Adjacent to the sea, and half way up a fairly steep cliff path, sits one of the two pillboxes still remaining in Branscombe. Unfortunately, I couldn't locate the other one, therefore it may either have been demolished, or the Defence of Britain Data-base sighting was incorrectly placed. I found this type difficult to identify as it doesn't seem to fit the main types. It may either be a variant or some of the embrasures have been bricked up or just hidden by the banked earth. The nearest in shape is a Type 23, but it doesn't have the open-air gun position at one end.
The building on top of the hill behind the pillbox was once a row of coastguard cottages, later on an hotel, and now a private residence.
I did hear that WW2 signage can still be seen inside this emplacement. Unfortunately the field was full of cattle and I was reluctant to scramble over the fence to find out...especially as one of the cows appeared to be guarding the entrance! Not that I'm afraid of cows, but I was brought up in a farming community so I know from experience how inquisitive they can be, and I didn't fancy a group hug with me in the middle, lol.
According to the Defence of Britain Database there is a short section left of some Anti-tank blocks. I went to the spot indicated on Google earth and found these Tetrahedron, which with their truncated or fully pointed pyramid shape are also known as 'Dragon's Teeth'. As the name suggests, they were strung across the beach to prevent tanks from invading inland after disembarking from boats.
I was really excited about this as I'd never seen any for myself before. Still used as barriers, the ones above are directly on the sea front to prevent anyone from driving any further. There are also more in the car park itself too, such as those below.
And a final look back from inland across the valley and towards the sea. Not very easy to see, but the building to the right of centre is the erstwhile coastguard cottages with the pillbox situated just below.
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