There`s an ANDERSON shelter here somewhere!!

[The Smythe Meister]

Evenin` Chaps,
This won`t be of interest to many,but i thought it worth posting up.
My Mum lives in Plymouth,in an area called "St,Judes".... during WW2 Plymouth suffered an horrendous Blitz,(Which is largely glossed over when watching tv documentaries about this subject:disappointed2,and pretty much the entire Town was obliterated,(It was a "Town" in those days due to not having a Cathedral !), my Gran,in 1938 moved into an area called "Peverell" and is plainly seen in the 1939 census:thumb2.....
ANYWAY .... Back in my Mum`s road during the build up for D Day,just like LOADS of towns and cities back then,ALL of the back lanes,(They were still cobbled alley lanes back then)were CHOCABLOCK with ALL types of armoured stuff,with the troops,getting ready to embark to their designated sea borne craft!!
Pics of that later if anyone is interested .....
For now though,BACK TO THE BLITZ TYPE STUFF ......
A LOT of the houses in my Mum`s road,had Basements,(Mostly built in 1920`s on 3 Tiers to accommodate a couple of servants .... Don`t get me wrong... She ain`t Rich,just that these places have been altered over the years!!),l
What all this drivel is alluding to is.... my Mum`s middle floor garden has an ANDERSON SHELTER in it,(A PROPER 1939 one BTW),but she wants it gone so she can have a little Summer House put in so she can do her paintings.... she is nearly 80 :blow-kiss-2: !!
Here`s where i started at.....

That`s the inside wall... a bit hard to see i know......

....There`s a door in there... SOMEWHERE!!:tears-of-joy:.....

... and from the outside ..... not sure who those two mad women are mind!!:flushed:

... I spent 6 hours in 25 - 27 degrees fighting this nightmare Triffid type stuff:smiling6:.....
Haven`t taken pics of the progress,but trust me.... it`s looking A LOT better
My Mum`s chuffed to bits,which is all that matters really,although i wanted to achieve more!!
I`ll show pics of the Armour build up from back then if anyone`s interested.... I always have been.... but that could be just because it was a local thing!!
Andy

[boatman]

yes Smitthy pics please be very instrested
chrisb Smiffy my missus says now the shelter is cleared can u take a pic of it an inside if poss as she says this is history as she is agreat history buff

[Nicko]

Wow, must be one of the few still left.

My parents moved us all to Colchester at the end of the sixties and bought a very run down 1920s house in the town which had an Anderson shelter in the back garden.

It was kind of half submerged underground with brick walls and a corrugated iron roof covered over with earth. I remember it as a dark spider infested space although we did play in it as kids. It eventually got flattened and filled in sometime in the seventies. A house down the street had something similar in the front garden.....

Nick

[Jim R]

Definitely interested. Yes to photos.

[langy71]

I'd be really interested to see the pics Andy

[stillp]

I was really jealous of a schoolmate in the 1950s because his house still had an Anderson in the garden!
Pete

[The Smythe Meister]

Blimey i didn`t expect that kind of response guys!! :flushed:
Thanks for all of your interest:thumb2:,...
I`m a bit knackered now,(Never have done this sort of heat very well!!)
Gonna have my tea,sort out work type stuff for tomorrow,(Down in Bloody St.Austell ......AGAIN!!) :disappointed2:
So will get the pics up after work tomorrow evening

[Tim Marlow]

All good stuff Andy. I‘d like to see pictures as well……friends of mine stayed in a holiday let recently that had originally been built as landgirls accommodation. It has been furnished in vintage styling, which is great. It also has a an Anderson shelter in the garden that was done out for kids to stay in….
My Mum wasn’t so lucky. They didn’t have a garden so only had a Morrison shelter. It was no good to them though, the dog slept in it!

[adt70hk]

Pics please Andy

[Mini Me]

Pics. Please.....and as Chris said, the shelter inside and out if you please. :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2:

[JR]

Yes please Andy, is there a preservation order on it ? It's part of our history. Save it before like everything else in this country it's lost .

[The Smythe Meister]

yes Smitthy pics please be very instrested
chrisb Smiffy my missus says now the shelter is cleared can u take a pic of it an inside if poss as she says this is history as she is agreat history buff

The shelter isn`t cleared yet Chris..... quite a bit to do before i actually get inside it,but when i do,you`ll be able to see the condition of it :thumb2:

Wow, must be one of the few still left.

My parents moved us all to Colchester at the end of the sixties and bought a very run down 1920s house in the town which had an Anderson shelter in the back garden.

It was kind of half submerged underground with brick walls and a corrugated iron roof covered over with earth. I remember it as a dark spider infested space although we did play in it as kids. It eventually got flattened and filled in sometime in the seventies. A house down the street had something similar in the front garden.....

Nick

Hi Nick,
My Mum`s house is one of MANY in long Terraces,(About 100 or so in each row,with about 7 rows on the hill),Built in the Mid 1920s,there are many similar areas in Plymouth.Every one of them had an Anderson shelter,or similar,back in the War apparently,but i haven`t seen any others about these days:thinking:.

Definitely interested. Yes to photos.

Hello Jim,pics of my Progress to come,i`m having trouble finding the books i have showing the actual WW2 B/W photos,but i`ll dig them out:thumb2:

I'd be really interested to see the pics Andy

Hey Chris,as above,i`ll get it sorted

I was really jealous of a schoolmate in the 1950s because his house still had an Anderson in the garden!
Pete

I get that Pete:hugging-face:.... They are cool little things!!

All good stuff Andy. I‘d like to see pictures as well……friends of mine stayed in a holiday let recently that had originally been built as landgirls accommodation. It has been furnished in vintage styling, which is great. It also has a an Anderson shelter in the garden that was done out for kids to stay in….
My Mum wasn’t so lucky. They didn’t have a garden so only had a Morrison shelter. It was no good to them though, the dog slept in it!

HA!! Yes,there were several different designs of shelters ..... the term "Anderson Shelter" seems to have been used generically these days,(Much like using a "Hoover"....which is ACTUALLY a Vax,Henry,or the like!!).Considering the size of the houses,(3 Levels,with large rooms)they have a rather small back "Garden",which backs onto a cobbled Lane.:nerd:

Pics please Andy

Hi Andrew,as promised,i`ll get to em!!:hugging-face:

Pics. Please.....and as Chris said, the shelter inside and out if you please. :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2:

Rick,Yep.... I`ll bow to both of those requests..... eventually!!:tears-of-joy:

Yes please Andy, is there a preservation order on it ? It's part of our history. Save it before like everything else in this country it's lost .

Evenin` John,Nope,no preservation order or anything like that! You`re SPOT ON regarding it being part of our History:thumb2:,unfortunately you`re also SPOT ON regarding "Everything in this Country is lost":disappointed2::disappointed2:.... Mum`s been in touch with the Council,Their response was basically,"We don`t care,you`ll have to dump it or get a scrappy to take it away":dizzy:.... She then contacted the Trust that Refurbish and collect original examples,they appear to be interested,but they want pics once we`ve cleared it all before commitment,fair enough i guess..... but i just HATE the way all of our History is so readily given up in our Chavvy, disposable,and thoughtless England!

....... More replies to come,then my progress pics.....

[The Smythe Meister]

So then,these pics certainly do NO justice to the Thickness,Density,and,tenacity of the growth that`s happened to this over the years!!:surprised:...
But here you go...


...Done the Back lane side,this is the inner one before,......
Started on that corner... Hedge trimmer-NO,Hand saw-NO,Ended up using my Scorpion Saw with Secateurs!! Some of the roots are quite thick ........

That bit you see there cut off is about the size of my forearm.... and it`s COVERED in them.... a bit "Sleepy Hollow" if you ask me!!:nerd:
Lastly for tonight,how i left it on Sunday.....Taken from my Mum`s balcony ,so you can`t see it properly.... but it`s all cleared from the obvious overhang to the ground level,i reckon another day and a half and the external stuff will be sorted!!.....
You can see it emerge from the Growth eh?!!.... A landbased,Plymouthian version of "Drain The Oceans" !!
I`ll put some real time WW2 and Actual Street pics of the era soon too:thumb2:
Cheers for looking in,it`s great to know that there ARE other people around that appreciate this truly Historical kind of thing!!:nerd:.....
BTW... I`ve got a thing for Pill boxes too!!:dizzy:

Cheers for looking in.....

[Tim Marlow]

So then,these pics certainly do NO justice to the Thickness,Density,and,tenacity of the growth that`s happened to this over the years!!:surprised:...
But here you go...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1181537[/ATTACH]

...Done the Back lane side,this is the inner one before,...... [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1181538[/ATTACH]
Started on that corner... Hedge trimmer-NO,Hand saw-NO,Ended up using my Scorpion Saw with Secateurs!! Some of the roots are quite thick ........
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1181553[/ATTACH]
That bit you see there cut off is about the size of my forearm.... and it`s COVERED in them.... a bit "Sleepy Hollow" if you ask me!!:nerd:
Lastly for tonight,how i left it on Sunday.....Taken from my Mum`s balcony ,so you can`t see it properly.... but it`s all cleared from the obvious overhang to the ground level,i reckon another day and a half and the external stuff will be sorted!!.....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1181555[/ATTACH]You can see it emerge from the Growth eh?!!.... A landbased,Plymouthian version of "Drain The Oceans" !!
I`ll put some real time WW2 and Actual Street pics of the era soon too:thumb2:
Cheers for looking in,it`s great to know that there ARE other people around that appreciate this truly Historical kind of thing!!:nerd:.....
BTW... I`ve got a thing for Pill boxes too!!:dizzy:

Cheers for looking in.....

Nice shots Andy. That must be tough going. Must admit, I thought these things were put in holes in the ground to offer protection. You wouldn’t get much from that one. Probably better off staying in the house……Are you absolutely sure that isn’t just an overgrown garden shed :tongue-out3:

[adt70hk]

Thanks for the update Andy. That's been a lot of hard work!! Well done.

Andrew