufactured history.
Germany could never have crossed the channel due to the immense British Naval fleet.
I’ve been fishing in the countryside around Taunton and I did wonder why there were loads of pill boxes and random concrete blocks in seemingly random fields all over that area!
coming from bridgwater area ,i have found your tour really interesting ,and look forward to finding more of this stop line , on future walks .Many thanks
Very interesting, I often notice old pill-boxes but never thought about how they would have planned their locations along such stop-lines.
Comprehensive, informative and as entertaining as ever. Thank you for a sterling effort.
very articulate...I learned something today!
I never knew about this Taunton Stop Line. A very interesting video. Thanks.
But having lived in Sussex for a good number of years in my youth and Narrow boated for many a great summer holiday, I've seen more than enough pillboxes 8-))...
But you have to be careful in some pillboxes now. It's not the rubbish you worry about. It's the discarded needles from drug use and human waste _(Poop!)_ that makes me not go into them without a torch 8-((...
This is such a fascinating channel. I remember playing on pill box near Trowbridge as a child. Thinking about it as an adult I found it strange such a thing would exist where it did. Thanks for this video it explains it all!
I would guess that might have been part of "stop line green" which ran east/west from Bristolish to Londonish, but dont quote me on that
Quite likely defending the Kennet and Avon canal
Similar to those to be found on The Commons, across from the now derelict railway embankment down Sudbury/Ballingdon way, Suffolk.
Always interested in ww2 remains. Enjoyed the video and learning about an aspect of the war I knew nothing about. Cheers.
There were 2 on the GWR branch line near where we lived in Som't. One was a few hundred yards away and one Saturday morning at 08:00 I was woken up by a thump, thump, thump, which went on for a few months before the building of a new housing estate started. I can understand why farmers were reluctant to demolish them and this excavator with hydraulic chisel took so long just to get through the roof.
Excellent video. Thanks a lot.
Very interesting. Thank you!
Interesting. I lived quite a bit of my life around Guildford which is still full of these pill boxes and concrete cubes (if you know where to look), but I had no idea that static defence idea had been superceded so early
Very, very interesting and well researched, as always.
Good job.
Enjoyed that.
👍👍👍👊👊
Well that was quite interesting thank you I like your sense of humour take care David
BTW, how about something on the Warmley to Keynsham horse-drawn tramway? I was fascinated by this as a kid, and was able to explore part of the Bitton tunnel.
didnt know there was such a thing but count me interested
I really enjoy your videos, thank you for this one. You are also providing important documentary information of course
Thanks for all the concrete info.
Very interesting video and just as good as something Mark Felton would make.
Lovely, very informative, thabk you.
the steps on the loophole are better for deflecting bullets than a smooth surface
Very Cool Thanks
I'm guessing after they installed all the guns they would periodically have to use them in a mock battle to keep everybody trained? Hard to imagine tracer fire across the countryside during the training sessions.
to be honest I didn't come across anything much about the training and staffing. from what little I did see, I got the impression home defence units relied on WW1 vets drawing on their own experience to coach the younger guys, and official, full-scale mock battle training exercises as you describe never really happened- but that may be very wrong, I'm no expert
Have you consider making a video of the demolished 13 Arches Viaduct in Eastville
can't say I have but I'll add it to the list
Thank you very much for that, I enjoyed it very much.
Dose anybody know if there is any kind of protection on these structures?
they dont seem to show as listed on historic england map search
So what is the 'stop line' near Wells Somerset called (I have known about it forever! ).
I think that'd be the 'green' section of the GHQ Line, from Highbridge(ish) to Reading(ish)
I didn't know about the blockades across railways and roads. How were the tracks held in the slotted blocks? What went across the roads? xxx
I'll be honest I don't really know. I assumed the rails just sat in the blocks with gravity, and nothing really stopped enemy forces simply lifting them out again, it was just intended to slow them down by forcing them to stop and muck around doing so, rather than intending to stop them completely. but that's totally just an assumption of mine, I didn't see any details about this in the sources I read
Sorry to be picky, but when, after 4 minutes, you say a certain footpath was closed, what do you mean? Was/ is it a Right of Way?
the path along the east bank of the Parrett heading north from town centre. I'm unclear if it's a ROW tbh. it was shut for some work on flood defences or something I think... can't remember nor find the link about it now because this was before christmas. open again now as far as I know
@@PedestrianDiversions I've checked the map. The ROW is continuous on the western bank all the way to Steart Point. It is also continuous from Dunball north to Burnham. (I've walked some of that and it's very atmospheric). There seems to be a stretch south from Dunball where there is no path on the eastern bank, and another break nearer the town centre of Bridgwater. There may be attempts to make it complete on the eastern bank, but I don't know. I rather doubt it, as they have put a lot of money into the Parrett Trail, and this goes only on the western bank. So if you don't want to climb a thousand field gates, use the Trail.
@@colinbooth2421(sorry for delayed response) the east bank is necessary to complete the England Coast Path that they are supposedly aiming for (not sure who 'they' are but possibly different pots of money to the Parrett Trail) - so I'm assuming it must be an intention to dedicate it as a ROW, if it hasnt been already. It was not shown as one on the OS map I consulted but I don't know how up to date that was. the trouble with taking the western bank for my purposes was the pillboxes are only on the eastern!
@@PedestrianDiversions Ah, I forgot about the Coast Path. Good point. Cheaper to dedicate, than to build a bridge!
Are any of these near Wiveliscombe ?
I don't know offhand but somersetheritage.org.uk will list it if there is!
Very good, thanks for a wonderful video on good old somerset
The general impression one gets of these defensive lines when one walks along them is how utterly inadequate they would have been. There are far too few pillboxes, spread out far too much, unable to provide much mutual support, and the pillboxes are of a very feeble size and design (one only has to compare them to the immense and formidable German bunkers in Normandy to see how feeble they are). Any determined and concentrated German attack at a specific point somewhere along the defensive line would probably have had little difficulty in making a gap several miles wides in the defensive line and pouring through, leaving the rest of the line far behind and irrelevant. These defensive structures might have proved of use against commando or parachute type raids but against a full scale invasion I suspect they would have been useless.
Yes I definitely agree with you there, the pillboxes were often at least a km if not a mile or more apart, you can't imagine that a handful of home guard, often equipped with only some WW1 era weapons that were essentially obsolete, could have stopped a full effort German assault from breaking through. And like you say, once you pour through one gap the rest of the line is essentially useless. I wonder if there was some extent to which they pressed ahead and built them despite that, because of the morale aspect - making people feel like they had *some* protection at least
Traffic choked roads and soulless industrial estates, that sounds exactly like Bridgwater...
There doesn’t seem to be a good reference book on the many stop lines which were planned.
Try Beaches, fields,streets and hills by William Fort publisher English Heritage. Heavy going but well researched and gives a comprehensive overview covering the entire country
I see you dismissed the area as a possible invasion site for the much same reasons the Germans dismissed Normandy. I trust that was deliberate.
Yeah I had a whole bit of script about how as soon as you label somewhere as 'obviously' not a good place to attack, and therefore don't defend it, it becomes a good place to attack, etc, etc. But it seemed like waffle and I should get into the specifics of the Taunton line sooner
The underside of a tank is pretty much the only place artillery cannot hit. You mean anti-tank guns.
Ironically, the stop-line stratergy is very much alive today in Bachmudd EASTERN Ukrain.
queer, observing seeming trinkets chipped right off of downtown's Place Bonaventure strewn hither thither throughout my childhood domain there (Type 24, i.e.)
All Wars are fake Though.. So what are they really for?
Absolutely nothing (say it again...)