Tag: Radar

Our best open day so far this year, with 64 visitors between 11am and 3pm. Some interesting questions, as always, and several positive comments. One visitor was impressed with the amount and balance of information available in the tower. He also appreciated the panel ‘what can you see?’ which can be found in the operations room on the middle floor. It shows photographs of what can be seen on the other side of the estuary, outside Landguard Fort.

Bethany R: Awesome to learn about local history

Allison M: I’m a Harwich girl, first time in having a look around. Really interesting

Fleur: Hidden Gem!

The tower has been an interesting journey for us, learning about Radio Direction Finding (Radar) and trying to represent the tower how it may have been seen in WWII. We are still sourcing material and information so hopefully it will continue to improve. Next open day Sunday 14th May, 11am to 3pm. Hope to see you there 🙂

On Saturday 24th September we had a visit from Subbrit who spent a day with us in Harwich. The morning was shared between the Harwich RDF Tower and Harwich Redoubt before a well earned lunch break.

The afternoon saw us all in Beacon Hill Battery looking round the many structures that have survived from late Victorian, 1901, WWI and WWII. The battery retained its weapons right up until 1956 when it was finally stood down with the cessation of Coastal Defence.

Beacon Hill Battery will remain open throughout the winter every Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 4pm. This will be dependent on weather so please check availability before setting out if travelling from some distance away.

Some positive feedback received at the RDF Tower:

Zamojoa Family: Not expected at all !!! 🙂

G Ward: A lot more to see than I expected. The Harwich ‘Tardis’

Webb Family: A well kept secret ! Interesting

We have two more open days this year, Sunday 9th and Sunday 23rd October between 11am and 3pm. Free admission but donations welcome, hope to see you there 🙂

On June 27th 2021, we opened our doors for the first time following a major refurb and we haven’t been disappointed with the response. As of June 26th this year, we have met 873 visitors during 20 open days, an average of 43.6 guests per day. We would like to thank all those who have visited over the past year.

Rob & Sue: “very good” thank you

Tadana & Derrick: Very interesting

Dave & Sandra: Interesting

We will be opening again on Sunday 24th July between 11am and 3pm. We also have a two day event in September when we open the doors for the Heritage Weekend event on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th, again between 11am and 3pm each day. Hope to see you there 🙂

Was nice to be able to sit in the sunshine to welcome visitors outside yesterday. A steady flow of visitors from the time we opened the gate until we closed, 41 in all. Coventry was the furthest this week, followed closely by Northampton and a lot of interesting questions. Still receiving positive feedback too:

Bernard O: Wonderful effort

Richard P: Fantastic exhibits

Christina P: Great! Well done

Still adding small bits each week, trying to build up a picture of what life would have been like serving in the RDF Tower. Been an interesting project so far and looking forward to opening again on Sunday 26th June between 11am and 3pm – Admission free, Donations welcome 🙂

Bit quieter this weekend but so many interesting questions more than made up for the lower visitor numbers. More arrivals from the Netherlands and Germany were the furthest this week, but many locals still attending, many of which have never had the opportunity to visit the tower before.

John G: Impressed by extent of technical description – well done (ex Plessey & EMI Electronics)

Mr & Mrs Herron: Very interesting, great history to show my children.

Ron W: Excellent! very interesting, keep up the good work.

Next open day will be Sunday 29th May 11am to 3pm. If you would like to visit on another occasion or arrange a group visit we will try to accommodate as best we can, subject to availability. Look forward to meeting you soon 🙂

May 1st, nice bright but chilly day, and a lot of interest in the RDF tower. 49 visitors through the door and some very interesting questions. Also our furthest visitor today, one which will be hard to beat. Last year our furthest was from Perth, Scotland. Today they came from Perth, Western Australia! We also had a guy from Poland and two groups from the Netherlands. News of the tower is clearly going beyond Tendring.

Viv & Colin – Amazing. Particularly appreciated the ‘What can you see?’ board

Mavim (?) – Ciekawe (Polish) Interesting (English)

Nick – Fantastic presentation of our history

It is great to get such positive feedback each week and it encourages us to continue researching and presenting this fascinating building. We open again on Sunday 15th May, 11am to 3pm. Hope to see you there 

A nice bright day welcomed us on Easter Sunday and we were able to greet visitors outside in the sunshine. Between 11am and 3pm we had 36 visitors from as far afield as Tunbridge Wells and Bath. Everyone seemed to enjoy their visit and seeing the new exhibits that been added over the winter months. A new display case housing replica valves and a full size facsimile of the Resonant Chamber have been installed in the Operations Room on the middle floor.

Murphy family: Very interesting, well presented and informative. 10/10

Pumler family: Very interesting tower, some good info. Very atmospheric.

Osborne family: Really fascinating , some really great work to present & restore this, Thank you.

We are open again on Sunday 1st May at 11am. Hope to see you there 🙂

After a few months being closed, we are now preparing for a new season. We have added a couple more displays and panels, so hopefully these will be a good addition to the material on display. Our first open day will be Sunday 3rd April between 11am and 3pm.

Sunday 17th April (Easter Sunday): 11am to 3pm

Sunday 1st May: 11am to 3pm

Sunday 15th May: 11am to 3pm

Sunday 29th May: 11asm to 3pm

We had more than 500 visitors after we opened in June 2021, so we are hopeful that we can beat this number in 2022. Hope to see you there 🙂

Following another successful open day on 3rd October, we only have two dates left for 2021. Sunday was a bit quieter than the Heritage Weekend but we still had a good amount of interest. Many local visitors are still keen to see what has been hidden in the tower all these years, and others from further afield. Leicester was our furthest traveller this week.

Elsie G – Very interesting I liked it much [sic] 🙂 🙂

Archie and Maddison – it’s cool, great

We have two dates left, Sunday 17th and Sunday 31st October between 11am and 3pm. Group visits can still be arranged all year (subject to availability) and can be made by emailing us at [email protected]. Already looking forward to 2022, 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 🙂