Outer Bridge, North Entrance, Western Heights, Dover, Kent, UK (2)

John Latter, on April 4, 2007, said:

An underview of the remains of Bridge 1 joining North Military Road (far side, known locally as Military Hill) to a 150-yard long outwork known as a tenaille.

The tenaille was formed by splitting the North Lines (moat) between the Drop Redoubt and the North Center Bastion (alt Centre) into two parallel moats.

Bridge 2 is 2/3rds 'standard' and 1/3rd drawbridge.

As a child in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, my friends and I used the a lot of the Western Heights fortifications as a playground.

At that time the bridges were intact and still carried traffic. If I remember correctly, the surface of the central section of the bridge was wooden and the two outlying sections had long metal plates for 'wheels'. Can still feel them under my feet :)

Some names from those times: Leslie Simpson, Stuart Simpson, Randolph Simpson, Derek Allen, Robert Coulson, Beverley Hubbard (until he moved away), Paul Robson, Keith Lokes or Loakes - he was a year older than us, not quite past it but getting there.

Our preferred method of entering the moats from this location was to clamber through the bridge rail and climb down the near side strut to the righthand column until we could catch hold of the long strut leading to the center column. We then slid down it a la Tarzan.

The strut on the center column going to the ground made the final part of the descent relatively easy, thereby keeping the exciting (aka scarey) bits to a minimum.

Part of Dover's Napoleonic defenses - the "Hidden Fortress".

John Latter, on July 19, 2009, said:

There is also a video of the North Entrance which has been split into two to meet YouTube requirements:

Video of the North Entrance, Western Heights, Dover (Part 1)

Video of the North Entrance, Western Heights, Dover (Part 2)

John Latter / Jorolat

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