Ian Ballard has photographed the Denge sound mirrors from a light aircraft.
Denge
Denge mirrors at Exploring Kent’s Past
“Acoustic Sound Mirrors at Greatstone-on-Sea, Lydd” at Kent County Council’s Exploring Kent’s Past.
The remains of three large concrete structures, formerly an anti-aircraft Acoustic Detection installation. Microphones were attached to the three reinforced concrete structures in order to pick up the sound of approaching enemy aircraft. The smallest ‘sound mirror’ was found to be fairly ineffective so it was superseded by a larger dish, 12 m in diameter. This in turn was replaced by a 70m long ‘sound wall’. The structures were built by the RAF between 1930-4. They were rendered obsolete by the introduction of radar in 1935, and by advances in aerial technology.
Source: Exploring Kent’s Past
Kent History Forum photos
Sound mirrors on the Kent History Forum. There is lots of other good stuff on the site, too.
- Abbot’s Cliff. Including an aerial photo.
- Denge.
on the last official walk … there was round 300 hundred of us
. - Fan Hole, near Dover.
- Hythe.
- Joss Gap (Kingsgate).
Joss bay had two sound mirrors one being a slab, this was cut into the cliff near by the castle keep hotel , now replaced by flats.a slight indentation can still be seen near the top of the cliff. Checking the site where the round mirror was, which was a timber frame rendered. a few years ago the telephone cable blocks were still in place.
- Warden Point. With a good 1978 photo of it about to go over the cliff.
2010 guided walks to the Denge sound mirrors
Likely dates for public access to the Denge mirrors have been announced on the website of the Romney Marsh Countryside Project. Remember, this is the only way to visit the Denge mirrors.
SUMMER 2010 VISITS TO THE SOUND MIRRORS
The sound mirrors are only accessible on one of our guided tours and we have been leading free tours out to the Sound Mirrors for 13 years now. They are on an island, connected by a locked swing bridge on a private gravel workings (owned by CEMEX). The dates for 2010 have yet to be published in our booklet, however they are most likely to be as follows: An Open day from 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday 18th July Guided walks starting at 2 pm on Sunday 8th August and Sunday 26th September. The walks and the Open Day are free of charge and there is no need to book, although we do ask for a donation. The meeting point will be at Lade car park on Coast Drive (half way between the Pilot Pub and Romney Sands) (TR 085 208). Please contact us for more information if needed. Tel: 01797 367934 Fax: 01797 367934
2010-03-10 15:34:57
People planning to join these walks should obviously confirm details with the RMCP before travelling.
Hythe and Denge photos
Aerial view of Denge sound mirrors
An aerial photograph of the sound mirrors at Denge. Just how close these structures were to disappearing into the flooded mineral extraction workings can be clearly seen
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Panoramic photos of Denge sound mirrors
Geoff Mather has made some wonderful panoramic photos of the three Denge acoustic mirrors, as well as lots of other panoramic pictures.
Sound Mirror Denge 200 Foot in England
Denge mirrors seem from above
As a result of visiting Camber castle on 4 July 2009, I stumbled across RXwildlife Sightings, the weblog with the latest wildlife sightings for the Hastings, Rye Bay, Dungeness and Romney Marsh area
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On the website is an aerial photograph from 1946 showing (if you look carefully!) the Denge sound mirrors from above. There is also a modern view for comparison, showing how the area has been developed.
This photo shows the Lade, the north eastern part of the Dungeness shingle beach in 1946. This section of the beach is relatively young with a series of beach ridges terminating in the marsh soils to the west of the shingle. The dark line bending round from the top left and cutting south across the shingle is the old railway line, with little development to the west of this feature other than the listening mirrors, which were reached by tracks from the east coast. These structures were a pre-radar attempt to focus the noise of aircraft crossing the channel for its operators, and in those days they have a relatively clear view of the sea with only scattered housing along the coast. the most extensive buildings are the beginnings of the Romney Sands holiday camp.
A series of “then and now” photos show how the coast line has changed over time.
Sound mirror open day 19 July 2009
Just a reminder about this weekend’s open day at the Denge sound mirrors, organised by the Romney Marsh Countryside Project:
Due to the overwhelming popularity of last years Echoes of the Sky tours we are making a few changes this year. We will be holding a new open day on Sunday 19th July. The island will be open from 10am in the morning until 5pm. Dr Richard Scarth, an expert on these structures, will be present to answer any questions. The Sound Mirrors are located on private land and this is the only way in which they can be accessed. We will have a number of staff stationed at key places to help direct people to the island. There will a member of staff on the bridge asking for a £2 donation per person to cover costs. Parking is available at Lade car park, opposite Taylor Road on Coast Drive (halfway between the Pilot Pub and Romney Sands) (TR 085 208). This will be a non-booking event, you just need to turn up on the day. The walk will be across shingle. For anymore details contact the Romney Marsh Countryside Project
Sound mirrors on Greatstone website
Greatstone.net has comprehensive information on the village of Greatstone, the home to Sound Mirrors, […] large concrete structures built in the 1920s and 1930s to detect enemy aircraft.
The history section of the website has details of the Denge mirrors, and also the railways and a US bomber which crashed nearby.