Found this fragment confirming the impact point of the Dakota. Sean not feeling well this week so the cords still safely in his box. Incidently no sign of the Hurricane reported by Pat and someone has stuck up a great post by the Tiger Moth wreckage
Sunday 30 March 2008
Saturday 15 March 2008
Cowper's Cross:Ilkley Moor
Cowpers Cross:Ilkley Moor
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
We are casting our net a little wider now, as the wreck sites in the Peak are often now just a few scraps of aluminium.
We bought a few more books, and made contact with some people in surrounding areas, like Yorkshire.
We went out this week to try our luck on Ilkley Moor, and found the Halifax up there with accurate coordinates from Richard Allenby. His suggested site for the Whitley near Cowper's Cross was however probably fruitless.
Ilkely Moor was more like a country park than real moorland, but nice enough...You wouldn't believe the trouble we had finding a pie in Ilkley, would have been easier to get guacamole than mushy peas. Eeh, it's posh up North...
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley MkV 9274 MH-U
Whitley: Ilkley Moor
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
Our search of the area around Cowper's Cross yielded this twisted bit of aluminium. It was a long way away from the area we were advised to look in, and it doesn't look anything like the bits of wreckage previous hunters claim to have found. We are not convinced, but just maybe...
We are not sure if there are two Whitleys on the Moor, or one. Richard Allenby told us one, but his website shows two...
Location:SE 103 457
Further info(Richard Allenby)
Handley Page Halifax Mk.V DK185
Halifax:Ilkley Moor
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
This wreckage pile is not featured on other sites. It is quite a way from the memorial and its associated smaller wreckage pool. We'd probably have found those without help, as they are right on the path, and the memorial stands out, but this one is more or less down to Richard Allenby's assistance.
Location:SE 093 467
More info(Alan Clark)
More info(Richard Allenby)
Handley Page Halifax Mk.V DK185
Halifax:Ilkley Moor
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
This wreckage pile is right by the memorial shown in the post below.
Location:SE 092 468
More info(Alan Clark)
More info(Richard Allenby)
Handley Page Halifax Mk.V DK185
Halifax:Ilkley Moor
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
This memorial to the Halifax crashed on Ilkley Moor was found with some assistance from Richard Allenby. We have therefore agreed to restrict the level of precision of our published coordinates.
Location:SE 092 468
More info(Alan Clark)
More info(Richard Allenby)
Thursday 13 March 2008
DHAS Merlin XII at Thorpe Camp
DHAS Merlin XII at Thorpe Camp
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
As promised, here is the Merlin 12 engine from the Windygates Farm Spitfire, courtesy of Mr Kirk of Derbyshire Historical Aviation Society.
It's not a Merlin 3, and it does not seem to have been left to rot. DHAS 2, Pat Cunningham 0.
Wednesday 12 March 2008
Short Stirling Mk.III LK502-Post reproduced from Google cache after inadvertent deletion
Thursday, 3 January 2008
Stirling Mk.III LK502
Stirling:Lake Rudyard
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
Previously molten chunks of aluminium, scraps, and a marked negative terminal at the impact site of the Stirling bomber which crashed near Rudyard Lake. There are also many scraps around this location, and an adjacent patch of bare earth riddled with minutiae. Hard to believe it hasn't been kept bare by generations of souvenir hunters scratching around for bits.
Location:SJ 93949 59825
More info
4 comments:
Thursday 6 March 2008
Handley Page Halifax A.Mk.9 RT922
Halifax:Grindon
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
This memorial to Halifax RT922's base slabs registered as full of aluminium by metal detector, unlike the apparent crash site crater location a short distance away. We speculate that all of the metal from the aircraft previously made into a temporary memorial at the church has been incorporated into the structure.
Memorial location:SK 06340 55293
Crater location:SK 06273 55316
Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk.III Z1566
Wellington:Grindon
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
We had some help from itinerant metal detectorists at the crash site of this Wellington, who had found a 0.303 bullet in the adjoining field. I'm not entirely sure however that their bits (the ones with some structure) are from a 'plane. I'm pretty sure that the shapeless lump of aluminium top and centre is though...
Location:SK 06766 55060
More info
Republic P-47C Thunderbolt 41-6628
Thunderbolt:Thornecliffe
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
Scraps of the wreck adorn this home-made memorial at the Thornecliffe wreck site of a Thunderbolt. We found the bit bottom right of the photo on the way to the site.
Memorial location:SK 02102 57764
Found scrap location:SK 02089 57873
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIA P7593
Spitfire:The Roaches
Originally uploaded by seansonofbig2
Lots of bits found at the site of this Spitfire crash at the foot of the Roaches, including what appears to be a panel clock. Click on the pic for an annotated version.
Talking to the farmer, someone was there at the site a month ago, who said they had previously published material on the wrecks. He didn't think it was Pat Cunningham, and he knew it wasn't Alan Clark, because he didn't bring his mum with him like last time. Whoever it was found a spade, apparently.
In preparation for visiting the site, we investigated the whereabouts of the Merlin 12 engine (not a Merlin 3 as stated in Pat Cunningham's book) removed from the site in 1978. It is in Lincolnshire, here. Its owners were still livid at the assertion in "Peakland Air Crashes" that they had left it to rot, and have sent me a pic of the state of restoration of the engine, which you can see a few posts above this one.
Location: SK 00294 61650
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The reason for it not beingpicked over is the exact location has not been widely published before and publishing it inevitably leads to the site vanishing.
I am saying that I believe that for a bit of grassland to stay bare for fifty years, it has been picked over many times. It is clearly visible from the path.
These sites have mostly already vanished. We have never taken a scrap from them. Can you say the same?
As someone who has taken part in numerous licenced excavations and recoveries I think we all know the answer to the question.
Though most people who just go to sites and pick bits up have no idea what they have picked up and often become bored of the items and eventually discard them. At leas twith the items that I have got I know what they are, where they came from.
You may not have come across the request yet but I have (simply if you do something for long enough you'll see everything), when metal detecting I have been asked to remove what I find or just get rid of it into a ditch or hedge (which removes the items from context) as the farmers don't want the items on their land. One even said to me he was fed up with pulling bits from tractor and implement tyres.
Interesting...