Tag: WWII Radar

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 🙂

Following a successful open day season, we only have one more day left this year. October 29th will be our last day. We open between 11am and 3pm with free entry (donations welcome). We had a very successful weekend back in September with the Heritage Open Days event. 121 visitors over the two days and plenty of positive comments in the visitors book

Lever family: Very informative and a good insight to how things were during the wars.

A Belton: Very interesting & unique Radar display & artefacts.

S Tobin: (Canada) I really enjoyed the exhibits & information. It helps to have a better understanding of the wars. Thank you.

K Winter: WOW! Thanks 🙂

Peter D: Great, Very well done.

We always take the time to speak to our visitors as it is always interesting to learn where people have travelled from and to discuss the collection. We are always striving to improve the tower as a unique attraction, the only one of 11 that is open to the public. Have a few things planned during the winter and already looking forward to open day season 2024. Hope to see you soon 🙂

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 🙂

Another fine day and some interesting questions from our visitors. Many visitors are from the Tendring, Colchester or Ipswich areas but one from Hartlepool this week which was the furthest until the last guy who was from Poland. The tower is proving equally interesting to adults and children alike which is good.

S Irwin: Amazing

D Avery: Excellent

King Family: I love the music!!!!! Great work!!!!! [Ed note: we have a period soundtrack playing in the background in the accommodation room – some of the hits from 1939, ’40, ’41 and ’42]

Our next open day will be Sunday 30th April between 11am and 3pm. As I also volunteer in Beacon Hill Battery on alternate Sundays, I can usually open the tower most Sundays for a small donation. Hope to see you there 🙂

Was a great first day last Sunday with beautiful weather heralding a new open day season. We had 19 visitors from Tendring and beyond and look forward to meeting many more over the next few weeks.

Michael: Very interesting

Neil: Excellent & interesting

The Hemingway family: Kids liked seeing it / I liked the radar

Already looking forward to our next open day on Sunday 16th April between 11am and 3pm. Entry is free but donations towards the upkeep of this unique building are always welcome. Hope to see you there 🙂

The new open day season is nearly upon us. Starting on Sunday 2nd April 2023, we will be opening the tower between 11am and 3pm on alternate Sundays until the end of October.

We had a successful year in 2022 with 699 visitors, including a couple of group visits, so we hope to improve on that this year. We also collected almost £300 towards the upkeep of this historic and possibly unique building. Harwich RDF Tower is believed to be the only WWII Radar installation to still have its original array in situ.

Entry to the tower is free, but donations are always welcome. Children are encouraged to come along too, although under 16’s will need to be accompanied by an adult. 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 🙂

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 🙂