For quite a while I had been interested in visiting Tilbury Fort, it’s got a gorgeous footprint and is close enough that it should be on the list of things to do. As the crow flies it’s not that far away, the problem is the River Thames is in the way and that means using the Dartford Crossing. This is a road route that is permanently congested, the queues are normally a few miles long and I don’t think I’ve ever really figured out why. The government are going to try and fix this by digging a new tunnel under the river further out from London, this is called the Lower Thames Crossing and I think it’s one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe.
So, I went to the Fort and it was lovely. The weather was pretty good, warm but not overly sunny. I wandered around the buildings and looked at the views. There’s something quite fascinating about waterways. There were a number of ships nearby because Tilbury is a freight port. I do like the humming throbbing sound of engines that rumbles through the air and ground. I find it therapeutic.
While wandering Tilbury Fort I found out about another fort not too far away and so I decided I would head there after this place. Tilbury Fort was very interesting. It was used as a defence of the river along with another fort on the south bank of the river that could cover the entire waterway. The fort is no longer used as a garrison and some buildings had to be demolished because of bomb damage from the second world war but the gunpowder magazines still exist.
The magazines were very interesting as there has to be protections from sparks so everything inside was made from wood and rope. There was no ironworks around because of the risks of explosions. The doors were made from copper and workers in these places were not allowed to wear “outdoor” clothes. There were special clothes and footwear at the entrances to these places to reduce the risk of sparks. There were even separate tunnels for lights. These would be where candles and flames could be safely transported and then placed behind glass so they were insulated from the actual magazine. Very interesting.
Shortly after that I drove through some very interesting roads to get to Coalhouse Fort. This was also set up to defend London from attack by the river and it was another very interesting building. Some of the outhouses were used to check the degaussing of warships during the second world war. Ships were degaussed at Tilbury Docks but then checked as they headed out to sea using under river electrical tests. If they failed these then the ships were sent back.
While I was at Tilbury Fort I could hear what seemed like cars racing constantly. Initially I thought this was because “Essex” but it was so constant it couldn’t be racers rushing around the streets of Grays. Also, at times it sounded as though it was coming from over the river in Kent but because of the consistency of the noise I knew it couldn’t be boy racers. While driving to Coalhouse Fort I passed the construction sites for the Lower Thames Crossing and I’m pretty sure the engine noise I could hear was coming from there. The new tunnel will enter somewhere near Thong in Kent and appear between the two forts I visited. Maybe that will stop the eternal congestion? Personally I don’t think we should be building new roadway infrastructure because it will only encourage more traffic. What we need is massive investment in public transport so that people start ditching cars, but that’s just me – wanting to solve all the worlds’ problems.