Fife Stop Line - Thornton Roadblock Traditional Geocache
Fife Stop Line - Thornton Roadblock
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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This cache is one of a series of twelve based around the Fife Stop
Line, a second world war ani-invasion defensive structure built in
1940/41, see cache GC11H67 for more details.
Thornton is the most southerly of the stop line structures in this
cache series and although the line did originally continue all the
way to the coast at Dysart, where it merged with the Forth Estuary
defences. Today however nothing remains of this infrastructure
which has been swept away by post war re-development. This pillbox
now sits in a horses field opposite a caravan salespark wondering
what ever became of it's promising military career.
Like all of the structures in this series there is something wrong
with it and at first I couldn't figure out what it was. Finally it
dawned on me, they are all too perfect because unlike our ancient
castles, none of these structures has seen any action, no bullet
scars, no mortar craters, nothing, because of course they were
never put to the test, so how would they have stood up? It is
certain that a lot of careful planning went into these systems and
it was recently revealed that the architectural drawings for the
whole national system still exist, so this was no panic structure
thrown up overnight but a carefully crafted killing machine
realised in brick steel and concrete.
This pillbox is exceptional in that it is the only one of the
series that does not protect a bridge. It is located here to
protect a roadblock across what would have been in 1940 one of the
main roads into east Fife. Most minor roads across the stop line
were closed for the duration of the war and this is one of the few
places where it was possible to cross over.
If you cross the road and look over the wall you will see a set on
anti tank obsticles called "dragon's teeth" which were designed to
prevent tanks from trying to go around the road block. In the event
of invasion large steel barriers would have been inserted into
concrete blocks at the roadside to completely block the road to
troops and tanks. Today the roadside blocks are gone but if you
want to see some, take a drive into the village of Markinch and
look under any of the bridge/tunnels that run through the railway
embankment.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oruvaq naq haqre ebnqfvqr ebpx