Return to Hamelin, and the Eder and Möhne Dams (Part 2)

Part 2 has taken an effort to complete!
The caravan has been in the UK all year.
But we have still done our share of travelling around Europe and North America - without the caravan
- and around the UK, with the caravan.

And every new place seems to give us less free time.

But that’s not a bad thing.
It’s good to be busy without thinking about work.

As I wrote in Part 1 of this post, while we were in Germany, Gail and I also visited some of the destinations I remember from my childhood in Detmold.
Towns like Hamelin, and also the Möhne and Eder lakes and dams, were some of the places to go for a day trip.

Part 1 was all about Hamelin – Part 2 covers our visits to the Möhnesee and Edersee, and the famous dams.

The broad plan was to do as I had done as a child and, from Detmold, have a day trip to the Möhne dam and then a second day trip to the Eder dam.
But looking at the map, and thinking of the goal of getting South, and ultimately to Croatia, we firstly travelled with the caravan 50 miles South to Brilon.
From there the Möhnesee is 25 miles to the West, and the Edersee 40 miles to the South East.

Our first day trip from Brilon was to the Edersee.
It is a very pretty and large reservoir, surrounded by wooded hills.
It was this aspect that made the bombing of the dams in May 1943, such a challenge to the so-called Dambusters.
Although I remember visiting in the 60’s, the dam then was not such a visitor attraction.
I am thinking back 55 years.
Of course in 1960 it was just 15 years after the end of the Second World War, so it is easy to understand that wartime events associated with such constructions would rather be forgotten or avoided.

Today there is a gift shop and a museum,
and the lake is used for boating and boat trips.

We didn’t visit the museum,
but the advertising board clearly acknowledges the raid on the dam.

As we started to go away from the Eder dam to head back to Brilon, although stopping is prohibited, as it was quiet I quickly stopped to take a quick photo. 

Some weeks later back in the UK, I found an old photo mum must have taken of us all those years ago.
Parking restrictions must have been non-existent, and cars few enough to allow three young children to pose for the photo.
There are a few more trees around now!

This was just a mile away from Edersee – clearly an indication of modern day tourism!

Return to Hamelin, and the Eder and Mohne Dams (Part 1)

As I said in a previous post, while we were in Detmold, Gail and I also visited the some of the destinations I remember from my childhood. Towns like Hamelin, and also the Mohne and Eder dams, were some of the places to go for a day trip.

I remember Hamelin as a small town in the 1960’s, and don’t remember it as the sprawl that we saw on our visit. But certainly now, as then, the centre of the town has some beautiful traditional buildings. 

The town attracts nearly four million tourists a year mainly because of the world famous medieval legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. 

We bought a copy of the story in English thinking we could give this to Amelia when she gets older. I don't remember if I thought about it as a child, but reading the story again now, parental guidance is necessary! A story where all the children are led away by a strange man, never to be seen again, and nobody really knows where they went is really the stuff of nightmares. But the bit where the Pied Piper does what he promises, only for the politicians of the town to break their promise, still rings true.

Although the main visitor season had passed there were still a lot of people around, and we had a wander around looking at the traditional buildings, and spotting the brass rats in the pavement, 

and then waited, over a beer, for the twice daily ringing of the glockenspiel bells and the carousel of twirling Pied Piper figures at the Hochzeitshaus.

That was Hamelin – our visit to the Mohne and Eder dams next time.

The Browns, 18a Niedersachsen Strasse, Detmold

Thursday September 18^th, 2014

Just over 50 years ago, dad – Chief Petty Officer Bernard Edward George Brown – also known as Buster or Bomber - was posted from Lee-On-Solent, near Gosport, where the family were living at the time, to Detmold in Germany. 

Detmold is located just over an hour from Hannover, half an hour from Bielefeld, with Berlin 4 hours to the East, and Essen 2 hours to the West.

Although dad was Royal Navy – more precisely Fleet Air Arm – he and 2 other Chief Petty Officers were "on loan" to the Army Air Corps. I vaguely remember one was called Bill Sellars, and the other definitely Ernie Selwood. I went to school in Detmold with Ernie and Mary's daughters Yvonne, and Vivian. Both Ernie and dad were posted to Culdrose in Cornwall after Germany, and both generations all stayed friends. Vivian eventually married Keith in the year above me at Redruth Grammar school, and I worked with Yvonne in my first job at Lastonet in Redruth, Cornwall, and she had already married Tony. Everyone eventually moved away from Cornwall, but we all remained in contact for many years to follow.

Most Fleet Air Arm engineers had helicopter skills, whereas dad was "fixed wing". I am sure he had always said it was to train Army Air Corps engineers on small propeller planes like the Auster, but it could well have been the reverse. After a few months on his own, dad was able to arrange for the family to join him, and we all lived in a flat at the top of a German family's house in Horn, which is a village 10 minutes from Detmold. Soon after that we moved into a house on a married quarter estate in Detmold, on the edge of the Army/Army Air Corps base. 

The perimeter fence of the base (Hobart Barracks) was in front of where we lived, and there was a footpath which skirted the fence taking us to the gatehouse and then into the base where the school was located, as well as shops, and even a cinema. Of course there were lots of Conqueror, Chieftain and Challenger tanks, helicopters, and planes, as well as barracks for the soldiers and airmen who were among the tens of thousands of British, American and Canadian forces based throughout West Germany during the Cold War. The NATO forces were always seen as a possible delaying factor to an invasion by Russia and the Warsaw Pact countries, with 6000 NATO tanks heavily outnumbered by 50,000 Warsaw Pact tanks, although it was always debatable how many of these might have worked effectively! But there were enough to worry about. . .
 

Dad and Charlie Cable

As children we had little concerns about the Cold War, but I always remember the locals being a little concerned, especially when they saw dad in his Royal Navy uniform, which looked very much like a Russian uniform, and particularly when they were so used to khaki uniforms!

 
I also remember having concerns about dad's gas mask. This was always under the stairs with dad's kitbag, and we were allowed to try it on, but with dad saying "It is not a toy". I remember asking what is was for, and getting some sort of reassuring answer, but at the same time asking him that if he needed a gas mask why didn't mum and us children have one?

Like all the dads, our dad was often away for days at a time on military exercises. I remember one particular time when we were all woken up in the middle of the night with bright search lights at the front of the house, and soldiers loading up trucks to take all the military "back to base". Many times we would ask when dad was coming home, and many years after that realised mum really did not know, and looking more worried than usual. I also remember the night (Friday November 22, 1963) when Kennedy was assasinated, and mum and dad worrying how that would affect things in Western Europe, while trying not to worry us children.

Today I wish I had asked mum and dad more about those times. . . – and other times.

It was always on my list to revisit Germany. I have been to Cologne many times with work, and also to Hamburg, and Frankfurt, and although Detmold is not on the usual tourist trail of Brits in Germany, we headed in that direction from Bruges.

We parked the caravan at the only site we could find in the area, a town called Lemgo, and on our first full day set out to see what I could remember from my childhood. I could certainly remember we lived at 18a Niedersachsen Strasse in Detmold – some things you never forget. Maybe it was mum sewing our address into our school clothes that did the trick. . . Putting the address into the SatNav we were amazed that it accepted it!

As we drove closer, I expected the area to be cleared and replaced with an Aldi or Lidl or both, but it was so strange to see the married quarters estate pretty much as it was in the 1960's. Trees were taller, and there were satellite dishes on roofs. 

I thought the skylights in the roof were new, but looking at an old photo once more, they were there in the 1960's.




 

All of the houses appeared empty – but not boarded up – and looked recently painted. Although all appeared unoccupied there was no sign of vandalism – which is something that you would expect in such a location in the UK. I parked the car in front of the house next to where the base perimeter fence used to be.

There are now expensive looking houses where that perimeter used to be, but the footpath I used to walk to school was there. With hindsight I should have taken a stroll along it, but just took a few photos.








On leaving the area of the house, we went out of the estate a different way to what we had come in. As we turned the corner, we saw a small area of grass and I remembered Santa Claus arriving by helicopter and landing on that grass. 





There is no way that would be allowed today – maybe it wasn't then – but it was great at the time for all of us. Of course, I knew that Santa Claus was actually our neighbour, and dad's Army Air Corps friend "Charlie Cable", but I didn't spoil it for my sister Lynda and baby brother Adrian! Now I remember my dad's Air Corps mate's name, but no idea who the children were, although they must have gone to school with us. But then they weren't Santa Claus were they?




Just to confirm - brother Adrian was still a baby - Lynda and I weren't far off! 

The photo above and right were taken at the back of 18a Niedersachsen Strasse in the 60's.






We then headed in the direction of where I thought the base was. The base is all public land and buildings now, with most of the buildings closed up, but many of the hangars have been taken over by businesses for commercial ventures. There was one business called Hangar 21 which I have since discovered holds cultural and entertainment events in a cleaned up hangar:
Hangar 21 


What was quite strange was that the control tower is also still standing. Land had been cleared on the edge of the base where there once would have been hangars, and a supermarket built, and there is a new road network being constructed near there. I would guess that in time the unused buildings will be cleared, and the area will change completely.






It was nice to see people walking their dogs on what was the airfield, and the area did still seem to have an edge of town feel. Maybe in the absence of any physical monument to remember the many thousands of British service men and women who served there in the Cold War, and of course the German Luftwaffe personnel who served there during the Second World War and before, it would be good if the land remained as a public open area. . .







That was stage one of the stroll down childhood memory lane, and we headed down into Detmold town itself. To be honest I don't remember much about the town other than the castle, which being a castle is still there. 

It's a pretty town, and after a stroll we found a nice bar, a bit trendy, 








but with outside seating in the sun to enjoy our first beer in Germany. 

Lunch was a little less enjoyable!

After picking up a few leaflets at the tourist office, the next place on the tour was Hermannsdenkmal. Whenever someone visited from the UK, this was one of the nearest interesting places to take them. As a child the statue was just an impressive statue, so going back 50 years later it was still an impressive statue, but I could now attach some very interesting history to its origin. I seem to remember dad being able to drive quite close to the statue, but there is now a massive car park (with charges!) and a reasonable stroll through the trees to the base of the statue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermannsdenkmal

From there the next visit on the tour was to Die Externsteine, which is a geological feature of 5 sandstone pillars, not far from Horn where we first lived in Germany. Again a popular place to take family from the UK when they visited. 

Nothing much has changed in 50 years – not surprising in rocks that have been there millions of years. But I seem to remember being able to see the rocks from the road where now you drive up to a car park and walk to the rocks. We had bought a joint ticket to climb up inside Hermannsdenkmal, and then to the top of Die Externsteine – but one climb in a day was enough to be honest!


It has taken some time to write this post, but in googling some of the places we have visited, and things we have done, it has been really interesting to find things that have changed. For example, at Die Externsteine in 1958 there were around 224,000 visitors a year, and I would guess this was around the same a few years later when we used to visit. This compares with visitor numbers of up to a million today, which probably explains the elaborate visitor displays, car parks, bar and restaurant that were not there in the 60's. And the reason why the road may have been routed away from the rocks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externsteine

It started to rain as we left Die Externsteine, but there was still enough of the day left to return into Detmold and find the Detmold Brauhaus and enjoy a "pint" of the local brew.

"Baby" brother Adrian suggested when we spoke recently that it must have been an emotional return. It was. But in a very positive way. Even as a 10 year old (at the oldest) we had some great times, and very happy times. It enabled us as a family to travel much more than we had ever done before. We had memorable camping holidays in Holland and Italy, and in travelling South to Italy, also visited Austria and Switzerland.
All in dad's Ford Taunus – VF 94 B ! Like the address in Detmold, I remember that too!
The only negative emotion is that they aren't around for me to ask questions about the time in Germany. . .

While we were in Detmold, Gail and I also visited some of the day-trip destinations I remember from my childhood there - Hamelin, and the Möhne and Eder dams, but it is best I leave those stories for another day.

Back in Europe

Tuesday September 16, 2014

We are back in mainland Europe. To be precise we are in walking distance of Bruges in Belgium. We have been here many times before, but it's a place that is always a pleasure to visit and spend some time in. Although it is mid September, clearly other people think the same, as there are many tourists visiting. It's expensive eating and drinking here, but I think that may reflect what to expect as we move on to Germany in a few days. We paid £35 for a bowl of mussels, bread and a plate of chips, which we shared, plus 2 beers.

Reflecting on the past few months we are really happy with the great summer we have enjoyed. We are so lucky to have been able to spend so much time with Kate, Paul and Amelia. It is quite amazing that since we came back to the UK in May, and leaving again in September, we have seen Amelia walking, and now running. And every day she seems to pick up new words. She can even say multi syllable words like "caravan". I'm not joking – she really can say "GraGra and GaGa's caravan"! 

Amelia actually said "Granddad" one day, which was disappointing that she was learning so fast, but it was back to GraGra again soon. She knows most of the words for colours, but at the moment nearly everything is blue! But we have no doubt she will soon know that Peppa Pig is pink. We are learning too. Peppa's brother is George; her teacher is Mrs. Antelope; and her friends are Danny Dog, Emily Elephant (Mike's favourite), and Susie Cat – we think that's right – please correct if not. . . .

And some of the time with Kate, Paul and Amelia, and meeting up with other family, has nicely coincided with enjoying places and events in the UK: Cowes Week; visits to Mottisfont House near Romsey 





and a couple of National Trust sites in Devon; 

the Tall Ships race start in Falmouth; a trip on the ferry from Padstow to Rock; a walk on the cliffs near Bedruthan Steps, while looking at a very rough and stormy sea over the August Bank Holiday.




On the subject of some of these places, we were asked before retirement what we planned to do, and Mike's practiced answer was "to visit old and new places in Europe and similarly in the UK". And that is what we have done in the UK this summer – perhaps not as adventurous as we had thought – but there was no need, as there was so much to do anyway. Gail lived in Cornwall for 50 years, and Mike as an emmet for only 40! But neither of us had ever been to Bedruthan Steps, or crossed the River Camel to Rock.

It suddenly occurred to us the other day that we might be too late to achieve our goal of seeing old and new places in the UK. If there is a "Yes" vote in Scotland, then we have another country to visit, and the UK becomes smaller. It makes you think – in the last few days we have driven into France, crossed the border into Belgium, drifted into Holland, back into Belgium, and tomorrow will probably drive into Holland again, and out into Germany without once showing our passports. Wonder if it will be as easy if Scotland is independent. . .
And by the way – why do we get so much immigration hassle when we fly, but not when we drive, or travel by Eurostar? Answers on a postcard please!