by Sharon » Sun Aug 15, 2004 10:01 pm
Well, it was a sunny day and being at a loose end me and crusty looked for something to do, and this was it.
After a bit of driving about, we got to Patterton and drove up the farm track which according to the OS map, we expected would lead us pretty much where we wanted to go. It did not. It led us to the jaws of a slavering monster. Not weaaring full body armour we quickly decided that this route was closed to us.
So time to improvise, adapt and overcome.
And choose a differnt route. So to Darnelymill we went, and after establishing that the new build next to the trees was in actual fact a fully caged in compouund, we opted for aiming for Scottish Water gorbals treatemnt works.
Then we walked. Disturbing a field of curiuos and nervous bullocks on the way.
After a brief hike up the hill (no stilletos if you are doing this boys) we got to where we thought we should take a look, and lo and behold.... A TRENCH! Just like we ahd hoped, just jutting out of the wood waiting for us. This one was realtively short, and laid full with fetid water. This was not a time for paddling. And i assured crusty that if he landed in it i would not be part of the rescue party!
With promises of 50 meter treches to discover it was time to enter the woods and start foraging. Now, there are good times of the year to do this...and there are bad. This time of year is the bad!! The woods are overgrown, and hawthorn and briars will tear at you with a dangerous level of bloodlusst!! So be warned.
Anyway, a quick step over a fence followed by a hop over a ditch sent us into this lost verdant world. We forged on and quickly realised that the entire hillside carried a shadowy verisimiltude of wartime endeavours. It was totally scarred with terraces and drainage courses.
A few meters in and we spotted what we hoped was a trench. Maybe the big one. We were not dissapointed. It was massive. High slightly sloping concrete walls plunged down to a soft mulchy flooring, the result of 60 years of leaves falling into it. But there ws no obvious way down. Did they use ladders we wondered? It wasnt possible to see the far end of the trech so we battle on - and i do not joke - the undergrowth here had both attitude and teeth. I wished i had had a machete to fight back with!!
50 meters, a few sctraches and much swearing later we appeared at the far end to discover to our joy that this was how to get into the thing. One foot inside the trench established squelchiness...i guess all the summer rain had to land somewhere...so we didnt venture far. But it was enough to appreciate the 10 foot walls and the sheer scale of the structure.
Now what I want to know is what these trenches looked like in use. Were the covered? What was up top? Did people sleep in them?????
For those interested in this stuff it is well worth a visit.
Crusty...get those photos posted boy!!
Last edited by
Sharon on Sun Aug 15, 2004 10:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Beware of yawning dogs.