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Wemyss Bay concrete beach
The short stretch of beach at Wemyss Bay road (known locally as 'The Private Road') has an interesting wartime history. The following two paragraphs are extracts from the Secret Scotland website...
"A concrete beach was created at Wemyss Bay during World War II, to provide a durable area where amphibious vehicles and landing craft could transition between land and sea. This would have been part of the preparations made by Combined Operations.
The weight of military vehicles, particularly if loaded with supplies, troops, munitions or armour, and the repeated passage of heavily treaded tyres, or tracks, would soon destroy an unprotected soft or sandy beach with a loose surface, rendering it useless. By laying a reinforced concrete surface over the original beach, it was possible to stabilise such areas, and use them continuously."
Two wide concrete ramps leading from the road to the beach are still in place, but much of the concrete on the beach itself has been broken up over the years by storms and tidal actions. Some rusted metal devices (possibly remains of winches or winding gear) remain embedded in the concrete on the beach.
The Friends of Wemyss Bay Station website has a great photo showing military tanks on the beach Link
and adds further information that landing craft as well as Sunderland and Catalina flying boats also used the beach for training purposes during WWII. The same site mentions that the adjacent 'Dunavertie' house was commandeered by MI6 for use as an HQ during WWII.
"A concrete beach was created at Wemyss Bay during World War II, to provide a durable area where amphibious vehicles and landing craft could transition between land and sea. This would have been part of the preparations made by Combined Operations.
The weight of military vehicles, particularly if loaded with supplies, troops, munitions or armour, and the repeated passage of heavily treaded tyres, or tracks, would soon destroy an unprotected soft or sandy beach with a loose surface, rendering it useless. By laying a reinforced concrete surface over the original beach, it was possible to stabilise such areas, and use them continuously."
Two wide concrete ramps leading from the road to the beach are still in place, but much of the concrete on the beach itself has been broken up over the years by storms and tidal actions. Some rusted metal devices (possibly remains of winches or winding gear) remain embedded in the concrete on the beach.
The Friends of Wemyss Bay Station website has a great photo showing military tanks on the beach Link
and adds further information that landing craft as well as Sunderland and Catalina flying boats also used the beach for training purposes during WWII. The same site mentions that the adjacent 'Dunavertie' house was commandeered by MI6 for use as an HQ during WWII. Created: Sun, 21 Mar 2021, Updated: Wed, 12 May 2021
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