aerial photograph of Shivering Sands Army Fort , one of the Maunsell Sea Forts built during World War II as anti aircraft defences. In the early part of the war bombers had an easy time with navigation simply following the coast and then the river thames and as soon as the glinting river was covered by some bridges it was time to release bombs annd go home for beer and sausages. To spoil this fun these fort structures were built which consisted of a searchlight tower and then 5 interconnected gun platforms. Maunsell Sea Forts take their name from their designer, Guy Maunsell (1884 - 1961) who also built the Nab Tower during WWI . The structure was constructed ashore and then towed to its operational site for a controlled sinking into place. Shivering Sands Fort was built in 1943 and still has 6 of its 7 towers although the walkway between them was removed some years ago. The missing tower was as a result of a collision with a ship called the Ribersborg in 1963. 7 forts were constructed on the Thames estuary in the south of England with three more on the Mersey Estuary to defend Liverpool. All the Mersey Forts were demolished after the war but many of the southern forts remain to this day. In the 1960s a Pirate Radio Station was based in Shivering Sands Fort and even into the 21st Century one of the towers housed a weather station.