Walking Walker Lines

SPY Network met at Bodmin Keep, built in 1859, as headquarters and stores for Cornwall Militia. It became the main entrance to Victoria Barracks, built in the 1870s and extended in the 1880s. Some of the original walls show the parade ground area, although stylish houses cover most of it now.

Outside Bodmin Keep

Hello and welcome from Leah with Fran

Walking past the barracks, we crossed the imaginary line to Walker Lines, built at the start of WW2 as a place to prepare service personnel for war. American soldiers were stationed here in the early 1940s. Of the 111 buildings making up the camp, 14 remain, including the gym, which is still used for boxing today.

On the tour

We spotted many of the 14 remaining buildings, with their distinctive roofs, saluted outside the officer’s rooms, marched along the route and jumped the imaginary line between the old barracks and the new WW2 camp.

Leah Mason, learning manager at Bodmin Keep and Fran Singleton, curator, brought our walking of Walker Lines to life.