For the past couple of years the Western Heights Open Weekend has become a much larger event and unfortunately due to the workload we dropped the 'lecture' on the Saturday evening.
We are pleased to announce that on the evening of Saturday 22nd January 2011 in central Dover we will hold a social event as a thanks to all of our helpers over the past year. The format will be a quick summary of the past year, our plans for the coming year and a guest speaker followed by a chat over 'drink and nibbles'.
Our speaker for this event will be Phil Magrath who is the Curator of Artillery for the Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson in Hampshire. Some of you may remember Phil gave us a talk in 2006 on Dover's Big Guns in WW2. Fort Nelson was one of a series of forts built above Portsmouth as a result of the 1859 Royal Commission Review, which also resulted in the major works at the Heights and Castle in Dover. Following use in the Second World War as an ammunition store for nearby anti-aircraft batteries, it was abandoned in the 1950s. After years of vandalism it was extensively restored in the 1980s by the local council and in 1995 became the home to the Royal Armouries collection of large guns and cannons.
Fort Nelson has recently received a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £2m and with match funding and public appeal is now undergoing a £3.5m project to transform it into a visitor attraction fit for the 21st century, but I won't give too much away!! Phil will give some background to the works, the social/local history that has been uncovered and how the site went from a ruinous state to a major heritage attraction.
Places are limited so please book early. The event will be free to our members, but we are also inviting some other like minded local groups (from whom we would appreciate a small donation towards our costs). E-mail
paulwells75@btinternet.com to book.
