History
The Maunsell Forts were small fortified towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were operated as army and navy forts, and named after their designer, Guy Maunsell.[1] The forts were decommissioned in the late 1950s and later used for other activities including pirate radio broadcasting.
One of the forts is managed by the unrecognised Principality of Sealand; boats visit the remaining forts occasionally, and a consortium called Project Redsands is planning to conserve the fort situated at Red Sands. In the summers of 2007 and 2008 Red Sands Radio, a station commemorating the pirate radio stations of the 1960s, operated from the Red Sands fort on 28-day Restricted Service Licences. The fort was subsequently declared unsafe, and Red Sands Radio has moved its operations ashore to Whitstable.
Red Sands Fort - There are 7 forts in the Red Sands group, at the mouth of the Thames Estuary. These forts were previously connected by metal grate walk-ways.
Visit
I'd been waiting for months to get a call from a boat owner, willing to let me tag along on a trip out to the forts. Project Red Sand had space on their boat, so on a very early Saturday morning, we set off.
Floors are wafer thin metal in parts, walkways feel dodgy, there's seagull shit all over the roof, and the sea erodes a little more every day. It really does feel like the sea wants to take the fort down, which is a shame considering the historic value they have.
It's a long day out there. Because of the tide going out in the morning and then not coming back in again until the evening, we were on there for about ten hours getting a nice bit of facial sunburn. Water, food and a good book are ideal if you can't fill ten hours with taking photos. I didn't think I'd get any after my memory card packed up 30 minutes after boarding, but thankfully I squeezed some more life out of it. I now carry a spare...
Wind farm on the horizon.
Approaching the fort.
On the roof.
Ammunition storage
Eroded walkway.
The one internal room that I found of any real interest. The old stove was a cracker.
Wherever man-made abandonment lies, it seems that nature can always take it back over time. The plants on the roof surprised me, but a butterfly 90 minutes out into the North Sea was incredible. When we left the fort that evening, it flew past us towards the mainland.
The footbridge to the other part of the fort, now longer usable.
Exterior Wall
Home time
A little (HD) video of the day that I put together.
[video=youtube;P10r21BeXTE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10r21BeXTE[/video]
I have an album link too if anybody would like it.
The Maunsell Forts were small fortified towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were operated as army and navy forts, and named after their designer, Guy Maunsell.[1] The forts were decommissioned in the late 1950s and later used for other activities including pirate radio broadcasting.
One of the forts is managed by the unrecognised Principality of Sealand; boats visit the remaining forts occasionally, and a consortium called Project Redsands is planning to conserve the fort situated at Red Sands. In the summers of 2007 and 2008 Red Sands Radio, a station commemorating the pirate radio stations of the 1960s, operated from the Red Sands fort on 28-day Restricted Service Licences. The fort was subsequently declared unsafe, and Red Sands Radio has moved its operations ashore to Whitstable.
Red Sands Fort - There are 7 forts in the Red Sands group, at the mouth of the Thames Estuary. These forts were previously connected by metal grate walk-ways.
Visit
I'd been waiting for months to get a call from a boat owner, willing to let me tag along on a trip out to the forts. Project Red Sand had space on their boat, so on a very early Saturday morning, we set off.
Floors are wafer thin metal in parts, walkways feel dodgy, there's seagull shit all over the roof, and the sea erodes a little more every day. It really does feel like the sea wants to take the fort down, which is a shame considering the historic value they have.
It's a long day out there. Because of the tide going out in the morning and then not coming back in again until the evening, we were on there for about ten hours getting a nice bit of facial sunburn. Water, food and a good book are ideal if you can't fill ten hours with taking photos. I didn't think I'd get any after my memory card packed up 30 minutes after boarding, but thankfully I squeezed some more life out of it. I now carry a spare...
Wind farm on the horizon.
Approaching the fort.
On the roof.
Ammunition storage
Eroded walkway.
The one internal room that I found of any real interest. The old stove was a cracker.
Wherever man-made abandonment lies, it seems that nature can always take it back over time. The plants on the roof surprised me, but a butterfly 90 minutes out into the North Sea was incredible. When we left the fort that evening, it flew past us towards the mainland.
The footbridge to the other part of the fort, now longer usable.
Exterior Wall
Home time
A little (HD) video of the day that I put together.
[video=youtube;P10r21BeXTE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10r21BeXTE[/video]
I have an album link too if anybody would like it.
Last edited: