Sunday, 27 September 2009

Avro Lancaster Mk. 1 W4233 or Blenheim L1449?

Avro Lancaster Mk. 1 W4233 or Blenheim L1449

We found this bit far higher on the hill than the Blenheim remains by the waterfall. It is downhill from the hilltop thought by many to be the crash site of the Lancaster, and a long way uphill from the nearer Blenheim site.

Things tend not to fall uphill, though the flecks of green paint do look to be the same shade as those on the Blenheim bit in the previous pic.

Discarded by a souvenir hunter, or just maybe a bit from the Lancaster missed by the anoraks?

Location:SE 60366 99962

More info

Saturday, 12 September 2009

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

We went to Snowdonia's Y Garn for the third time yesterday, to document the wreckage trail we spied from the top on our last visit to the mountain.

Once you are in the right Cwm (Cywion), there are fragments everywhere, far more numerous and more sizeable than are suggested by other internet writers.

The right way up was such an easy walk compared with the wrong ways tried previously that we had time to try out the famous Pete's Eats in Llanberis afterwards-not bad at all. Big portions, if a bit pricey.

This undercarriage strut (around 1.5m long) is one of the three originally used in the Marauder's tricycle undercarriage. There is reportedly a second leg like this still at the site, but the third seems to have gone missing.

This one lies quite a short distance from the stream bed where much of the rest of the wreckage is to be found, but is not as visually obvious as the rest of the parts from ground level.

Location: SH 63149 60150

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

This collection of parts we found by the side of the stream is clustered around a steel component around 500mm long. They are too mangled for accurate identification.

Location: SH 63146 60301

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

At the top of the stream we found these fairly sizeable components, which used to support the undercarriage leg seen in the post above, according to the Aero Part Identify Board posters.

Location: SH 63112 60187

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

Martin Marauder B-26G 44-68072

These bits of armour plate were the highest fragments of any size we found. We are told they come from the crew's seats.

Other internet sites claim that only a few scraps of armour plate remain, but that is clearly not the case, as we have shown in this series of posts, which themselves only show perhaps 25% of what is there.

What happened to the remainder? We have little to add to David Earl's account.

Location: SH 63095 60149

Monday, 24 August 2009

Diggers Thwarted in Wales

New CADW guidelines (ISBN 978 1 85760 267 8) set out a rigorous code of best practice which should see the archaeologically worthless activities of the so-called "aviation archaeologists" pretty much stopped in Wales. Nice work, CADW!

The guidelines basically require excavation to be carried out in a professional manner, in accordance with the archaeologist's code of conduct, standard and guidance for archaeological excavation.

JCBs will not be featuring in future excavations.

They also intend to enforce preservation in-situ of nationally important sites, and the scheduling of crash sites as ancient monuments.

Amateur hour is over, boyos! And not a moment too soon.

Saturday, 22 August 2009

Ribblehead Viaduct and Whernside

Ribblehead Viaduct

Up onto yet another Whernside in Yorkshire, this one above the Ribblehead Viaduct (pictured). Interesting weather and light throughout the day, Mick got some good snaps.

A relatively easy walk, only 12k and not too much ascent to see a couple of WWII wreck sites. What with having had swine flu and so on, we weren't up for a mad yomp. Nice walk, and down in time for tea for once.

Despite High Ground Wrecks being as rubbish as ever in Yorkshire, we found both sites we were going for. I hadn't realised how much these two sites had been picked over by wreckologists until I did the post-walk research. Sad. But then they are sad.

Fairey Barracuda Mk.II DR306

Fairey Barracuda Mk.II DR306

What appear to be wing/ hardpoint components from this Barracuda torpedo bomber which crashed into Whernside on 15th December 1945.

There apparently used to be a big chunk of wing here, but it was probably stolen by the "York Aircraft Preservation Society".

What a fantastic name for an organisation which destroys wreck sites, it's worthy of George Orwell's 1984.

Of course like all of these loose associations of saddoes it has disbanded in time, and its stolen "treasures" have gone missing, who knows where.

Those imagined museums never come to fruition quite as you hoped, do they lads? Maybe a few pointless bits of tangled metal are collected in some unvisited Nissen hut somewhere, but more usually items (all too often stolen from war graves) are collected simply to be thrown out by your parents for those few of you who go on to get a life.

Don't imagine I'm implying that all involved are of school age, just that they probably live with their parents. And need to get a life.

Location SD 74201 80331

Fairey Barracuda Mk.II DR306

Fairey Barracuda Mk.II DR306

A drystone wall "repaired" with bits of torpedo bomber. Click on pic to zoom in if you can't see it.

I'm not sure I agree with the suggestion that this is supposed to be a wall repair.

It just looks like the standard farmer's trick of throwing bits of aircraft wreckage to the edge of the field to me.

Two reasons why I don't think it is a repair-there's no hole in the wall, and in the National Park farmers get paid to repair dry stone walls properly.

In National Parks farmers are more like caretakers, really.

Location:SD 74246 80387

More info

Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk III BK347 Coded Q

Armstrong Vickers Wellington Mk III BK347 Coded Q

You missed a bit, anoraks! A lonely fragment of the eight and a half tonnes of bomber which crashed into the hillside on 21st April 1944 whilst on a cross country flight from Hixon.

There are closer shots of it over on the flickr site, I just liked way the sky looks in this one.

This may well be all that is now left above ground at the site, as it has been been serially looted since then by "enthusiasts", many of who amusingly refer to themselves collectively as "Preservation Societies", as discussed previously.

No-one outside the world of "aviation archaeology" knows where the rest of this 'plane is, and even in that world, no-one is telling.

Location: SD 74157 81562

More info