IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Long Lane, BRISTOL, BS48 3BY

This pink house, known as Magpie Hill, overlooks Bristol Airport from the flank of Backwell Hill. It was built in the 1920s as a pair of cottages, but was converted into a single dwelling in the 1950s or 1960s. This photograph was taken on New Year's Day, 2009, when the hoar frost never melted.

The mist has landed at Bristol Airport in the distance; the farm and Downside village lie before in the valley.

On the right is the start of the no through road past Home Farm to long Lane and the outside world. Behind the camera is the start, or end in my case, of the byway shown in Image], and a footpath down to Backwell West Town.

This odd sign refers to the old Post Office radio laboratory that was established here in 1937. The P.O. research at Dollis Hill in London moved here shortly before WWII began, presumably due to the threat. At Backwell, work on disrupting Luftwaffe bombing aids was undertaken, along with V.H.F. television broadcasting. After the war, the site was redirected into new radio transmissions and cloud interaction research. Later still, the modern digital age was advanced by the new 'owners' British Telecom. The site closed around 1975 (apart from some other occasional B.T. research in the 1980s) and the various buildings are rapidly deteriorating. Apparently, the site was sold to a B.T. manager in 1993; following his later death, the site is now being earmarked for housing developments, most of which have so far been rejected.

Approaching the end of a long straight stretch of restricted byway LA2 18/40 near Backwell Hill House.

This old and neglected building is near the site of the old Post Office radio research laboratories. It carried out important (but perhaps not exactly top secret) work during WWII, then spend many years investigating various radio technology and environmental factors before closing in the 1970s. It looks like the buildings were built quickly and abandoned with equal haste.

This galvanised building might well be a simple farm structure, but down the hill the nearby site used to be a radio technology research centre during WWII. The internal bracing is common with buildings of that date.

In a narrow belt of woodland beside restricted byway LA2 18/40.

Taken in the gloaming on New Year's Eve 2008. In better visibility the Mendips loom in the distance. The hoar frost persisted all day (and throughout the next day too).