Palmerston Forts Society and Portsdown Artillery Volunteers

28/10/2026

Boom across the Hamoaze at Plymouth and GARDEN BATTERY

This interesting but undated and colourised picture from the Cyberheritage page shows the Hamoaze boom defence from Devil's Point.

It looks like Garden Battery has sneaked into the image at the extreme left. You can see the river entrance and the ramp up to it and part of the embrasure of casemate VII. See the zoom in in the comments.

I guess that the history of the boom defence is documented. Can anyone date the period when it would have been fitted between these two moored vessels?

One of my favourite photos of all time. This shows two moored hulk type vessels carrying the anti-submarine boom across from Devil’s point to Cremyll on the Cornish side. Close examination shows us a winding house for the boom defence on the Cornish side and at the hard at Devil’s Point two black chimneys from the electrical generating system used to power the winch for the boom. There’s a possibility that the two chimneys are NOT electrical generators, but actually for a steam engine system that powered the hydraulic mechanism for the boom. This is the only photograph I’ve ever seen of this and on the Internet there is precious little and it often confuses this boom defence with the boom defences/minefields further out in the sound between the West End of the breakwater and Wilderness point at Picklecombe. Can anybody date this recoloured photograph? I think this photograph made defeat all you incredibly expert people out there who know everything about everything, unlike me.

27/10/2026

REDAN 87 is out !

Redan is the journal of the Palmerston Forts Society and it is published every October. The 2026 edition of 106 pages includes articles covering the history of Fort Hubberstone, the “Lost Batteries” of Dorset, the Royal Commission fortifications from a Belgian perspective, water supplies to the Spithead forts and evidence of “no-fire” marks at Fort Brockhurst, alongside studies of campaign medals and Royal Artillery uniform.

PFS members who attended the Annual General Meeting got their copies on Saturday (which saves us some postage cost) and the rest will be posted out later this week.

The Redan journal is just one of the benefits of PFS membership. This is a good time to join the PFS became our membership year is October to September. Find out how here:
https://www.palmerstonfortssociety.org.uk/palmerston-forts-society-membership

26/10/2026

Palmerston Forts Society Annual General Meeting

Hampshire didn’t get the worst of the storms at the weekend but it was certainly wet and a bit blowy on Saturday for our Annual General Meeting at Fort Nelson. We had a good turnout of 20 members attending physically with another 7 joining by online by Zoom. We also had the proxy votes of 14 other members who were not able to attend.

The AGM was completed in just one hour. Chairman Phil gave a concise review of the year where all of the important indicators - including membership, events and other activities, research and publications, social media, grants - have all moved upwards. Treasurer Duncan then took us through a similarly positive review of finances. Despite increasing costs in some areas, good management and increasing member numbers mean that the balance sheet remains positive and reserves are good. Phil then delivered two reports from RA Fort Nelson on the last year. There was then some admin. to deal with - approval of accounts, minutes, introduction of joint membership and election of the committee. We said thanks and goodbye to two retiring committee members and welcomed three new ones - there will be another post about that soon.

After the AGM we had a break for refreshments and then had four short presentations. These were on Garden Battery (Plymouth), Forts Purbrook and Widely (Portsmouth) and optical signalling methods. These were will received by those present and online and we will post about them separately.

Thanks to all involved in the organisation and to the PFS members who took part and showed their support to the committee. Thanks also to Royal Armouries Fort Nelson for hosting us

24/10/2026

No-Fire Marks at HURST CASTLE

Our work on documenting no-fire marks in Victorian forts continues. These floor marks on the aiming rings of gun positions were intended to help the crews avoid firing upon their own forts. Although these marks are very common in forts of this period we have yet to find any reference to them in contemporary plans or documentation.

We recently visited Hurst Castle where there were 31 casemates fitted out with guns and shields. We were able to access (fully or partially) 23 of those casemates and we found 25 no-fire marks in 16 of them. We are currently working on the alignments but it is already clear that they are aligned with “friendly fire” targets including Cliff End, Warden Point and Hatherwood Batteries.

We will write this up in due course, probably together with information on reciprocal marks on the Needles Old Battery.

Many thanks to Hurst Castle UK and English Heritage for the special access.

23/10/2026

News from SLOUGH FORT

The good work of restoration goes on at Slough Fort.

Recent posts and images from the Slough Fort Preservation Trust show that work on Casemate no. 4 is nearly complete. Meanwhile, reproduction shutters have been created for some of the windows in what were the latrines. The Trust say that they had two left hand half shutters and have had the missing right hand halves made. If that is correct then the attention to detail on things like the hinges and clasps is commendable.

Work on the shell lift for the 9.2 inch position continues with the upper block with pulleys and the lower pulleys being installed. The whole system should be working soon.

There are still a few guided tour dates available before the end of the year, the last one being on 1st November.

21/10/2026

Victorian Forts and the Cold War

Last week, a couple of PFS members, who are also The Cold War Network members, attended a members’ day and conference at Drakelow Tunnels near Kidderminster. The tunnels were built as a “shadow factory” during WWII and part of the site was then used as a Regional Seat of Government and then as a Regional Government Headquarters. Now privately owned, part of the site is open as a museum while a large proportion of it has become a bonded fine w**e and spirits storage facility.

The intersection between the Cold War and Palmerston forts is the number of Victorian forts which went on to house civil defence facilities during the second half of the 20th century. We are also interested in the Cold War Network because of potential learning points for our own Victorian Forts Network.

The near constant 10.5 degrees environment of the tunnels may be perfect for the storage of w**e and spirits but it made for a pretty cold conference with little chance of anyone dropping off in the afternoon session. That was handy, as PFS’ Lewis has the last slot where he told members about the PFS and the Victorian Forts Network.

There were talks about Cold War topics and a workshop to support the development of “Volunteer Toolkit”. This is designed to support member organisations in recruiting, welcoming, supporting and developing volunteers. We want to keep an eye on this as it could be useful to our own network.

It was a productive day out kindly hosted by Drakelow Tunnels Museum

Images: Cold War Network

20/10/2026

GALTON GRATES and GRILLES

The Galton grate and ventilation system, devised by Captain Douglas Galton in the nineteenth century, was designed to provide effective room ventilation while reducing the draughts and heat loss associated with conventional open fireplaces. Fresh air at floor level was drawn into a chamber behind the fireplace grate, where it was indirectly heated. The warmed air then rose through a separate vertical flue and was discharged into the room through a grille or louvre positioned just below the ceiling. This arrangement established a continuous circulation of fresh, pre-warmed air, improving ventilation and comfort. The system was used widely in institutional buildings, including hospitals and barracks.

The team at Bembridge Fort want to replace some of their missing grilles with reproductions so a call went out to members of the Victorian Forts Network for photos of surviving examples. Examples have come in from The Pembrooke Defensible Barracks, South Hook Fort and Landguard Fort. We are compiling these and others into a package to send to Bembridge.

Meanwhile, a visit to Hurst Castle UK revealed two very different grille designs on either side of the same casemate wall. One was the traditional (but missing) rectangular design and another unusual arched design that we have never seen before.

If you have some surviving grilles in your fort please photograph then for us – and if possible put a measuring tape in the photo.

19/10/2026

Visualisation of SANDSFOOT CASTLE

When we visit Weymouth and Portland our focus is normally on the late 19th century and early 20th century fortifications but the area includes at least two significant Tudor castles. One of these is the very picturesque but ruinous Sandsfoot Castle.

Our last posting from the area highlighted the interpretation and visualisation techniques used at the Verne High Angle Battery. A different technique has been employed at Sandsfoot Castle where an “infographic” panel enables visitors to gain an impression of how the castle would have originally looked. Of course it is not our period but there are a few places where this technique could be used - the barracks at Fort Victoria and Grain Fort spring to mind……..

Well done to Weymouth Town Council, their suppliers and partners. Here is the original post (which the photos come from) with a link to the suppliers:

https://www.facebook.com/WeymouthWTC/posts/pfbid0RcFQKnWFM2Uf6yb75qSGXUBiE63hKE8n14cR3qmEPip56WgLHq3yttTu8usCUQjdl

18/10/2026

WEBINAR REMINDER - " Transformation of Dutch Castles into Forts "

Our next webinar with the Fortress Study Group is at 20:00 (UK time), this Wednesday the 21st October when Jeroen van der Werf will be talking about how some older Dutch fortifications were adapted for use in later centuries.

These castles were adapted over time to reflect developments in military technology. Some continued to be modified until the end of the nineteenth century, while others ceased to be adapted much earlier. What explains these differences? Why were some castles modernised more frequently and over a longer period than others? This webinar explores these questions in two ways. First, it examines the types of changes made to castles, including military-technical and architectural modifications. Second, it considers when and how these changes were implemented, with particular attention to the circumstances in which each castle lost its military function and further modifications came to an end. A wide selection of Dutch castles is used to illustrate the discussion.

The Fortress Study Group CIO , in cooperation with the Palmerston Forts Society, The Coast Defense Study Group and the Ordnance Society and, organises these webinars for their members. Palmerston Forts Society members receive login details via email and recordings of selected past webinars are accessible in the members’ area of the PFS website.

This is a good time to join the Palmerston forts Society because the membership year starts on the 1st October so you will get a whole year for your money. Follow this link to find out how to join us for as little as £17 per year :
https://www.palmerstonfortssociety.org.uk/palmerston-forts-society-membership

17/10/2026

Disposal of the SOLENT FORTS 1970s-1980s

A few months ago we are approached by a gentleman from Portsmouth who told us that he had some papers that we might find interesting. A meeting in the appropriate location of the Casemates Café on the Hilsea Lines was the opportunity to hand them over and discuss the contents.

Mr J’s father had submitted bids for some of the Solent Forts in the 1970s and 1980s. He was interested at one stage or another in purchasing any of them with the intention of converting a fort into some sort of museum or other heritage attraction. The papers include original sales brochures for St. Helen’s Fort and No Man’s Land Fort and a number of letters between Mr. J and the PSA and the MoD.

I particularly liked a letter from the MoD dated 9th July 1979 explaining that the forts were being withdrawn from sale and describing their disposal as “practically impossible” for a number of reasons. They obviously changed their mind, because in 1983 offers in excess of £12000 were invited for St Helen’s Fort and a year later offers in excess of £14000 were invited for No Man’s Land Fort. It looks like St Helen’s didn’t sell because it is then listed by the PSA in 1985 for offers in excess of £17000.

These papers have been consigned to our physical archives and have also been scanned for our digital archives. Do you have stuff in the attic that we might be interested in? Please get in touch if you have.