Traces of war in Merseyside, WW2 pillbox at Billy's Bridge, Lydiate
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2024
- Mr H goes on a weekend bimble in Merseyside to take a look at a type 24 WW2 era brick pillbox that still remains in a field by the side of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Lydiate, overlooking Lydiate Hill Bridge and was once one of the many hardened field defence positions that were hastily built in the early years of the Second World War to protect Britain against the threat of a German invasion.
Cheers mrH👍
Love a little weekend bimble thank you Mr H
Hi Carl, happy to have you along and glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍
love your comment Ne"er do wells and Fosters go together. Strange but true
Hi Barry, the comment regards 'ne"er do wells and Fosters lager' was totally unscripted as it amazes me that there is always at least one empty Fosters can usually more around these type of locations and always think to myself "Surely there's got to be a better place to enjoy a can of lager?"
Maybe I should start refering to them as 'The obligatory Fosters can....' in my videos?
Nice little vlog Mr H good to see history in the uk still standing for us to visit I’ve tried to look online about why it’s called Billy’s bridge but no look unfortunately thanks again for taking your Saturday out to do these for us 👍
Hi Richard, and glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍
Likewise I'd also drawn a blank online as to regards why Lydiate Hill Bridge is known locally as 'Billy's Bridge' hopefully someone from Lydiate with an interest in their local history will see this video and leave a comment explaining why.
Anyway thanks for watching/commenting and hopefully you'll join me on the next bimble.
Great vlog mr h..
Thanks Chirs, and glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍
Thats so close to me and i had no idea about it. Thanks for sharing this information
Good job hot pot went fishing along that stretch for years never spotted it, will go and have a look.
Hi Carl, it's definitely worth taking a look at when you're next in the area just beware that it looks like someone is currently rough sleeping both in the pillbox which can be seen in my video and the immediate area around it.
Depending on the time of year when you fished that stretch of canal it was probably hidden from you due to the trees around it as there's apparantly a similar one by the side of the canal at Halsall which can only be seen at certain times of the year because of the same thing.
NICE 1 MR H 😎
Hi Ste, and glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍
As a side note I went for a bimble through Westwood Cemetery the other day and there is still a large tree of about the right age in the area people have described the monkey's grave as being beneath.
It's right next to the concrete fence that backs onto the houses in Mount View on the cemetery side and with no evidence of any other trees being either cut down or removed in that area I'd say this is the tree Chico is buried under.
As for Nigel Heeley I do know him but only by sight as he was in the same year as my cousin Steven Butler at school and very good mates with both him and Nigel Sharples who are all a few years older than me.
@@MrHsHotPot yeah pal i know yer ste aswell but hes yonger than me yes he mated wiv the 2 niges 😎
The brick pill boxes would have crumbled from one or two shots from a large tank that would have fired from the other side of the canal. There was/still is a pill box at Primrose valley I holidayed there in the early 70's and used to spend lot's of time in it as a youngster.
Hi Wildthing, from what I've read online a lot of these pillboxes were manned by the Home Guard which is why a lot of them appear in random places seemingly defending nothing of miltary value.
To be fair if it had got to the stage where the Germans had managed to land troops on the UK beaches and were starting to move inland with tanks and armoured vehicles with only a poorly equipped Home Guard left to defend against them then it was pretty much over.
Regarding the pillbox at Primrose Valley that you mention is this the one on the beach?
If it is then I've also been in it before I started making videos when holidaying in Bridlington with Mrs H and we'd made our way up the coast towards Filey and we came across it.
@@MrHsHotPot It was at the top of the cliffs near a bungalow we used to rent for a week or two in the 70's
I'm guessing that when it was operational, earth would have been pushed up next to the walls for extra reinforcement.
Hi Robb, I've not seen photographs of any pillboxes with earth pushed up against the walls but that said there are a few of them around with soil on the roof which would seem to support your theory and I suppose as well as acting as extra reinforcement the soil would also camouflage the pillbox to help it blend into it's surroundings.
Sometimes I think about WW2 and think it was probably the last time the country was truly united. Everyone worked together for one cause. Now days the there's no unity at all sadly
Hi Alan, yes I'd be tempted to agree with you with regards to how WW2 united the country although I believe that the first lockdown in 2020 also briefly united the country in roughly the same way as it had been during WW2 giving us a rare glimpse in modern times of that 'Dunkirk spirit' that Britain is famous for.
Well said your spot on.
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Congrats Keith. 👍