WET?? You said you were taking a waterproof camera so i assumed you knew how to swim.

No I didnt and yes I can but there are limits to my pioneering spirit.

Alright it was me then. Actually the entrance is the hole on the right, you don't have to swim into the cave.

Do I recall correctly that there used to be a steel walkway across the opening? Our entrance used to be through a pillbox on the beach, and the floor of one of the tunnels had given way, opening into the roof of the cave.

Almost - it was wooden. If you enter the tunnels via the hole on the right, the floor does have holes in above the cave.

I have a picture of the bridge along with some of the beach and the barracks. I will sort through them and send.

Great Sheila, look forward to seeing them.

This was the family swimming area, the wooden footbridge lead to what we knew as "The black rocks". The bridge was always semi dismantled for winter. The cave was a great place for salvaging sailors hats, most of us kids sported one.

the black rocks were out of bounds to us kids .the soldiers used to swim from there as the could not use the families swimming area

That's true - but there was a great swimming pool there and high places to dive off.

Yes it was great.David do you remember the Williams boys Billy and Freddy they were there the same time as you and I 47/52 Freddy had a fatal accident on the black rocks and then they really were out of bounds to the children

Sorry! I can't place the Williams, but I'm not surprised to learn of the accident. I broke my arm dashing about in the family area, and spent weeks in Mtarfa, at first in the family hospital and then in the main hospital to have the bone reset. Aaaah! But the challenge of going somewhere forbidden us, was too much for some of us boys to ignore.

We used to call this place 'The Broken Bridge' as half of the wooden cross 'planks' were missing and I think the handrail was either missing or bent. That was 1963 - 1966. We used to sometimes dive in the water here (unless there were jellyfish), but mainly we used the tunnel entrance here. A short distance in (past the hole in the floor) was a sloping tunnel on the right which lead to the a large room we called the Witch's Den where we would bang empty oil drums and chant by candle light. In the top left corner of one of the den's walls was an opening which lead into the room containing the engine for the boom that stretched across the harbour mouth during the war. The first time we got in there we thought it was secret equipment! However at least we finaly discovered what was behind that large steel sliding door in the rockface that we had always been curious about. Does anyone else remember? None

Another one who has been in the caves under Tigne, have said previously, if we had all been in there at the same time it would have been a little crowded. I used to use the entrance you mentioned David, one time we actually found our way into Tigne fort.

If only the parents had known what was going on under their feet!

They probably did! We found our way into the fort as well. What exciting things we all did with just candles. We all must have had an idylic childhood there with so much freedom and so much to do and explore. I cannot imagine a better childhood. Does anyone remember The Anchor' (as we all called it) at Tigne point where there was a huge anchor (to us!) on the seabed beneath the 'cliff'. It was just beyond that large tunnel entrance that often gushed water into the sea.