The Thames Estuary

From the Air

Page 2 of 2

Towers of the Thames a flight to the offshore Forts by John Lloyd

Glance at this chart of the Thames Estuary you'll see four 'towers' marked - Red Sand, Shivering Sand, Knock John & Tongue Sand Towers. What do they look like? I planned to find out with a flight around them in my Blade 912

N.B Nore Fort remains lie just off Minster on Isle-of-Sheppey, Sunk Head leg stump remains are off Walton-on-the-Naze, Harwich, & Roughs Tower - The Principality of Sealand is off Felixtowe - Ed

View across the Isle-of-Sheppey towards Queenborough & Sheerness Docks, the River Medway & Grain Power station & River Thames beyond

I set off on a perfect summer's afternoon from my base airfield at Willingale, near Chelmsford in Essex. Donning my immersion suit & lifejacket for a 43 mile flight over the sea, even in mid-summer, the water would be cold & uninviting mix of swirling muddy brown sediment & dark green algal bloom. Nearing the coast, I called Southend Approach to confirm the ranges in D138 danger areas were closed. Coasting out nervously towards my first objective - the Knock John Tower

Picture of Knock John Naval Fort taken by RAF Manston in 1992

My next objective was Tongue Sand Tower, 10 miles further east. But as I approached, I couldn't see a Fort even though my GPS confirmed I was on course. Where had it gone? As reported in Fort Fax Tongue Sand toppled in 1996 leaving just a portion of one leg visible

The Western leg stump all that remains of Tongue Tower

Banking round I flew parallel with the distant North Kent coast towards Shivering Sand Tower. As I got nearer, I could see that it was a quite different structure to the Naval Fort

The Army Forts at Shivering Sands taken from a passenger ferry, the Searchlight Tower with Port of London Authority antenna centre

Four miles further into my now return leg home; Red Sands Tower the other Army Fort with all of its platforms intact

Red Sands Fort; the Southern Gun Tower #1 bottom left

Red Sands Fort in June in 1992 taken by RAF Manston; Southern Gun Tower #1 now top centre

Grateful thanks to John Lloyd for his flight detail & superb photographs

14/12/07 - I enjoyed the Ross Revenge photo feature. Great shots from the air!

Look forward to to the remaining parts of the Laser & the Tower story in 2008 Dave R

For a brief history of all the Thames Estuary Forts see Fort Fax