Dunkirk spirit - oBlyth beach; LANDMARK OPEN AFTER 50 YEARS.

Byline: PETER TAYLOR

BROUGHT back from the dead, these wartime defence sites are set to become tourist attractions.

A small army of volunteers are preparing to take people on guided tours of the fortifications that make up the battery. More than half a million pounds was spent on revamping the battery, which had stood empty for half a century and was once threatened with demolition.

The Blyth defences first appeared in the First World War, when the threat of a land invasion was so serious a mock invasion of the town and Sunderland was staged. More than 4,000 British troops landed on the coast and marched to the strategically-vital Vickers Elswick works at Newcastle.

The importance of Blyth as a submarine base lay behind the building of the battery, with more buildings added in the Second World War.

It was equipped with searchlights and six-inch guns housed in emplacements and fed with a supply of shells from a magazine block, which had a reinforced roof and a protective blast void.

It has two observation posts, one for each war, a rangefinder tower and an engine house.

The battery commander and his crew had sleeping accommodation and were poised for action, but a shot was never fired in anger.

Colin Durward, chairman of the newly-formed Blyth Battery Volunteers, is expecting a lot of interest when the Battery opens its doors to visitors from July 18.

He said: "Blyth Battery is important because it reminds us how people in Blyth, and Britain generally, had to adapt to living under the shadow of war. "By opening the site to the public, we hope to raise awareness of the everyday effort involved in ensuring our coast was protected."

The site has been painted in a bold new colour scheme with pink denoting World War Two buildings, light grey the World War One buildings, and white denoting post-war buildings.

Its opening marks the completion of a six-month repair and redevelopment programme made possible by grants totalling pounds 525,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage and the for-meBlyth Valley Council.

The listed site is considered one of the most complete examples of a coastal defence battery on the east coast of Britain, with some features considered to be internationally significant.

The volunteers are now more than 30-strong and over two years have worked with Northumberland County Council, Blyth Valley Council and the North of England Civic Trust to opening the site to the public.

Carol Pyrah, planning and development regional director for English Heritage, said: "I am delighted English Heritage's grant of pounds 125,000 has helped."

CAPTION(S):

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE: Colin Durward, chair of the Blyth Battery Volunteers, in Home Guard uniform