During World War II, when there was a real threat of Britain being invaded, it became vital our coastline was defended.
Pillboxes and gun emplacements were rapidly built at various coastal locations around the country.
They gave those who lived through the war a sense of security and remain an important part of our history.
Award-winning photographer Marc Wilson has devoted much of his time to taking photographs of these structures before they are lost to the waves or simply reduced to rubble by time.
Stunning photographs of the military defence structures can be seen in his exhibition, The Last Stand – Northern Europe, which opens to the public at Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen tomorrow, at 6pm.
So far, 53 of the 80 images in the series have been photographed, and the Aberdeen exhibition will have a selection of 22 images from the series, including those from locations in Scotland, the northern isles, northern France and England.
To capture images of these wartime defence locations, many of which have disappeared from view while others have re-emerged from their shrouds, Marc travelled more than 15,000 miles to 109 locations along the coastline of the UK, Channel Islands, France and Belgium.
He recently spent eight days photographing in Orkney and Shetland and is soon to visit the western coast of France down to the Spanish border, Holland, Denmark, and Norway.
Marc, who was born in London in 1968 but now lives in Bath, has been taking photographs for more than 20 years.
His poignant exhibition at Peacock Visual Arts follows on from shows at The Anise Gallery, London, and The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.
The project is also timely.
On a visit to the northern coast of France, at Wissant, the vast wartime defences were pulled apart and removed by the authorities.
He was lucky enough to have photographed these defences last year, but today there is nothing but the sand and tides in this place. No physical reminder of the past remains. Yet at the same time, in late 2013, some defences along the coast of the UK have re-emerged from the dunes after an extreme storm.
These defences, although often submerged by waters or subsumed by sands, are never really lost to us.
Studying the images, visitors to the gallery are invited to revisit the location and perhaps think about what took place there. Designed by architects to be hidden, some of them are now naturally camouflaged thanks to an invasion of moss or algae.
Marc sees every landscape as a witness to war and the passing of time, each with a story to tell, whether it is one of unfulfilled defiance or one of tragedy.
“Even though the work has been photographed in nine different countries in northern Europe, each coastline and its histories are as important as the next, so to be able to show the work at a venue close to the locations is very important.
“For me, Peacock Visual Arts is therefore an ideal venue both for this reason and also due its track record of past shows,” said Marc.
A fascinating window to the past, the exhibition opens tomorrow night and will remain at Peacock Visual Arts, Castle Street, Aberdeen, until Saturday, May 10.
Contact: 01224 639539.