Abbots Cliff Sound Mirror

Between Folkestone and Dover on the cliffs is a Sound Mirror (or Acoustic Early Warning System to give it is proper name).
Short lived, but interesting subject, and one that I have been looking at as a modelling project. Im trying to get dimensions of the thing, but with no luck.

This site explains more http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/soundmirrors/locations/abbots-cliff/
Tried contacting the site owner with no success.

Does anybody have such dimensions? Or maybe one of you walks the dog there and could take a tape measure with you

 

hello Dave
only rough sizes given
range in size from 20 to 200 feet in size

http://www.medwayphotos.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/dungeness.html

30 foot high at Abbots Cliff Dover
http://theshriekingviolets.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/sound-and-vision-hythes-acoustic-mirror.html


http://bashny.net/t/en/10706

 

Assuming I've looked at the right structure, Google Earth's measure tool gives a width of about 7.5m.

If you don't need inch-perfect dimensions you could probably scale/proportion from photos.

- Pete

 

What Pete said ( View attachment Abbots Cliff Sound Mirror.kmz ) ... except, as Clive implies, it ought to be a round imperial width - 300" (25') being my GE reading within margin of error due to fuzziness ...

Steve

 

Thanks all

Of course, technical drawings are what I would like, but I dont think theyare available.

From all your links and answers, I think the 25'-30' is around the right area. See these links and take the men to be 6' then it roughly works out.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/42920692

http://www.kiteandlaslett.com/SOUND-MIRRORS

of course, the details and the back I will have to work out from photos

 

Found this at the Cantiaci Time Team Forum - sound mirrors ... key paragraph reads:

20' must have been fairly approximate though as, even if it only meant the diameter of the depression, the whole square face would still only amount to ~23½' across.

Also:
* Possibly derivative, that's echoed by Abbots Cliff Sound Mirror 2 ...
* ... and by Pastscape - Detailed Result: MONUMENT NO. 1413672
* General - The Sound Mirrors: A History of the Future of War Noises : Le Panoptique

On the other hand, as it made it off the drawing board, Tucker's plans may well be languishing somewhere - most likely, I'd have thought, in a box at TNA or at the RE Museum ...

 

Dave,

A Long shot, but there may me some records Held at the IWM London.

Regards
Tom

 

There was a snippet of information on this acoustic early warning site last evening on the BBC.

Of the two acoustic mirrors,one, the smaller was of fixed elevation while the much larger one had a variable elevation to pick up audio from high flying aircraft.

 

Thanks everyone.

I think with what I have, and all the info provided by you, I should be able to get something constructed!

Hope this post has been of interest to others. I find these structures quite fascinating.

By the way, CL1, your link with all the photos of various town and villages was a pleasure to look through. Makes you realise how beautiful some locations in the UK can be.

 

This may be of interest ?

http://www.royalsignals.org.uk/articles/SRS/srs.html

 

Hi,

I have "Echoes From The Sky", which gives a lot of info on the sound-ranging projects, going back to WW1. A photo of the Abbotts Cliff mirror says it was 20 feet across. The photo shows the operators hut and the microphone in place. The book is by Richard M Scarth and published by the Hythe Civic Society in 1999, ISBN 1 900101 30 0.

Hope this helps,

'610E

 

Thanks all.
The Echoes From The Sky, from what I have heard, is 'the' book on the subject (maybe the only one!). It's not available anymore, so thanks for the info.

 

Be happy to scan any relevant pages for you, for example there are two pages with TNA file references and the bibliography. Alternatively, you might try an inter-library loan at your local library? I was going to suggest Amazon but their lowest price is £116!!!

Bye

'610E

 

These type of books do fetch silly money sometimes, i'll PM you, thanks.

 

Hi David,

Can't find where to attach scans on the P/M page, not done that before. Have attached them to this message. Have included the bibliography and TNA stuff, etc.

Regards

Roger/BC610E

 

There's a thread on here somewhere on these. I took a picture of one at Romney Marsh a few years ago that's still there along with some other out building etc.

 

Thats fantastic Roger, just what I needed! Just drawn some plans up, so I can get cracking on the model now! Thanks very much.

Drew - Did a search but found nothing. Feel free to link if it can be found.

 

The forums SE isn't what it used to be I think there was even a TV clip from the series called Coast posted, demonstrating how it worked.

 

@ Dave: Also see p71 of Statement-of-Significance-of-Heritage.pdf re plans for it.

@ Roger: It's not just you. I also wanted to attach something to a PM, less than a week ago now, and found exactly the same restriction.

@ all: Our forum SE has never been much cop. Adam's pre-switchover advice was to use Google instead - just enter site:ww2talk.com as your first search term and latch on to some real syntax power

Steve