Weymouth: D-Day embarkation

When I visit Weymouth, as I seem to be doing now on a regular basis, it’s primarily for the wildlife, the birds, butterflies and dragonflies that are either resident or passing through on their Spring and Autumn migrations, and so almost every day I walk from my guest house on the front along to RSPB Lodmoor and back. Along the way I pass poignant reminders of the importance of this seaside town during the Second World War. 

One of those reminders is this sign, placed as you can see at the bottom of a flight of steps that leads from Greenhill Road down to Brunswick Lane at the edge of the beach. 

The text on the sign reads:

Rangers Way 2
At the start of June 1944, the 2nd Battalion US Rangers descended these steps en masse before lining up on the Promenade. They then marched to the Pavilion to board the boats for the crossing of the Channel to Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France.
"We may never see their like again."

 And, one afternoon, when I was returning to my guest house from a walk around RSPB Radipole via a meandering exploration of the older parts of Weymouth, I found another similar reminder of this town’s strategic importance for the embarkation of soldiers heading to France 82 years ago. 

This harbourside plaque reads:

D-Day Embarkation June 1944

Weymouth was one of the main embarkation points for troops assembled in South Dorset in preparation for the invasion of France during World War II. The thousands of troops who embarked through Weymouth included the US 1st Infantry Division, who landed on Omaha Beach and the 2nd Ranger Battalion who successfully disabled the heavily fortified German artillery battery at Pointe du Hoc. In the days leading up to the 6th June landings this area in front of the old 1908 Pavilion was a bustle of activity with men and supplies being loaded onto landing craft. Over the following year more than half a million American servicemen and 150,000 vehicles would pass through Weymouth and Portland to the beaches of Normandy.

As the Rangers Way sign’s quotation of General Dwight Eisenhower’s famous statement says, ‘We may never see their like again.’

Cardiff Bay: Star Walk Wales

 

Until quite recently, I'd never noticed these panels set into the pavement outside the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, and trying to find out more about them has proved difficult.
 

Online research produced the following:

• A report on The CAD Centre UK Ltd, dated June 2017, has the following mention: 'The provider [presumably The CAD Centre] is working with the architect of the Wales Millennium Centre by funding the first stages of the development of “Star Walk Wales”, an innovative project to commemorate key figures from Wales, where members of the public can interact with the “stars” and learn more about Welsh personalities.'
  
  
• According to their website, the installation work was done by a company called Atlantic Dwellings.
  
  
• A Twitter/X profile @StarWalkWales was set up in September 2016. It describes itself as follows:' Star Walk Wales, aims to create a made in Wales dedicated star-studded walk way in Cardiff Bay, to celebrate the life and work of Wales' finest achievers', but there are no posts and the account doesn't appear to be active. The website linked to this profile is also inactive.
  
  
• And it appears that the Welsh Government was not supportive of the project. Minutes of business discussed in the Senedd in November 2018 report: 'Commissioners were provided with an update on recent developments around the long-standing proposals for a ‘Star Walk Wales’. Commissioners concluded that they did not feel able to support the development of a ‘Star Walk’ on the Assembly estate.'

 

The Star Walk consists of just one 'star', a poet named Nigel Bevan. He is also something of an enigma, as online research has not produced any information about him and his work. So much for these 'stars' focusing on Wales's finest achievers!

Cardiff Bay: Pink hut

It's a strange little building, looks completely out of place where it sits, yet those two factors, and its bright pink colour, make the Pink hut one of the most recognisable buildings in Cardiff Bay.

According to the Cardiff Harbour website, the hut, which looks rather precarious on its thin stilt-like legs, was intended for use by 'local yacht clubs and other event organisers to start and control races in the estuary'. 

To be honest, that sounds very odd. Although the hut sits near the end of the eastern breakwater of the Barrage, the extreme tidal range of the Bristol Channel means that, at low tide, there is a large expanse of mud below the building, rather than water. 

And, in fact, I've read that the Pink hut has never been used for its intended purpose so now it's something of a pink elephant. Perhaps that's where the idea for its paint colour came from. 

An article on the Wales Online website, dated 6 October 2020, says the building had recently been set up as a personal gym, with a punch bag, bench, bar and weights, after being rented out to one of the Habour Authority employees. I don't know if that's still the case.