Home Needed for Bristol Pillbox
10 http://www.britainatwar.comBRIEFING ROOM|News•Restoration•Discoveries•Events•Exhibitions from around the UK
structure on, probably due to
shortage of land and massive
development in the area.
This has led to the pillbox
being offered free of charge
to a wider area, in a desperate
bid to save it. It is a Type 26
variant – nonstandard, 9ft
by 9ft^2 (2.74m by 2.74m^2 ),
with the embrasures being
9ft (2.74m) high. Interested
parties should inquire in the first
instance by email to:
[email protected] ∎Inaugural History Festival for Chelsea
THE FIRST Chelsea History
Festival is to take place at
the National Army Museum,
Royal Hospital Chelsea and
the Chelsea Physic Garden, off
Royal Hospital Road, London, on
October 9-13. The organisers
of the all-new, five-day history
festival say it will host more
than 35 events and provide a
platform for both established
authors and emerging
performers to help make history
more accessible.
The festival opens with
celebrated Arnhem veteran,Royal Hospital Chelsea, an exquisite building and open space founded in 1682, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and home to living history, the Chelsea Pensioners. (VIA NAM)Under threat: the pillbox on Gipsy Patch
Lane in north Bristol. (VIA BRIAN HAWKINS)Victor Gregg, in conversation with
bestselling historian Rick Stroud,
followed by a lecture from Antony
Beevor on the famous ‘battle for
the bridges’. Thursday’s main
event is an evening performance
of The Lark Ascending, which is
taking place in the Wren Chapel at
the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Max
Hastings headlines Friday with a
talk on his new book Chastised:
The Dambusters Story, 1943,
which is due to be published this
September. Saturday is set to be
the principal day of the festival with
more than 20 scheduled eventsincluding history walks around the
neighbourhood and David Nott
sharing his experiences as
a surgeon in Aleppo, Syria.
Founder of Britain’s Chalke
Valley History Festival, James
Holland has been instrumental
in consulting on the schedule,
together with the Chelsea History
Festival’s creative director,
artist and author, Harry
Parker. Holland says:
“It is great to see the
Chelsea History Festival
join the calendar of history
events in Britain. RoyalHospital Road in Chelsea is so
rich in heritage and provides
a magnificent setting at the
heart of one of the great cities
of the world. Being so easily
accessible to many millions
of people makes it an ideal
location in which to share the
stories that have shaped
our world.” Tickets go on
sale in September, ranging
from free events to £30.
The full programme will
be available at: http://www.
chelseahistoryfestival.
com ∎EFFORTS ARE being made to
find a new home for a wartime
pillbox, situated by a low narrow
railway bridge in Gipsy Patch
Lane, near Filton Airfield in north
Bristol, writes Brian Hawkins.
The fortification, one of a
huge number of varying types
constructed to defend the coast
and key sites from Nazi invasion
or airborne assault, was due for
demolition in October, as South
Gloucestershire Council (SGC)
is going to replace the bridgewith a higher, wider version to
accommodate double-decker
Metro buses.
The contract to replace the
bridge was given to Network Rail,
accepted owners of the pillbox.
Network Rail will have the structure
carefully dismantled and stored
for six months at a suitable site,
making it available for relocation,
following a concession won at a
recent SGC planning meeting.
The council had found little
interest locally in taking the10 NEWS BAW SEPT2019.indd 10 8/15/2019 9:38:39 AM