Tag: Radar

Last Sunday we held our last open day of the 2024 season and was glad to welcome 34 visitors during the day, Our furthest was from Australia, so we are certainly on the map now. It’s been a good year with 573 guests over 17 open days, a bit down on last year, but still good for us.

Ruby: It’s amazing to think that I am standing were [sic] the Navy Officer was standing all those years ago!

S Merry: Really interesting museum, thank you

J Oakley: Wonderful museum!

Thank you to everyone who has visited us this year, it’s been a pleasure to meet you. We are closed now until April 2025 and will post dates as soon as they are confirmed. We can still open the tower for private visits and groups, usually on a Sunday, subject to availability. If you haven’t been along yet, we look forward to meeting you in 2025 🙂

Sunday 27th October will be our last open day this year so fingers crossed for a fine day. We will be opening at 11am until 3pm as usual. Entry is still free but donations are always welcome. We have met many interesting visitors this year from far and wide. Our furthest this season was a family from Melbourne, Australia.

Lisa & Paul: Interesting, like the models

CO11 1LG: Excellent, very interesting and atmospheric

A Forbes: Lovely to see this being preserved

NR17 1SA: Well worth a visit

Just a few of the positive comments we have received in our visitors book this season. We have had a great year again and are already looking forward to reopening in April 2025. Thank you to all those who visited us this year. If you haven’t been to see us yet, please come along and you can see the only Type 287 radar array in the world, still in its original location. Hope to see you in 2025 🙂

This years event was accompanied by two days of lovely autumnal weather, this meant there was a lot of people in Harwich exploring the areas rich history. At the Radar Tower, we welcomed 41 visitors on Saturday and an impressive 67 on Sunday. We spoke to people from far and wide including Northampton, The Netherlands and even Melbourne, Australia.

E Ryan & S Hunter: Interesting very informative

Amy: Fantastic and my children absolutely loved it…lots of questions asked

Jodie & James: Amazing! So Cool

It’s always educational speaking to visitors during our open days. Most are interested in history and some are surprised how successful Radar was in it’s early days. We also had a visitor who actually made parts for one of our exhibits, a new artefact we received last year, known as a ‘Huff Duff’. This was a high frequency (radio) direction finder, used to locate downed airman and enemy submarines. We still have open days left for 2024 so if you haven’t been along to see us, there’s still time before we close for the season at the end of October. Hope to see you there 🙂

Not quite the warm, sunny open day we were hoping for but we still had a few intrepid visitors come along to see us. We are still receiving positive feedback regarding the content and presentation of the tower and we are still adding information and artefacts to the collection. If you haven’t visited us recently, please come and see us again, we have a new display showing the Maunsell Forts and the Radar Site at Walton on the Naze.

Amazing gem – very educational

Amazing 12 out of 10 [sic]

2ppl & 3 dogs: Stunning, beautifully restored. Very atmospheric. So glad we came

We open again on Sunday 23rd June between 11am and 3pm. Fingers crossed for a lovely sunny day 🙂

Unfortunately, we had our wettest and least attended open day to date. We stayed at our post and welcomed four hardy visitors. Two from Reading and 2 from the Netherlands, where many of our visitors arrive from. Being only a few miles from Parkeston Quay, where the ferry from the Hook of Holland docks, we are a favourite stop off point for people entering or leaving the UK. We still received positive feedback which is always good.

Jamie – Great!

Kees B – Interesting & stunning

Our next open day is Sunday 12th May between 11am and 3pm. Entry is free but donations are always welcome. If you haven’t visited the Radar tower since 2021, we have added many artefacts and have installed interpretation panels explaining the tower and how it worked. Hope to see you soon at this unique survivor from WWII 🙂

A big thank you to all those who came along today for our first open day of 2024. We had 22 visitors, which is slightly up on our first day last year, and some great feedback.

Kim + Sam – Very interesting. We’ll be back with more family.

Catey + Clive – Amazing place, excellent displays, we will be back. Well done.

Zoe & Phil – really interesting!

It always makes it worth while when receiving these sort of comments. We strive to present this historic building in a clear and concise manner with a good balance of technical and local information. We open again at 11:00 on Sunday 28th April. Hope to see you there 🙂

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 🙂

Work is underway to reopen the Harwich Radar Tower in April 2024. Our first open day will be Sunday 14th April between 11am and 3pm. Entry is still free but all donations are welcome.

During the winter we have been adding to the items displayed in the tower. A model of the Radar site located at Walton on the Naze has been installed showing the layout of the site during WWII. Very little remains of the site but the original entrance can still be seen, along with parts of the concrete bases that once supported wooden huts.

If you have been to the tower before, we always welcome return visits. If you haven’t been yet, then please come along to this unique survivor from WWII. The only remaining ‘Minewatch’ Radar site in the UK open to the public, housing possibly the only surviving Type 287 aerial array in the world.

Sunday 29th October is our last open day this season. We are open between 11am and 3pm as always. Admission is free but donations are always welcome. We can open on Sundays throughout the year for group bookings but you must contact us first to arrange time and date to ensure availability of a volunteer to open up (usually me lol) A few new bits are planned for next year so if you haven’t been along to see us this year, we hope to see you in 2024 🙂

May 2023 has proved to be a busy month here at the Radar Tower. A busy weekend at the beginning of May, a school visit, a visit from the ex-friends of the Imperial War Museum and another busy weekend to close the month.

St Philomena’s Catholic School, Frinton visited us on 10th May with 2 staff and 18 year 6 pupils. Following a visit to the tower, they were also shown around Beacon Hill Battery next door.

“Children (and adults) thoroughly engaged by an excellent tour from Peter (Curator). A great visit for our work on WWII – so informative”

The ex-friends of Imperial War Museum visited Harwich Redoubt, Radar Tower, Treadwheel Crane and the Electric Palace before walking to the seafront to visit the Kinder transport Memorial on the quay side by Ha’penny pier.

The last open day of May was our busiest so far this season with 73 visitors from far and wide including San Francisco, Manchester and Nottingham.

F Morgan – well researched, nice time

Mason Family – Very interesting and impressive history

Lindsey & Matt – Very interesting history, good exhibits, very informative

Our next open day is Sunday 11th June between 11am and 3pm. As always, entry is free but donations are always welcome. Please come and visit us at this unique survivor from WWII. Hope to see you there 🙂