EoA.
Junkers JU-188 A6+HH on Bracken Nois and
Airspeed Oxford N4735 in Glen
Latterach.
(Distance covered = 12.0 mile/Ascent =+420m)
Supermarine Seafire SW826 in
Glen Latterach.
(Distance covered =
3.0 mile/Ascent =+142m)
(Distance covered = 3.0 mile/Ascent =+142m)
Day 3 of my 2020 walking holiday in Scotland, aka CC20. So far on CC20 I had added 2 new crashsites to my 'found' list and one to my 'ftf' list; on day 3 I was hoping to add three more to the former, one of which was also a new type.
I had originally planned to incorporate all three crashsites I was going to visit on this day into one large circular walk. After a bit of consideration we came to an executive decision to split them, going to the first two with the aid of mountain bikes, then moving the cars a short distance to enable us to walk into the third one.
A very handy carpark just above Bardonside,
the start of part one of our day's activities.
Sometimes finding somewhere to park the cars can prove troublesome but that wasn't the case today as there was a very conveniant carpark adjacent too the start of the forest above Bardonside. From there we would be able to cycle along forest tracks for most of the way to reach our first two targets.
Left here for the JU-188, right for the Oxford.
The track to the left, heading east into the woods towards Bracken Nois.
Chris, our Inverness Amigo, had been to these three sites quite recently so he had given us some tips on the best way to reach them. He had described to us a forest track through the woods to Bracken Nois that was not marked on the map, he described it as "a good track", so we set off cycling along his route.
Following Chris's unmarked track into the woods.
We did at one point come to a bit of an impass and wondered if Chris's description of a good track may only have been accurate if you'd been walking, or more likely perhaps we had made a wrong turn. After a bit of a backtrack we again found ourselves on a 'good track', so it would seem the latter theory was correct.
Heading into some dense woodland and about to encounter a dead end for the bikes.
above and below:-Back on track and approaching Bracken Nois.
Once we eventually reached the end of the correct forest track we only had a very short distance to walk to find ourselves on Bracken Nois, where there were a few fragments of the JU-188 to be found lying in a small scar on the hillside.
Arriving on Bracken Nois.
The area where Ju-188 A6+HH crashed.
above and below:-Fragments of Ju-188.
To reach our next objective we had to cycle almost all the way back to the carpark before taking another track which headed south towards a windfarm and a hill called 'Pikey Hill'; where we would search for the remains of Airspeed Oxford N4735.
above and below:-On Pikey Hill, with Rothes Wind Farm on the other side of the Glen.
Stuart examining the remains of the Oxford.
As well as finding quite a lot of Oxford wreckage at this site we also found what we refer to generically as 'Evidence of Arsehole' or if you like an acronym 'EoA'. The exception to that terminolology however would be if it had been left by the recovery crew at the time of the crash, but being made of wood and steel I think perhaps it would have been in a lot poorer condition if it had been lying there for that long.
'EoA'.
After photographing the remains of the Oxford we had to backtrack again but this time all the way back to the carpark, as we were going to relocate the cars to make reaching the third crashsite of the day a little bit easier.
above and below:-Cycling back to the carpark at Bardonside.
We moved the cars to the Waterworks just north of Glenlatterach Resevoir and from there it was a comparitavly short but pleasant walk down a country lane to reach the dam at the northern end of the reservoir. Once across that there was very little distance left to reach our third oblective of day three.
A nice stroll down a country lane with more views of Rothes Wind Farm.
Above and below:-Crossing the Dam.
View south across the reservoir with Rothes Wind Farm in the distance.
Stuart and Chloe arriving at the final resting place of Supermarine Seafire SW826.
