WWII Searchlight Emplacements

I wonder if any one can help please, I’ve been asked some questions regarding the location of WWII searchlight emplacements in the Derbyshire Peak District. Are there extant records of their locations, particularly in north Derbyshire, and more specifically on Mam Tor near Castleton (I find the Hill Fort location rather hard to believe! ) I’ve tried the Defence of Britain Archive, but nothing shows anywhere around the Hope Valley

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Geoquest

www.pastscape.org/SearchResults.aspx?rat...=4&recordsperpage=10

There was one in Edale near Upper Booth, I wasn't aware of one on Mam Tor but Pastscape does mention one on the search Peter has posted (and it appears on the Defence of Britain database, whilst the Upper Booth battery doesn't). Many years ago I spoke with a gentleman that was stationed with the searchlight battery in Edale. I may still have my notes, but it's getting on for 20 years since I was living there. I think there's a reference to the battery in one of the volumes of Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks, but I don't have a copy available.

Thanks Peter that’s exactly what I was looking for. So there really was a WW II searchlight emplacement on Mam Tor. Presumably there would also have been a generator and some sort of accommodation for the operators – it must have been pretty grim up there in the winter months! I think I might visit the site in the summer to see if I can identify any features which may have been associated with the emplacement.

Thanks for the info Alastair.

You might also try the archives of the Edale Society, but I'm not sure if the society is still running, if someone in the valley still holds the archives, or if they've been transferred to County Archives in Matlock. A bit of detective work might be required.

GeoQuest;92872 wrote:

Thanks Peter that’s exactly what I was looking for. So there really was a WW II searchlight emplacement on Mam Tor. Presumably there would also have been a generator and some sort of accommodation for the operators – it must have been pretty grim up there in the winter months! I think I might visit the site in the summer to see if I can identify any features which may have been associated with the emplacement.

Sorry I didn't have time to comment but I'm pleased it had what you wanted. A useful 'bookmark'

Amazingly, I bought a book on Saturday at Brierlow Bar bookshop, "Eyes

On page 58, it describes the Edale Installation in December 1940. It's not really clear, but appears to have been close to coopers farm (which I think is in the middle of Edale). The accommodation was some ex-LDV wooden huts. I, One of the installations was a mobile installation with a Lister diesel Generator on the back of a truck to power the "large electric flares". These were like "large Chinese lanterns". The lights were to be setup "on an exact compass bearing as an isosceles triangle, base running east to west, and the point pointing north, The actual "lantern" installation was "up a hill", which may be anywhere around Edale! It was managed by AA HQ at Whaley Bridge. The lanterns gave off an "eerie glow".

It was located at the junction of two of the fighter patrol lines south of Manchester, the eastern end of Cotton South, and the southern end of Cotton East. The point was known as Cotton East. The operators were unaware of the use, but soon associated it with RAF fighters, as they soon appeared overhead when they were told to switch it on by the command "Lights Cotton East".

In the same installation was a searchlight unit, equipped with American Sperry 150 cm lights, and was used for searchlight homing, a procedure to guide pilots who were lost to the nearest airfield. There was a standard procedure (which I can't be bothered to type out!), The master searchlight was pointed vertically, switched on and it's elevation slowly decreased to 30 degrees so that it pointed as a finger in the sky towards the nearest airfield, which fired rockets.

Please see the following comment for more details.

And, even more.

refer to document: www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/sites/defau...20Edale%20valley.pdf

there is a small mention:

On the southern side of the valley are two to three run-in ventilation shafts with spoil
heaps (features 91.202, 91.331, 91.332). These are above the line of a level driven under
Rushup Edge, probably sometime between the 1730's and the 1860's, with the aim of
finding the Odin lead vein at depth. At the upper end of the valley bottom is a rare
example of surviving earthworks of a 1939-45 searchlight battery (feature 72), which
includes features associated with three searchlights, a listening device, two machine guns
and barracks.

And a bigger mention:

Three adjacent fields have narrow ridge and furrow, overlain by the searchlight battery
earthworks (72).
91.72. Searchlight Battery Earthworks
NGR: 410576 384786
A complex series of well-preserved earthworks which are the remains of a 1939-45
searchlight battery; the only one as yet recorded in the Peak National Park. The features
are as follows:
a: A searchlight site comprising two penannular earthen banks, like all the banks on
site originally built of sandbags (R. Cooper pers. comm.), with an entrance to the
ENE. The outer bank is the highest, is 2-3m wide, and has an external diameter of
14.5m. The entrance through it is 1.2m wide. The inner bank is a low, flat-topped
feature which is 2.0-2.5m wide and has an internal diameter of 3.0-3.5m. The
entrance through this is 1.7m wide. The central area is flat.
b: A searchlight site comprising two penannular earthen banks, with a 1.6m wide
entrance to the ESE, with a short outer bank protecting the entrance to the outside.
The outer bank is the highest, is 3.0m wide, and has an external diameter of 16.0m.
The inner bank is a low feature which is only 1.25m wide and has an internal
diameter of 5.0m. The central area is flat.
c: A searchlight site which has been largely removed, with only a short arc of what
was presumably an outer bank, surviving unploughed to the north next to the field
boundary. It has an outer diameter of c 15m.
d: A circular hollow of uncertain function, perhaps a quarry for sandbag material. It
has an outer diameter of 7.5m, with a slightly-raised boggy area at the centre.
e: A rectangular platform built of bricks. The site of a building measuring 5x8m in
plan.
f: The listening apparatus site. This comprises a circular bank which has an external
diameter of 17.0m and is 3.5m wide and 0.8m high. To the ENE is a narrow
entrance where the bank kinks outwards, and then runs across the line of the
entrance, to give added protection. There is a simple, 0.5m wide, break in the bank
to the SE. At the centre of the flat interior is a low brick wall defining a 1.1x1.3m
rectangular structure. This supported the listening apparatus, which resembled a
giant gramophone trumpet (R. Cooper pers. comm.).
37 g: Machine gun site. This comprises a semi-circular arc of bank with an external
diameter of 6.0m, with the other half of the feature being damaged and now only
present as a slight mound.
h: Machine gun site. A 7.0m diameter mound with a slight hollow at the centre. At the
east side is a bank-like extension to the mound which is c. 5.0m long.
i: A terraced building platform which measures c. 4.5x4.5m.
j: A terraced building platform which measures c. 6.5x4.5m.
k: A terraced building platform which measures c. 6.5x5.5m.
l: A terraced building platform which measures c. 12.0x6.0m.
m: A terraced building platform which measures c. 6.0x6.0m.
n: A terraced building platform which measures c. 12.0x6.0m.
o: A terraced building platform which measures c. 12.0x6.0m.
p: A terraced building platform which measures c. 5.5x4.0m.

I reckon that it is about here: maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=edale&hl=en&ll=...ted+Kingdom&t=h&z=19 "

If you look one screen-width to the east ( here ) it looks like the remains are still visible..

(and yes, Cooper's farm is as far as I remember in the village centre - they run/ran the campsite and shop/post office opposite the school)