Tag: Heritage Weekend

We have swept and cleaned the tower ready for our new season, beginning at 11:00 on Sunday 14th April. A couple of new exhibits for this year include models of the Maunsell Forts located off the coasts of Essex and Kent. His Majesties Fort Roughs Tower can be seen from the middle floor of the radar tower, more commonly known today as the Principality of Sealand. This was home to Joan and Roy Bates from 1967 and is still owned by their son Michael.

Our other new model shows the Chain Home Radar site located at Walton on the Naze, 5 miles south of Harwich. Only one building remains today, the rest having fallen off the cliffs since WWII due to coastal erosion.

We will be opening every other Sunday until the end of October this year. Group and private visits are possible (subject to availability). Please contact us via our contact page. If you haven’t visited before, we hope to meet you this year 🙂

With the summer holidays upon us and lovely weather, we have been getting a steady flow of visitors during our open days. Many local residents are being joined by guests from all over the country. We also get visitors from Netherlands, Ukraine and even Tenerife.

Rachael: Impressive display + Rada [sic] Wow Big

George et al: Interesting/Impressive

Carrie, Andy, Ethan, Jacob: Fantastic place to educate children about their surroundings

We have a few more open days before the end of the season, including a two day event on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September. This is Heritage Weekend when all the historic sites in Harwich will be open including Harwich Redoubt, Beacon Hill Fort and Harwich Maritime Museum. Hope to see you there 🙂

As part of a nation wide event, we opened the tower on Saturday and Sunday, along with other historic sites in Harwich. We were busy from beginning to end of each day, welcoming 56 visitors on Saturday and 101 on Sunday, a new record for us. We had lots of positive feedback and even spoke to a couple of people who worked on post war Radar and were more than happy to talk about their experiences. Also had a retired Royal Navy crew member who operated Radar at sea during the 60’s and 70’s.

Chris, Kye and Ben – Amazing place

Carol and Kevin – Woh [sic] very interesting !

The Headford – Fascinating & very informative

Tony & Chris – Very interesting and informative. Thank you

We have three more open days on 3rd, 17th and 31st October between 11am and 3pm. Have a few ideas to work on over the winter, then hopefully reopening March 2022. Hope to see you there 🙂

Sunday 29th August proved to be our busiest day so far. We had 74 visitors through the door, from Tunbridge, kent to Stevenage, Hertfordshire and everywhere between. Lots of interest and positive comments, so looking forward to meeting more people up to the end of October.

Catrina: Fantastic place to visit

S & M Bond: Very interesting

Doug: Very good information Kept in good condition

Our next open days are Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September between 11am and 3pm. This is Heritage Weekend when other landmarks in Harwich will be open too. Beacon Hill Fort next door is also well worth a visit and covers many years between 1890 and 1956. Hope to see you there 🙂

The weather stayed kind to us today so we were able to welcome people as they walked up to the tower. A quick head count, note of postcode and a brief introduction and visitors are shown into the tower for a tour. Our furthest today came from Nottingham, so word is getting out about our great location 🙂 Some excellent feedback in the visitors book too:

Mick & Elaine: Very interesting

Elaine & Carl: Fantastic building, if only these walls could talk x

Dan & Jordan: Thank you for keeping this going & sharing. Great Job!!

Mara & John: enjoyed the experience well done on all your hard work 🙂

Looking forward to our next open day on Sunday 29th August between 11am and 3pm. If you are planning a trip to Harwich in September, we will be open for the Heritage Weekend open days on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th between 11am and 3pm on both days. Other attractions will be open too including Beacon Hill Battery, Harwich Redoubt, Maritime Museum and the Highlight (lighthouse). Hope to see you soon 🙂