Sea-Fog: Wellington Dock from St Martin's Battery, Dover UK

John Latter, on May 16, 2007, said:

Wellington Dock, seen from St Martin's Battery on the Western Heights above Dover, prior to being engulfed by a 500ft-high fog bank rolling in from the English Channel on Sunday, 8th April 2007.

The grey vertical strip of pathway towards the bottom left of the image leads to the upper entrance of the Napoleonic Grand Shaft triple-staircase.

This is the second in a 'sequence' of photos showing the fog bank's progress. The first shows the fog approaching Granville Dock, the second gives a 'Floating Castle' effect.

This photo of Gun Position No.1 shows what the weather was really like at St Martin's Battery at that time.

John Latter, on May 16, 2007, said:

Standard Info:

The building of St Martin's Battery began circa 1870 to counter the threat of a French invasion. The Battery was then 're-modelled' in 1940 during the Second World War.

1870 construction is identified by yellow brickwork, that of 1940 by red.

St Martin's Battery is only a very small part of the fortifications on this part of the North Downs - click on Western Heights and then check the tag list for all the locations covered (eg Drop Redoubt, Grand Shaft, North Entrance, North Center Bastion - more will be added as time goes on).

Work began on Dover's Western Heights fortifications in the 1770s and was intensified, first in the early 1800s because of Napoleon I (Napoleon Bonaparte), and again in the mid-Nineteenth Century because of Napoleon III (originally known as Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte).

"Dover in World War Two: 1942 (1) is a ten minute British Ministry of Information film, released by the US Office of War Information, and narrated by the American journalist, Edward R. Murrow.

The video contains a short clip of a gun similar to those of St Martin's Battery 0:07:03 in (a probably staged) action.

The whole video can be seen at Dover in World War Two: 1942 or choose one of the other pre-selected entry points:

Dunkirk Evacuation 0:00:40

Winston Churchill 0:01:22

The Mayor 0:05:49

Dover Town Hall 0:06:25

St Martin's Battery 0:07:03

Pencester Gardens 0:09:41

Update: A higher resolution (relatively speaking) version of the "Dover in World War Two: 1942" video/film is available here.

John Latter, on May 23, 2007, said:

Dover Castle appears left of center in the above photo and I've just uploaded the first two close-ups. They are:

Constable's Tower and Canon's Gateway. Check the "Castle Tag" for later additions. Please note, search results are currently displayed in chronological order so close-ups will appear towards the bottom of the first page and then on subsequent pages.

jhk, on June 1, 2007, said:

That's one big fogbank, John. Nice shot.

Any news on the new camera yet? :) Gotta do it this way, with the forum down and all.

John Latter, on June 1, 2007, said:

Hiya jhk,

I've had to postpone buying the camera for a couple of weeks but I think I'm going to get a Fuji FinePix S6500.

It hasn't got all the features of the s9600 but apparently its better at low light stuff.

I hope the forum is back soon - I miss it!

Axel Hölzinger, on June 5, 2007, said:

I hope so, too, John. I miss the communication with the others. I assume that this has something to do with the acquisition by google. For the first time I miss some pages of my gallery today. I think that you will do nothing wrong with that Fuji cam. Cheers Axel

John Latter, on June 5, 2007, said:

AxHo said:

I hope so, too, John. I miss the communication with the others. I assume that this has something to do with the acquisition by google. For the first time I miss some pages of my gallery today. I think that you will do nothing wrong with that Fuji cam. Cheers Axel

Hi Axel - it's nice to hear from you!

I guess "The Case of the Disappearing Forum" could have something to do with the Google acquisition - I frequently check the Panoramio blog and I'm surprised there hasn't been any announcement (particularly as the forum has been off air for so long).

I've posted a comment in the blog but so far only Dallas59 and Don Albonico have expressed similar concerns.

I thought I'd lost half of my Panoramio photos earlier today but then found that they've doubled the number of thumbnails on each page - hopefully all your pics are still there, too!

Google Earth have also updated the satellite images for large areas. The new resolution is brilliant but all of my photos have been 'moved' so I might have to reposition the whole lot - I'm waiting to hear more on this from a moderator who messaged me after reading this Google Earth entry - I thought I'ld mention it in case it affects you too.

Hope to see your pics in the forum soon! :)

Axel Hölzinger, on June 6, 2007, said:

Hi John,

I am a frequent visitor of your gallery but lazy in writing comments :-) I like your pictures very much as I am a England fan since a school exchange in 1993 (Swindon area).

I think you are right. When looking at my images it seems that they are all there (at least I do not miss any).

Last week I found one of my pictures of Salisbury somewhere near London. Well, I cannot believe that this has something to do with the new resolution. I hope that I need not to reposition the others (hard work as you said). Your thread was interesting. The minor of us have GPS to get rid of this annoyance. The best is to wait and see what will happen. Panoramio users are used to do so. g Hopefully, the Google infrastructure will bring some improvements about it.

See you soon, John!

John Latter, on June 7, 2007, said:

Hiya Axel - still no forum!

I bet the Panoramio team are now lounging about on some tropical island, being waited on "hand and foot" (as we say), and round about now one of them is going to say "Oh my God - we forgot to put the forum back online!". Naturally, they'll all jump on a plane to come back and put things right.. :)

Strange to hear of your photo going 'walk-about' - and I wish I had GPS info on my camera! Actually, I'm saving up for a new one so I think I might take a closer look at the specifications because it would save time and make things easier.

I've just checked, the forum is still disabled - hope their plane gets back soon :)

Axel Hölzinger, on June 7, 2007, said:

Hey John!

I know, it's very disappointing particularly because of this lack of communication among moderators and community. Hope their flight has no delay :-)

I searched the net for GPS supported cams. One of the first hits was a GPS module by Sony for their digital pocket and dslr cams. It costs about GBP 88.00 and is much cheaper than buying a cam with build in GPS.

John Latter, on June 8, 2007, said:

Thank you for the link, Axel!

It's certainly a useful device but at the moment I would still have to go out and rob a bank in order to pay for it! Nevermind, the link is here so I know where to look when I'm more solvent.

John Latter, on June 8, 2007, said:

Hi Christian,

I think its increasingly strange that the Panoramio team haven't said anything more about the blog. They must know how eager we are to get back to it!

John Latter, on June 8, 2007, said:

I must have got up too late to see that message, Christian.

Which is just as well - I'ld have probably fainted!

John Latter, on November 19, 2007, said:

Click to see photos of Dover's Norman Castle and its associated structures of the East Roman Pharos and the Saxon church of St Mary-in-Castro.