Tuesday 21 August 2012

Spooky... but nice


My daughter and son in law have just acquired an allotment behind the Norwegian houses on the land around the Redoubt fort in Harwich and going there sparked 7 year old Lachlan’s interest in visiting the fort – and the girls decided they’d like to come too.

They’d spent the morning at the beach – and some of it in the sea (the water was very warm). The lighthouse you can see is known as the Umbrella.



While Lachlan posed very seriously with the guns and cannons at the fort, the girls posed like – well like girls!



I grew up in one of the white wooden houses – donated to Harwich by the Norwegians after the 1953 flood and I didn’t take a single second of the 18 years I lived there for granted. My mum lived there until her death in 2003.



I often used to take a short cut round the fort and through the allotments on my way home from school. The Harwich Society hadn’t started restoring the fort back then and I recall one day on my way home hearing footsteps and voices inside the fort. It was chilling.

I think that might have been the day I stopped taking the short cut.

In my last year at primary school, when the long job of restoration had begun, we were taken into the fort. There were no lights and we had to go down the staircase by torchlight. It was a very dark place and I don’t mean just because of the lack of light. I loved it. I loved being scared.




They often have events there and there's a ghost hunt coming up on 7th September. It’s the sort of chance I would have jumped at when I was younger, but not any more. I don’t like being scared.

The atmosphere is absolutely charged. I have never been anywhere like it. I felt it just as strongly yesterday. Fascinating place, I love it dearly, but I would never go there alone.

The Harwich Society have done a fantastic job and it is well worth a visit for the views alone before you even start on the exhibits. And there's the Umbrella again!



I’ve been round the Redoubt many times. My kids used to love going when they were little and I’ve a feeling I’ll be going a lot more in the future with this new generation, but definitely not after dark!





24 comments:

  1. Lovely photos, Teresa and your description is infused with insider knowledge. Must have been a great place to grow up - right on the coast.

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    1. It was, Pat. I spent most of my childhood on the beach x

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  2. Great photos, Teresa.
    Love the Umbrella lighthouse and the wooden houses. I didn't know about the Norwegians donating them.
    xxPat

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    1. They donated two lots to our town, Pat. When I was about 5, a teacher asked me what I knew about Norway. I said nothing and she told me off and said I should as I lived in a Norwegian house. Like the teacher who said I should be able to climb a rope because my dad was a sailor :-) x

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  3. Absolutely fascinating, Teresa, thank you. The photographs are fantastic and I loved learning all about this. I had no idea about the Norwegians donating houses. I would have loved living in one of those as a child. In fact, I would love it now. Growing up by the sea must be wonderful.
    And what lovely grandchildren. How lucky they all are to have you showing them the history of the area and bringing it all to life. x

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    1. I would like to still be living there too, Joanna, especially on hot days :-) x

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  4. I've always thought it must be so incredibly to grow up in a place with that much history. I grew up in western Nebraska, and considering Nebraska wasn't even a state until 1867 and all the buildings in our little town were built closer to the 1880s, we're relatively new compared to Great Britain!

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    1. Your history may be more recent, but it is still very interesting, Melissa :-)

      The oldest building in our town was an ale house, the Drum & Monkey which dates back to the 1400s. And Christopher Jones, master of the Mayflower was born here and his house still stands :-) x

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  5. What a lovely post, Teresa, and the children are so cute! Love the ghostly story - hope you're going to write about it someday, and about those unique Norwegian houses (or maybe you have!).

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    1. Thanks, Rosemary. Our house used to "knock". The stairs would creak as if someone was coming up them, then there'd be three sharp knocks on the bedroom door. My mum used to say it was the wood settling, but I'm not so sure!! x

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  6. I remember some years ago seeing a film on TV about the Redoubt and thinking at the time what a fascinating place it was. Lovely to get such a personal insight into it. Another wonderful post, Teresa. Thak you. xx

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    1. Thank you, Rena. It's amazing how many treasures there are around the country and how much we owe to the dedicated people who set about preserving and restoring them x

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  7. I love the sense that some places have of being infused with the spirits of the people who lived there before. Great atmospheric post, Teresa. x

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    1. Thanks, Lydia. There's definitely something there - I have never yet been, even on a day when it is packed with people for a fete or re-enactment without feeling a chill x

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  8. Those voices must have scared you silly Teresa. You should go on the ghost hunt,then tell us all about it. My Dad worked in the pit as an electrician, but I couldn't wire a house either.

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    1. I think I might die of fright, Susan! Love what you said about wiring a house - made me feel better about what that flipping teacher said ;-) x

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  9. Hi Teresa, me again. I've left you a creative blogger over on my blog. No obligations.

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  10. Great pics Teresa and enjoyed the info. Thank you x

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    1. It gives me something to witter on about, Diane ;-) x

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  11. I love these photos. Your wee ones are gorgeous.

    What a spooky place - but fascinating.

    xx

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  12. I know that place so well! My mother in law lived on the brick house next to the first Norwegian houses, near the Beacon hill fort, at Barrack lane end. She married George Calver, and moved there in the 70's. Her garden backed onto the Redoubt. My kids used to make up stories about ghosts who lived in the fort. Thanks for the memories. :)

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    1. Oh my goodness, Glynis - I knew the Calvers well! They were lovely people. I always thought of your mother in law as Mrs Smy even after she married George - probably because I knew her from primary school. I was in the same class as Peter. Blimey, small world :-) x

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