Defending Cayton Bay

[PanBiker]

It's 55 years since I was last at Cayton Bay. As a 15 year old lad solo camping on the headland I visited the beach but didn't take a lot of interest in the topography at the time.

Revisiting as we did yesterday you can't help noticing the remnants of a few concrete defensive structures. I decided to have a walk and investigate further. The beach is roughly a mile long backed at each end by steep accents up to the headland. The centre of the bay is a single stretch about 2/3 of a mile in length. Currently the main route onto the beach is roughly in the centre of the span and when you get down to the beach you realise, how much of a perfect landing ground this would be if not defended. The sea bed is relatively flat so overall would be ideal for a seaborne attack.

We set up camp just off centre so I first walked along the beach to the right hand side of the bay. There are the remains of three pill boxes spaced roughly 200 yards apart, the first positioned at the extreme right. They all seem to be the same octagonal design with three firing positions forwards throgh about 120 degrees, entrance at the rear. You can see that they were constructed with concrete mixed with beach pebbles as aggregate. All walls and roof roughly 12 - 18 inch in thickness, all on concrete foundations. As I walked back I paced out a position roughly 200 yards from the last remaining box. corresponded with another entry point down to the beach. There are faint remnants of another enclosure nothing remains of the upper structure other than a slight rubble field and on corner poking ou of the sand of a concrete foundation. Another 200 yards and back at the centre you then realise that the concrete platform "jetty" isn't really a jetty as the tide doesn't come anywhere near so almost certainly probably the site of the main central defensive position.

A pattern was starting to develop so I set off along the left side of the bay. 200 yards along there is water treatment building that is set above the beach on the top of a 30ft high platform with a stone and concrete retaining wall. Another platform below almost certainly the position of the next box, nothing remaining though. From here you can see the sweep at the far left of the bay. There is are two remains boxes visible, one at far left and an intermediary. These make a total of eight defensive positions each with a 120 degree or more field of fire.

I assume that there would be other obstacles on the beach such as barbed wire in front of the defences and maybe others in the surf. Interlocking fire would be pretty formidable but one thing puzzles me. Apart from two positions all the boxes are set up on the beach itself about 20 yards behind the high tide mark. The central approach to the beach is not high cliffs but a gradual slope which would have lent itself possibly as a better base for a more camouflaged defence. This would also have given a height advantage over any approaching invaders.

[Wendyf]

We spent many caravan holidays in the early 60s further down the coast at Ulrome, near Skipsea. I always remember the huge concrete blocks all along the beach.

[Stanley]

Phew! That's a relief.... When I saw the topic title I thought there was a current attack!