Lancashire At War.co.uk
Exploring the hidden history of War sites in Lancashire
Accrington Decoy Site
Above Left and Above Right: Two views of the building platform behind the main site. Its function unclear at the moment. Beyond (above right) you can see the town of Accrington in the distance. This is a very high spot with excellent views.
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The nearest decoy site to Accrington of the five set up to protect the town.
To be found near the A56, just off the King's Highway. Not easy to get to - you have to walk a fair way (best along the King's Highway - a wonderful cobbled road). Access to the site itself is easy once you are there.
It is very similar to the Worsthorne decoy site. However there are a few differences. It has the remains of building platforms behind the main building (see photo right). And it has a blast wall in front of the main entrance.
(see photos below).
The blast wall (above and right) has a loophole in it for last resort defence - not sure they are in the original specification, but a nice touch.
This building was the only "safe place" if the decoy site successfully drew bombs away from Accrington. It is all that would have protected them. It must have been a cold, lonely, damp, boring and strange war, waiting for enemy planes to come and then have to try and kid them into dropping bombs on you rather than their intended target.
The decoy systems they employed at this site were twofold: diversionary fires (‘SF’ or ‘Starfish’ sites) and simulations of urban lighting (‘QL’ sites). There were no dummy aeroplanes and no dummy runway on the moors (despite some locals telling us this was the case). What was there is recorded in Colin Dobinson's book Fields of Deception (see link on the Right).