Remember, I told you, "How did air defense begin?", But an interesting topic in the continuation of this.
Take a look at the photo - what is seen in the distance? Space communication station? Missile defense? Or are they ancient traces of alien activity? The project, which we will talk about, was started a long time ago and has an unclear future. However, it is interesting, because it combines little-known pages of the history of technology, Emperor Napoleon, Count Zeppelin, a little art and a completely crazy idea.
Several years ago, a British artist of Danish descent, Lise Autogena drove her car along the coast of the English Channel. From a distance, she noticed strange structures standing on the hills. She was intrigued, and when she examined them up close, she was simply fascinated.
So a factory, a dam or a building abandoned 50-70 years ago, a dilapidated structure of a bygone era, in which the former greatness and power can be guessed, can charm. Huge concrete plates and bowls, facing the concave side towards the continent, as it turned out, were “listening ears” or “sound mirrors”.
The original purpose of these structures was to capture the sound of engines from Zeppelin airships and German airplanes during the First World War. The man who stood guard over the British sky was located either in the focus of the mirror, or in a special camera under it. In the latter case, the sound was transmitted inward - directly to the ears of the operator, through tubes resembling stethoscope tubes, only multiply increased in length.
In the twenties and thirties, the process was optimized: a microphone was placed in focus, which transmitted sounds to the bunker under the "Acoustic Mirror" - it was possible to detect not only aircraft, but also the noise of ships' engines. The mirrors were made (mostly) in the form of giant (up to 9.1 meters in diameter) Walking concrete bowls, with their concave side facing the sea. But there were mirrors in the form of huge semicircular (in plan) walls 60 meters long and up to five meters high.
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Such structures were built from 1916 to 1930 in more than a dozen locations on the eastern and southeastern coast of Albion. "Ears of Britain". No more, no less. And after all, in the First World War they worked. And later - too. They lost their relevance only during the Second World War, with the practical development of radar (the pioneers here, by the way, were just Great Britain, as well as the USSR).
There are a lot of them - built along the coast of Kent, in Sunderland, Kilnsey, Bowlby, etc. During the interwar period, the British built Mirrors even in Malta. All this was combined with quite common acoustic locators:
By 1940, these gizmos were completely obsolete - radar was invented - but they played a role in the Battle of Britain: the acoustic warning system along the coast was served by more than 1000 people from the Royal Air Force.
Left: the smaller of the sound mirrors of Cape Dengenes. Right: Mirror in Bowlby, Yorkshire, about 4 meters in diameter.
We also add that in the sound location of enemy aircraft during the Second World War, catchers of much smaller sizes were also successfully used - metal sockets, rotated in all directions on a special mount. However, these devices are much more familiar to tech lovers than the huge sound mirrors of the English coast of the English Channel.
These mirrors were made mainly in the form of giant (up to 9.1 meters in diameter) concrete bowls, with their concave side facing the sea. But there were mirrors in the form of huge semicircular (in plan) walls 60 meters long and several human heights.
Surprised by the scope of these mirrors, Liz decided to turn them into something completely peaceful.
This is how the Sound Mirrors project was born.
Here is the project itself.
In 1930, the military also decided to build a massive sound mirror in the form of a 60-meter wall. This structure made it possible to more accurately hear the plane, which is almost 10 km away (in good weather), and with the naked ear. And if the operator also used microphones, then the operating range reached 32 kilometers.
The original plan was to place wall mirrors along the entire coast, every 40 km, and a pair of small mirrors between them. But in the 1930s, the first radars became widespread, and aircraft became so fast that sound mirrors could not provide reliable early warning of an impending threat. The military abandoned the idea, leaving behind structures, many of which still rise along the southeast coast of Great Britain.
And once these mirrors served as defense. By the way, here you can see how they listened with the help of mirrors, being both in front of them and under the building. Top right - small sound locators, which have become widespread not only in England.
The artist decided to build modern copies of the "ears of Britain" and with a completely different purpose.
According to Liz's plan, two such bowls should be mounted on the English and French shores of the strait, so that the inhabitants of the two countries could talk, standing in their focus.
I remember a bike from the times of the USSR, it seems from Mikhail Zadornov. The director in the office yells into the phone: “Is this Tyumen ?! Is this Tyumen ?! You hear?!!! Is this Tyumen? !!”. A foreigner who is waiting in the adjoining reception, bewilderedly asks the secretary: “Was it possible to call by phone?”.
So it is here. Even with the help of large mirrors it is hardly possible to shout over the English channel. This conversation will be a bit of an illusion. In fact, it will not do without the intervention of modern transmission technology. But it is curious that at the heart of the installation there will be a concrete acoustic mirror.
It will truly collect in its focus and amplify, like a shell, the distant sound of the sea and wind, and the electronics will add to it the voice of a real interlocutor from the other side of the English Channel. Tourists wishing to talk will have to stand in front of the mirror on a special platform. Moreover, the illusion of the close presence of the speaker on the other side is promised, due to the stereoscopic transmission of sound.
In size (about 6-7 meters) and shape, the new mirrors will repeat the well-known similar historical bowls that stand near Cape Dangenes (photo under the title), however, there the largest mirror has, as we have already said, 9.1 meters in diameter …
The mirrors on the two banks of the canal will be separated by approximately 40-45 kilometers.
Mini-parks with various stone or concrete structures, stairs, paths, observation deck and the like should be erected around each structure. In general - a harmonious unity of nature and architecture, a magnet for tourists, simply - a place of recreation for local residents.
Liz has been collecting money for this project for many years, but judging by his website, nothing can be said about the implementation date.
But within the framework of the project, the old sound mirrors became the object of new research. And a visual aid for schoolchildren. Back in 2003, Liz, together with school teachers and artists, brought children here more than once in order not only to look at the amazing monuments of military equipment of the early 20th century, but to conduct a number of funny acoustic experiments with them.
Let's go back, however, to the project. The first of the new twin mirrors should take place somewhere between Dover and Folkestone (according to some sources, very close to this city), and the second - near the French Sungate.
It is curious that a tunnel under the English Channel originates from this city. No, not modern, but the one that was dug in the 1880s. Yes, even then people tried to connect the mainland with the island kingdom. Moreover, the project of this tunnel was proposed much earlier - the plan was shown to Napoleon the First. However, for various reasons, the construction of the structure began only towards the end of the century.
The project was not so primitive. Then they thought about ventilation and about draining the leaking water. For political (and, perhaps, financial) reasons, the construction was interrupted. But that tunnel managed to deepen several kilometers under the bottom of the strait. By the way, the tunnel still exists.
As you can see, the choice of the location for the mirror in France evokes interesting cultural and historical associations.
And the area of Dover and Folkestone is no less significant. Depending on what period of history you look at, these were both the first British frontiers on the path of invaders from the continent, and the first gateways for trade and, in general, friends, from the continent.
Here is Liz Otojena's Sound Mirrors - a tangible reminder of the inextricable ties of the British with the rest of Europe.