Casemate 76

MEMBERS DAY, 11 March, was held very successfully at Fort Nelson, one of the Palmerston forts on Portsdown Hill above Portsmouth, managed by the Royal Armouries, and home base to the Palmerston Forts Society (PFS), several of whom attended; luckily too, David Moore was on hand to help get the technology working. A healthy attendance saw 32 Members and guests present to enjoy a typically eclectic selection of slides and digital images.

Ian Stevenson kicked off with a series of slides on forts and defences around Trondheim in Norway; Austrått Fort mounts a 28cm triple turret from Gneisenau. Closed in 1968 and restored in 1990s, it is now a tourist attraction.

Austrått, Gneisenau C turret. (Svein Wiiger Olsen).

Steinvikholm Castle and the island fort of Munkholmen were shown, and Kristiansen Fort above Trondheim, built after a big fire destroyed large parts of the city in 1681, and boasting a massive four-storey gun tower. Hegra Fort, 1908-11, looks very pleasant amongst the heather and spruces, belying its active history in 1940, and mounting 7.5cm and 10.5cm guns, German but not original. At Vaterholmen, two rock galleries were built in the cliffs in 1909-11, to block a pass.

Lewis Sharp followed with a light hearted journey round some of the many forts surrounding Lyon and Dijon, where he was accompanied by several of those present at the meeting, who made a fine sight in their fort gear, scary enough to bring up the Gendarmes. He commented that while many of the forts were derelict and officially inaccessible, some had been renovated at vast expense, but with no obvious current function.

Fort Apollinaire - OK, we're baffled, what is this thing? Can readers help? (Lewis Sharp).

These forts are apparently in the hands of Local Authorities, so there is no consistent national policy regarding them; one carries a monumental set of reservoirs on its roof. Lewis had also been to Fort Washington, Maryland.

Stephen Cannon-Brookes had visited Serbia - Belgrade, its capital; and a jewel of the bastioned order and 'Gibraltar of the Danube' - the huge and largely unaltered C18th Austrian fortress and town of Petrovaradin (Peterwardein). This was a revelation to me, and led to a web search for more information, duly discovered (see especially www.peterwardein.com/index_eng.htm by Nenad Seguljev for how to present a fortress - admirable).

Charles VI Gate, Petrovaradin Fortress. (Nenad Seguljev).

A late lunch and early finish - Fort Nelson shut at 4.00 - led to a bit of a scramble afterwards as your reporter whizzed through several hundred images of his CDSG trip to Spain and Gibraltar, (see this issue, p26) which appeared to be appreciated, ending with some images culled from Google Earth, most of which the audience were astute enough to identify, though the pentagonal Castle of Good Hope evaded everyone; there are rather a lot of them about.

Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, SA. (Image (c)2006 DigitalGlobe, (c) 2005Google).

Alistair Graham Kerr had been very busy with Cambridge University's aerial photos and showed us a selection of castles and forts. All taken just after WWII it is edifying to see many of the batteries complete with guns, now empty concrete or gone altogether. Broughty Castle near Dundee is typical.

Broughty Castle: at top, the 2x6-in battery, with overhead cover and supporting Nissen huts, now a well manicured public garden. Tower house and Victorian battery in foreground. ((c) Cambridge University).

Other members had brought material on spec, but sadly time ran out. It is very pleasing that the event is in such good health, and we thank Keith Philips for organizing the day, Richard Clisby as Keith's deputy in his absence, and the PFS for their attendance and assistance.
Charles Blackwood