13 July, 2013

Horley- Defence of the Realm

Rural Gatwick on a day off work. A hot and sunny one for a change. I decided to do a circular walk along part of the Millennium Trail, promoted by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.  There was nothing much to see as the old houses and barns pointed out were all locked away behind high fences and locked gates, none of them remarkable and few wrought iron in this prosperous conifer County of Surrey.

The historical articles I did see related to the last war where gun emplacements were constructed in lines to keep out an invasion that would have been unlikely.  Farmers were paid to remove these emplacements at the conclusion of the hostilities but most just packeted the money.
Therefore we find some of these old relics popping up in the most unexpected places.  Some may be used for storage but others are just left to rot.  The ones on this walk were fairly pretty in their decayed brick Other than these things the walk was not much good. There was nowhere to make a natural pause and the refreshments were only available right at the start and right at the end - a local shop with little stock.

1 comment:

Philip Day said...

A day off work ! I beg to differ.