Topic: Kingsdown Rifle Range

[unfairytale]

Another postcard from a similar angle, but half a century earlier.
Royal Marines' Camp 1900.

[unfairytale]

A post war view of Kingsdown showing the path which leads to the ranges, plus the pillbox in the campsite on the cliff-top and what looks like a field-gun emplacement on the beach.

[Manofkent1]

This may have been the one where I used to shoot when in the TA 50 years or so ago.  We had a reciprocal arrangement at the time, courtesy of one of our officers, to do this, and the RM's would, in turn, join us in night exercises.  I remember also using their assault course at the barracks and not thinking much of it compared to the one at Howe Barracks here in Canterbury!

[unfairytale]

Here's a shot of the Sea defences, now removed, looking towards the ranges. You can see the marker (shown above) in the centre.


And further up the beach, still looking the same direction.

[unfairytale]

Slightly off topic but it is Kingsdown Beach.
Here's part of the the old sea defences which stood just outside the rifle range. Taken in 1996.

[Lee]

As I understood it from my days of working there, it was purpose built. We would often be at the coastguard station at leathercote point and the marines would have a bootneck stationed at lockout, keeping an eye out for fishing boats etc entering the firing range area.

It was situated at foot of cliff to cause as little impact as possible - nearest other ranges would be the indoor one at Connaught Barracks, as well as small one in DYRMS, otherwise a trip to Hythe was next option.

[Riding With The Angels]

Ah I see - the one in my pics is off the far west end of the range.

[unfairytale]

The one in my picture has been removed. there was a few of them along the beach. the one shown was on the Deal side of golf club road. I took loads of photos there when all the steel sea defences were on the beach. I'm not too sure if I printed many though.

[Riding With The Angels]

That'll be it unfairytale- looks smaller there - its obviously shallow.

[unfairytale]

Here's one of my dark-room pics from about 1996. Taken on the public part of the beach before it was tidied-up.

[Islesy]

The naval marker is, I'm pretty certain, the Admiralty's version of a WD Boundary marker. As for the tower in the water, looks to me like a range marker.

[Riding With The Angels]

Took a wander down here today.

Anyone know what the tower out to sea and the naval marker on the cliff are?

[howard]

Thanks for that Paul, it answers one question. I sometimes chug up and down the river Stour in my boat so I found the bits about a 'tidal reservoir' to reduce flooding in Sandwich interesting.

[Paul]

Have a read of this.

Reach 7
It says infill soits reclaimed land but doesn't say if it had a previous use ???

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/pegwell_strategy_1833204.pdf

[howard]

Can anyone tell me if the abandoned Royal Marine rifle range at Oldstairs Bay, Kingsdown, was purpose built or converted from some previous use please? I ask because the amount of work to create it must have been great and reclaiming from the sea (which I assume it was) seems rather an expensive way to create a rifle range.