Little Waltham Walk & The Village World War II Pillboxes | The Defence Of The River Chelmer

Little Waltham Walk & The Village World War II Pillboxes | The Defence Of The River Chelmer

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Little Waltham Walk & The Village World War II Pillboxes | The Defence Of The River Chelmer

The 3rd August 2020 – 3rd August 2021 was Stephen and Yhana‘s first year on YouTube – To celebrate they are sharing one video a day across all of their favourite social media platforms – Facebook Page, Twitter and Website, as well as a daily shout out on their youtube community page. – So please check often incase you missed any of their videos during that first year.

They have also published their very first youtube almanac – Which was released 3rd august 2021.

The book will be available to buy via Amazon shortly – Although you can get a free signed copy by signing up and supporting their journey on Patreon

All Patreon‘s will get a regular mention on YouTube and on their channel publications – As your support is very much appreciated and will help to purchase filming equipment and trips to historical sites, so they can keep their films coming.

Stephen and Yhana - History and Adventure Hunters Almanac - OUT NOW
Stephen and Yhana – History and Adventure Hunters Almanac – OUT NOW

Little Waltham Walk & The Village World War II Pillboxes | The Defence Of The River Chelmer

HISTORY FOR ALL THE FAMILY

Little Waltham Walk & The Village World War II Pillboxes | The Defence Of The River Chelmer

In this episode, Yhana, Peter and I, are going to take you on a wonderful walk in Little Waltham, Chelmsford and explore some of the World War II pillboxes that you will find on this journey.

We have fun along the way too, as I am a great believer that history should be fun and enjoyable. Our children will learn so much more when they enjoy the journey we take them on.

a pillbox is ‘a small enclosed, partly underground, concrete fort used as an outpost during World War II’.

This film covers a little about the Pillbox history along the River Chelmer near Little Waltham, Essex.

A pillbox is ‘a small enclosed, partly underground, concrete fort used as an outpost during World War II’.

Their use in the Second World War was prolific and many of us will be familiar with their presence in the landscape and will have some understanding of their function. Appreciation of the historical value of pillboxes has increased gradually over the years, although most are slowly falling into ruin.

In recent years they have grown to become appreciated as rightfully taking their place in a long line of fortifications stretching back into pre-history.

It is estimated that 18,000 pillboxes were built across England between 1940 and 41.

Pillboxes were built along coastal, river and railway routes in order to protect London and the midland industrial heart of Britain from being directly over-run during an invasion.

During World War II, an anti tank ditch was built and ran from the River Thames to Chelmsford. This anti-tank ditch was the equivalent of a river to act as an obstacle. it terminated when it met the River Chelmer at a point where the river formed the parish boundary between Springfield and Broomfield.

In the event of a successful

German invasion on the east coast, the River Chelmer would have performed the function of a moat, slowing an invading army from advancing on London and further inland.

The most vulnerable points to attack on the river were bridges, especially those bridges strong enough to support the weight of tanks. It is easy today to forget, as we easily motor through the county, that even as recently as 30 years ago many of the bridges that we take for granted did not exist and that river crossings were fewer and further apart than we are now accustomed to. In 1940 the only way for vehicles to easily cross the River Chelmer immediately to the north of Chelmsford was the bridge at Broomfield Mill and

the Winckford Bridge in Little Waltham.

There were smaller foot bridges at Croxton’s Mill and it is around this landscape into which pillboxes were constructed to best defend against a crossing of the River Chelmer.

Chelmsford Pillboxes were built for the Defense of the River Chelmer

In total 20 pillboxes were built around the River, of which only 17 now survive.

They are a stark reminder of how close we came to being invaded. A reminder of how luck we were in comparison to the millions of people who lost their lives and homes across continental Europe.

  • Published: 12 November 2020
  • Location: Little Waltham, Essex
  • Duration: 25:35
  • Photography – Stephen Robert Kuta / Yhana Kuta
  • Written by – Stephen Robert Kuta

Music –

  • I will remember forever by Ave Air
  • She Will Never Know by Loving Caliber

Music Licensed by Epidemic Sound

Little Waltham Walk & The Village World War II Pillboxes | The Defence Of The River Chelmer

​Stephen and Yhana – History and Adventure Hunters Almanac

Stephen and Yhana - History and Adventure Hunters Almanac - OUT NOW
Stephen and Yhana – History and Adventure Hunters Almanac – OUT NOW

Support us on Patreon / Stephen and Yhana YouTube Channel

Become a Patron!

On the 30th of January, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). In the following weeks, the virus quickly spread worldwide, forcing the governments of affected countries to implement lockdown measures to decrease transmission rates and prevent the overload of hospital emergency rooms.

The United Kingdom implemented lockdown on the 16th of March, 2020 and from this date and up until the 3rd August, 2021 the UK had suffered three national lockdowns which all included Restrictive measures on border controls, closing of schools, markets, restaurants, nonessential shops, bars, entertainment and leisure facilities, as well as a ban on all public and private events and gatherings. In between these lockdowns we saw tier systems and heavy restrictions on how we all lived our lives.

We all decided on different approaches on how we spent that free time as many people were on Furlough as their businesses were shut, only key-workers carried out their working duties. Although I continued working as a key-worker, I still had a lot more free time as Yhana was not at school.

Both Yhana and I spent those first few months experimenting with tiktok and photography, we explored our home village of Great Leighs and took some incredible photographs as spring and eventually summer took hold.

Tiktok was a short-lived adventure for us, although we enjoyed it all the same — tiktok like so many Social Media platforms had exploded during the pandemic but none more so then YouTube.

In 2020 alone YouTube had more than 9 billion views globally

66% of people used YouTube to develop a new hobby in 2020, and a whopping 94% of people in India used YouTube to learn to do things themselves, Whilst Globally, 82% used YouTube to the same. What were they learning to do, exactly?

• Views of beauty tutorials increased nearly 50% in 2020.

• There was a 90% increase in bike maintenance and repair videos.

• Daily views of videos with “raising chickens” in the title increased 160%.

• Videos related to learning guitar saw 160 million views from mid-March to mid-April.

• Videos about container gardening saw 6 million views in the same period.

• There was a 215% increase in daily uploads of videos related to self-care.

• There was a 458% increase in daily views of videos about making sourdough bread and a 200% increase in daily views of recipe videos for bubble tea.

• Videos of how-to videos for home haircuts also spiked in April.

Even though these giant increases in YouTube views began as early as March 2020, it took Yhana and I up until August of that year to begin our own channel, and Yhana’s encouragement certainly helped on that matter.

So it began, 3 August 2020 – We went out and filmed our very first video. To be honest I wasn’t sure what our plan would be for our channel, I had a rough idea of what kind of content I would like Yhana and I to make and as a historian I looked at the channel as a way to record at least one year of our life, not just any year either, but our life during the Covid-19 Pandemic. So for me, it was a great way to record a piece of social history.

This book in front of you developed from that period of our lives also, and is a showcase / diary / almanac of all the videos we created, many of the photographs we took, the treasure hunts we went on and some of the incredible finds we discovered just a short walk from where we lived. In truth, those finds would never have been discovered if it wasn’t for lockdown.

So for prosperity, social history, a window into our lives during the Covid-19 pandemic and a transparent visual look at what its like to create a YouTube channel in that first year including channelytics, descriptions of videos, thumbnail artwork, viewer comments and more.

We have written this full guide, our first joint book –

Stephen and Yhana – History and Adventure Hunters Almanac.

Stephen and Yhana - History and Adventure Hunters Almanac - OUT NOW
Stephen and Yhana – History and Adventure Hunters Almanac – OUT NOW

The book is available to buy through Amazon and via all good bookshops.

LINK BELOW –

RECEIVE A FREE SIGNED COPY BY SIGNING UP AND SUPPORTING OUR JOURNEY ON PATREON.

Support us on Patreon / Stephen and Yhana YouTube Channel

Become a Patron!

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