Phil Curme

Chilling out with Winston, Câmara de Lobos Madeira

Built in 1706 - the Fort of Nossa Senhora do Amparo in Machico Madeira

Taking a Spring break on the island of #Madeira and searching out some sites of historical interest. Here’s the Forte de São Tiago in #Funchal built to protect the town from pirates in the 17th Century. The fort is currently undergoing restoration work.

Arthur Taylor: The farmer's son who never returned Battlefield walks from around the globe, images and stories from Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.

The story of my Great Great Grandfather Arthur Taylor who argued with his father, left home (never to return) and joined the Army as a Private. He later retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the RWF. The family reunited over 100 years later.

www.walkingthebattlefields.com/2025/03/arth...

A small part of Mick Jones’s personal collection of artefacts currently on display in The RRPL (Rock 'n' Roll Public Library) - just off Denmark Street in the West End of London. #TheClash

The volunteer run secondhand bookshop at @TyntesfieldNT is well worth a visit. I picked up ‘The Unknown Warrior’ by @JohnNicholRAF which I’ve heard is a very interesting read. If @robert_lyman says it is ‘beautiful, compassionate and emotional’ then that’s good enough for me!

Nikita Khrushchev blew my house up: Recollections of the Bedenham ammunition explosion (July 14, 1950) as diarised by my father. Updated with new information. #Gosport #Portsmouth www.walkingthebattlefields.com/2021/07/niki...

Lovely hearing #RickWakeman talking about #IanLavender @SlapstickFest ‘Don’t Tell Him, Pike! A Tribute to #DadsArmy’. The sign language interpreter was also a delight to watch, particularly when it came to the word ‘Nazi’ which demanded a very literal approach!

The Yalta Conference took place #OTD 4-11 February 45. #Stalin played a blinder, and came out a clear winner. Sadly, the win - though inevitable - meant the post-war subjugation of much of Eastern and Central Europe. This is the conference room as it was in 2003 #YaltaConference

Last time I visited The Museum of the Home it was called the Geffrye Museum. The name was changed in 2019 because of Geffrye’s involvement in the slave trade. Really impressed with the new set up, including the fabulous 1998 extension. My first photo in the style of Rene Magritte!

Wartime image of the Clifton Suspension Bridge

Location of site in Bristol for the guided tour

I've put together a guided tour of some of the main sites used by the US Army in Bristol in the Second World War using the wonderful guidl app. Download details here yanksinbristol.co.uk/self-guided-...

Machine gun ports at the junction of Abbotts Leigh Road and Beggar Bush Lane near Bristol #WW2

Postcard sent by my Great Grandfather, Q.M. Sjt. Gilbert Price (Royal Marines) to his sister-in-law, Mrs E. Ward residing at #FortCumberland - whose husband was also a Royal Marine. 'This is the little blister with which we flop out our artillerymen' says Gilbert.

Wasn’t expecting to see this in #Gibraltar. Memorial to the @uscoastguard vessel Tampa which was torpedoed in the Bristol Channel by the German submarine UB-91 on 26 Sept 1918. Exploding amidships, she sank in just under three minutes. 115 lives lost. Painting: John D. Wisinski

Last stop on the way to #Gibraltar Airport. The British and Commonwealth War Memorial which is maintained by the @CWGC. Unveiled on Armistice Day 1922 by General Smith-Dorrien who was then Commander-in-Chief Gibraltar. Commemorates those who died in the #FWW and #WW2

The King’s Bastion in #Gibraltar has been repurposed as a leisure centre but the military heritage remains, and can be admired. The American War Memorial, the British #FWW Memorial and the entrance to a #WW2 air raid shelter are just some of the points of interest that remain.

Another massive RML 12.5 Inch gun at Harding’s Battery #EuropaPoint #Gibraltar. Some of the best examples that I’ve seen anywhere.

The Sikorski Memorial at #EuropaPoint #Gibraltar commemorates the death of General Władysław Sikorski, the #WW2 commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile. Killed nearby in a B-24 air crash on 4th July 1943.

The Strait of Gibraltar - with Morocco on the horizon, through the front aperture of a derelict #WW2 searchlight bunker at #EuropaPoint #Gibraltar

The site of the #WW2 @RoyalNavy Wireless Station on the Europa Foreshore #Gibraltar (formerly known as ‘Wireless Beach’). The pillbox on the right was built in 1942 to defend the site, by 575 Army Troops Co. Royal Engineers with the help of men from the 2nd Bn @SomersetLInf

Gun mounted on a Koehler Depressing Carriage in Casement Square #Gibraltar as deployed during the Great Siege 1779-1783. It was necessary to devise a way of dropping the elevation of the cannons in the batteries up on the Rock so as to fire on the Spanish siege lines below.

What a monster! The 100 ton RML gun located at the Napier of Magdala Battery overlooking Rosia Bay #Gibraltar Obsolete almost immediately after installation. The nearby 3.7 Inch AA gun saw good service during #WW2 though.

Rosia Bay #Gibraltar deep water anchorage was where the stricken #HMSVictory was towed after the #BattleofTrafalgar - Vice-Admiral Nelson’s body, encased in a barrel of alcohol, was conveyed through this archway. There is nothing on the site to mark this historic event.

25 pounder (QF) field gun occasionally used for state and military funerals. Stored at the Napier of Magdala Battery #Gibraltar

An early 19th Century @RoyalNavy ‘who’s who’ at the #Trafalgar Cemetery #Gibraltar. Includes two casualties from the greatest of sea battles fought on Oct 21, 1805. Captain Thomas Norman from HMS Mars and Lieutenant William Forster from HMS Colossus.

The Alameda Park in #Gibraltar is now a stunning botanical garden replete with statues of Wellington and Elliott (Great Siege). Plenty of artillery around as well, including Russian guns from Crimea.

Memorial to members of the #Gibraltar Defence Force who served during #WW2 illuminated at the ‘Festival of Light’ this evening. It seems that #Christmas has arrived!

Yes, I know it well - and Dixon’s ‘River Clyde’ picture in St Mary’s Parish Church.

A bit of a cardio workout on the #RockofGibraltar today, seeking out some of the fortifications that are still extant. Started with the Princess Caroline’s Battery and finished with the 9.2 Inch gun at Lord Airey’s Battery. Very impressed with the Great Siege Tunnels.

Sadly the #WW2 Tunnels on the #RockofGibraltar are closed (wish they’d told me when I bought a ticket!). Sneaked in to capture this image of a full size replica Spitfire Type IIa which will feature in the refurbished museum.