The Naughty boy path.
Supermarine Walrus W3023
 (Distance covered =  11.5 mile/Ascent =+684m)

Fairy Albacore N4167
 (Distance covered 6.8mile/Ascent 498m)

 Last excursion for my 2020 walking holiday. My plan for the day was to visit two crashsites in the hills above Glen Turret, near Crieff in Perthshire, which as an added bonus meant I'd already driven half the distance back home.

I arrived in Glen Turret the night before and camped beside the large carpark situated next to the Dam at the southern end of Loch Turret. There were three other cars in the carpark when I arrived so I expected to be woken up by their occupants when they arrived back from their walk, but in the morning the three cars were still there so either they were lost or had wild camped in the hills.


Looks like someone ignored the "Road Not suitable for caravans" sign at the entrance to Glen Turret.

My old Golf, although damned economical and reliable was not a good 'Campercar', otherwise I would have just slept in it the night before instead of pitching the tent. At the end of November 2020 I changed it for a Shitroen C4 Grand Picasso which has seven seats, the rear 5 of which all fold flat into the floor, so it may prove to be as good for car camping as Blueberry Esmerelda Muffin II used to be.


The Old Golf park at Loch Turret Dam, I'd say we had our moneys worth out of it considering we used it for 5 year after only paying £100 for it!


In case I was in any doubt that I'd parked in the right place.

Unfortunately it seemed like my good luck with the weather had ran out on this day as I awoke to the sound of rain pattering off the tent. I stayed in my sleeping bag a bit longer than intended to see if it eased but it didn't, so it was time to make some more use of my new waterproofs.


Off along the Loch side path in less than ideal conditions.

The first crashsite I was going to look for was only going to be just over a 1 mile walk from the carpark, or so I thought; positioned at several points along the lochside track were signs informing walkers that the path I intended to use was closed due to erosion and to prevent disturbance of livestock. The signs offered an alternative route which followed a landrover track all the way to the top of the hill. I obediently followed the landowners suggested alternative route which was rather a large diversion, which meant I had to walk 4.2 mile to reach the crashsite instead of 1 mile.


On the diversion, but which way?

As well as the diversion increasing the distance I had to walk to reach the crashsite by over three mile it also went in the opposite direction for the first 2 of those miles, so as soon as I had walked back passed the carpark I had also walked off the map I had. Luckily I had taken a photograph of one of the signs as they had small maps on them, which was just sufficient to keep me on the right track until it changed direction and I walked back onto my map.

 
A map of the map.

The first crashsite on my days itinerary was Supermarine Walrus W2023, some pieces of this one were removed when it was mistaken for another crashsite in the area. It would be nice to think after realising their error that the people who removed these parts returned them to where they found them, but that's highly doubtful, so hopefully they have at least donated them to a Museum.

Above and below:-A couple of pieces of the Walrus that weren't 'recovered'



After finding a couple of fragments of the Walrus, one of which had a manufacturers stamp on to confirm it was indeed a bit of Walrus, I set off walking up the hill to go and look for the second crashsite. The Fairy Albacore that lay further up the hill near the summit had been searching for the wrecked Walrus when it too collided with the hill.


 Part numbers which confirmed the pieces I found belonged to the Walrus.

More wreckage photos.



Nearly to the top of the hill and nearly out of the cloud.


View back down to where the Walrus crashed into the hill.


The Albacore crashed to the left of the bump just right of centre on the skyline.


Always a bit special when you can admire the top of the clouds.

Whereas I had been searching for bits of Walrus in zero visibility and rain I now found myself in the position of searching for the Albacore in clear blue skies and sunshine due to the fact I had climbed up above the miserable weather. Despite the now perfect visibility however I managed to find no trace of the Albacore.


The area I Searched for bits of Albacore, if I'd gone another 20metres off the left of this photo I would have found it.


I searched this area as well but the Albacore wreckage was actually behind me when I took this photo.


At King Kenneth's Cairn on the top of Choinneachain Hill.

By the time I'd finished unsuccessfully searching for bits of Albacore the cloud had lifted a bit, but that meant I was no longer above it, so I started back off down the landrover track again dutifully following the suggested diversion which meant I had a 4.5mile walk back to the car.

Back down the Landy Track.


Above and below:-At least the visibility was a bit better on the way down.



The week after I returned home Stuart and his daughter Chloe went for a visit to Glen Turret where, as well as having a look at the bits of Walrus they also managed to find some fragments of the Albacore, about 20 metres north of where I had searched. Stuart and Chloe didn't take the diversion, they used what we now referred to as 'The naughty boy's path'.


Glen Turret 4 weeks after my first visit.

Because Stuart had found the Albacore crashsite it meant another visit to Glen Turret for me 4 weeks later, and with the promise of a breakfast from Mcdonalds on the drive up and fish and chips from Creiff after the walk I persuaded my daughter Heather to tag along.


The weather was a little better than my first visit here.

above and next three photos:-We avoided the temptation to use the much shorter naughty boys path and followed the diversion again.


A very scottishy looking thistle.


The hillside where the Walrus crashed.

As I'd found pieces of the Walrus on my first visit, this time we stayed on the landrover track all the way to the top of the hill and headed straight for the Albacore wreckage, and as I was now in possession of a more accurate grid reference thanks to Stuart, we found it straight away.


View from the path to Choinneachain Hill.

above and below:-Crashsite of Fairy Albacore N4167, there are several fragments lying in the peat scar in the foreground.

More wreckage photos.

I bribed Heather into searching for bits of Albacore by telling her I'd give her £5 for every piece she found that hadn't already been found by Stuart and Chloe, that cost me £20, then on the walk back to the car we went via the Walrus crashsite and I told her I'd give her another £20 if she managed to find the battery that the  people who recovered parts had left behind, hidden somewhere in the heather; despite a thorough search she didn't find it.


Heather searching for Albacore pieces.


Heather tried to claim £5 for finding this bit of Walrus that I missed on my 1st visit. She didn't get it because Stuart and Chloe found it when they were there.

After searching for the Walrus battery and any other bits I may have missed the first time I was up there, we found ourselves quite a way down the hillside, but as there was no sign of any Livestock or for that matter, erosion, we took a short cut and continued all the way down the Naughty Boys path to the lochside landrover track.