Needles Old and New Battery

Very dull this morning with total cloud cover, although it wasn't cold.

After breaksfast and a bit of a chill we headed off the 17 or so miles to the Needles Batteries. By the time we arrived at the needles it was raining quite heavily, and was very windy. Cars are not allowed on the access road to the batteries so we spent £4.50 to park at the Needles attraction and started the three quarters of a mile walk up to the Needles Batteries, in the driving rain.

The Needles Old Battery dates back to 1862, and it doesn’t only make for a beautiful vantage point to admire views across the Solent but it’s played a part in both World Wars. A series of new rooms tell the story of the battery and its uses and the stories are illustrated with vibrant cartoons to bring them to life. The Parade Ground still includes a pair of original guns and if you follow the underground tunnel you’ll discover a searchlight emplacement which takes in dramatic views across the famous Needles rocks.

The New Battery holds a few surprises of its own too, and the modest exhibition in its underground spaces shows visitors how it was used for testing British rockets during the ’race for space’. The creation of the rockets was cloaked in secrecy, and the battery, found just a little further along on the headland than the Old Battery, made the place for testing the rocket engines. The actual testing of the rockets themselves was done in Woomera Australia.

As we walked back down towards the car it was starting to brighten up and the sun came out and it turned out to be a pleasant evening.