Tag Archives: base

Remains of The Woolwich Naval Base

As I explore the Thames further, I walked along the shore heading west from Woolwich.  I came across what is left of the naval base that used to be there.  I didn’t realize that a naval base had been there but a few signs explained my ignorance to me!  There was a gun emplacement facing the river that, judging by the guns, was clearly very old.  Not sure how an engagement would have occurred but it would have been messy.

Additionally, I came across a couple of dry docks.  They weren’t dry and they were permanently walled off from the river but they were a testament to what had once gone on here.  As an aside, I recently learned a little more about dry docks as a result of something at work.  I had figured that what I was seeing was a dry dock, and it is, but there is more than one type of dry dock.  Some are floating docks (of which I have seen a fair few) and this type is known as a graving dock.  Never too old to learn!

Pacific Fleet Home At Esquimalt

Across the water from Fort Rodd Hill is the Canadian naval base of Esquimalt.  This is the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet for the navy.  From where we were, you could see some of the ships in the harbor.  There were a few small patrol boats that were in use but the larger ships were tied up.

Fortifications

wpid8254-AU0E8699-Edit.jpgThe Marin Headlands provide a great place to enjoy some lovely coastal scenery.  They were also a militarily significant location for many years.  Protection of the entrance to San Francisco Bay meant that a string of forts were built along the coast here.  The high ground provided an excellent base for large guns to take on an attacking fleet.  Some of these forts were operational while other emplacements were built just in time to be considered obsolete and they were never finished.  Now you can walk through the gun emplacements and imagine what they would have been like when operational.

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Fort Monroe

As our day exploring was running down, we made one diversion from the center of Hampton to Fort Monroe.  Up until last year, this was apparently still an active military facility.  Now it has been vacated by the military and is open to access.  The feeling of the place is still very clearly that of a military base, even if the large number of troops are no longer there.  It is also plainly very old.

At the center of the Fort is an old Victorian style structure with massive stone walls and a moat.  There are a few entrances you can drive through and inside is the heart of the fort.  It appears that the housing has been turned over to people now so, while it is quiet, it isn’t deserted.  I have no idea who the housing now belongs to but it is certainly interesting to drive around.

Outside the main fortifications are plenty of other buildings.  These include gun emplacements as well as some very nice high end housing.  As you drive around you come to some nice houses that you assume must be for the senior officers.  Only as you come around the next corner and see even bigger houses do you realize that the really senior officers must have been there.  Indeed, as we walked along looking at the buildings, one of the residents came out and said hello.  She told us that this was Generals’ Row while the other houses were Colonels’ Row.  I am guessing the enlisted guys did not see much of this area.

The access to the shore means that plenty of people come to the piers to fish or to walk along the beach.  I have no idea what the future holds for this place but it certainly is worth a diversion if you are in the area to see something that is a bit frozen in time – at least for now.