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Report - - East Weare Batteries and DISTEX Site, Portland, Dorset (aka The Forbidden City) - February 2017 | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - East Weare Batteries and DISTEX Site, Portland, Dorset (aka The Forbidden City) - February 2017

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Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
Much reported in years gone by but not since 2012, so here's a short update - short because things went wrong. Visited with @Kirkymole, a few police officers and a group of young chavs.

Access is much harder than before and the site lies within the area of the Portland Port. Cameras are present and the Port Police can respond in minutes.

HISTORY

The East Weare Batteries area comprises of 19th century Victorian defences alongside the 20th century brickwork of the Disaster Relief Exercise buildings (DISTEX).

The battery was built in the 1860s as a result of the Royal Commission to guard the new Portland Harbour and Royal Navy institutions on the island. Five open batteries were built housing 20 9" and 10" RMLs. In 1900, they were replaced by three 6-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns, and again by two 9.2-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns by World War II.

REPORT

The first stop was a look around “The German House”. A small building that has the emblems of two German ships on the side. “Bremen” and “Emden”. The interior is completely stripped of fixtures and the roof long-gone.
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Nearby is a large building with a large Portland stone archway with iron gates leading into a courtyard.
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Down the hill via an old coastguard lookout building, you find yourself at the entrance of a street-like section. Herein lies the former DISTEX site. Ship crews from Britain and various other countries would carry out exercises and riot training along this stretch of ground and inside the buildings surrounding it. A lot of effort went in to the exercises to make them as real-to-life as possible.
07_zpswitgohy2.jpg


Further along, the mix of Victorian and 20th century building-works continues with lots of small rooms in a large stone building. Cosy fireplaces can be seen.
08_zpsfo3wwvq7.jpg


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At this point it became obvious that we were not alone. A small group of youths could be seen and heard loudly abusing the two resident caretakers. Then the police car arrived. We hid under a window only for that car to park right up outside the same window (which wasn't a window at all but rather just the hole where a window once stood). So for a long time we laid there in the pigeon shit resisting the temptation to move in any way whatsoever. It became obvious that the police weren't moving so we eventually gave ourselves up - only to find out that they didn't even know that us two were on the site.

To cut a long story short we were told that the site is criminal trespass due to a new bylaw which came into force in December and they were eager to get the first prosecution in. After explaining that we were not the youths they were looking for and on the promise that I informed the community of the new bylaw we were allowed to go. So here goes: it's criminal this place, so don't go. There done my part of the deal.

So we left only to be met by more police officers at the exit. Police cars could be seen at all the possible exits. Bags were searched and again we were threatened with prosecution. Managed to bore the Police Officers to death by showing them the photo of the rare seabird that I saw on the site. As I waffled on about all things related to birds, the police just seemed to switch off and allowed us to go. Relief but insulting in a way as I find birds interesting.
 

Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
Ha ha and hello @WildBoyz and thank you for replying. Yes Portland is very interesting for birds. There's a small group of Purple Sandpipers seen at the Bill. Fulmars nest on the seacliffs (very unusual for the South Coast). Eider duck and mergansers can be seen in the harbour (again unusual for the South Coast). On the causeway to Weymouth is a huge flock of bean Goose....etc etc etc YAWN waffle waffle waffle. Why have you gone?
 

xexxa

Xexxa the grey
Banned
I loved the bit about the birds. I always get police to explain the law to me out of interest. Not because im one of these confrotational bastards.
 

Lord Oort

Fear is the little death
Regular User
Nice one dude, who'd have thought that being a bird enthusiast would have saved your asses!
 

xexxa

Xexxa the grey
Banned
Although Ive just had a look at the criminal justice and public order act and I can see no law that says it's illegal. Only if youre a pikey setting up home or a squatter or a raver.
 

coolboyslim

Mr Reality Hacker
28DL Full Member
That's just gold that . A very funny day indeed. I used same excuse on an explore a while back lol.. thx for the post made me chuckle.
 

Ordnance

Stay Safe
Staff member
Moderator
Although Ive just had a look at the criminal justice and public order act and I can see no law that says it's illegal. Only if youre a pikey setting up home or a squatter or a raver.

Interesting, I was under the impression that Portland Port expanded its perimeters in December 1997 when the Under Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions made The Portland Harbour Revision Order 1997 (the "Order") which created the Statutory Harbour Authority for Portland Harbour. This legislation replaced the Queen's Harbourmaster for the Dockyard Port of Portland after a period of nearly 150 years as a Naval Base for the Royal Navy. The Order incorporates within it elements of two other important Acts of Parliament under general legislation, namely the Harbours Act 1964 and the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses 1847.

This Order defined the limits of jurisdiction of the Harbour Authority and also conferred upon it powers of control, operation, management and regulation in relation to the harbour and the harbour premises. under this order it gave the port authority the power to define its own by-lays which I think has now happened? Not under the criminal justice and public order act as stated by xexxa
 

xexxa

Xexxa the grey
Banned
Interesting, I was under the impression that Portland Port expanded its perimeters in December 1997 when the Under Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions made The Portland Harbour Revision Order 1997 (the "Order") which created the Statutory Harbour Authority for Portland Harbour. This legislation replaced the Queen's Harbourmaster for the Dockyard Port of Portland after a period of nearly 150 years as a Naval Base for the Royal Navy. The Order incorporates within it elements of two other important Acts of Parliament under general legislation, namely the Harbours Act 1964 and the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses 1847.

This Order defined the limits of jurisdiction of the Harbour Authority and also conferred upon it powers of control, operation, management and regulation in relation to the harbour and the harbour premises. under this order it gave the port authority the power to define its own by-lays which I think has now happened? Not under the criminal justice and public order act as stated by xexxa


Ohhhhh well that may be the case then. I have not heard of a specific area being given it's own order before.
 

djmip

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
so basically I need to learn some basic bird facts and it's all about the details to get past the old bill :) I would probably talk to the one that's a bird finatic and get rumbled straight away :) lol
 

Thumper

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I often have a collection of cloud photographs on my camera, I'm a cloud spotter you see and I have an astonishing amount of "knowledge" on cloud formations and the scientific processes behind them and and and... like you say, bye bye!

It was really good until you had to hide in the pigeon poop so nice one for getting what you did and also well done on the escape without prosecution.
 

wonderingwillie

28DL Member
28DL Member
Went up here yesterday evening!!

amazing little look around which lasted 5 minutes before i was jumped out at by a BIG Police man. All my details taken and told that i would be reported for process which i asked him to explain! he said that i was commiting an offence under section 4 of the vagrancy act.

seems like they are stepping up the game a little down there.
 

Thumper

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
The Vagrancy Act Section 4? What the heck! haha Obviously leaving quietly is the best option but I'd have loved him to supply evidence that you were sleeping rough or begging on the site! They really are grasping at straws now, clearly they just pluck any act and section out of thin air and hope it's enough to make you stop thinking and get all scared. Did you avoid the camera's Willie? The response is certainly rather quick, wonder if there's hidden PIR's too. I was tempted myself being a mere 15 minutes down the road from me but seems a bit of a no go unless you're stealthier than a silent assasin ninja.
 

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