Warm up
Avro Anson K6320 nr Whittliemuir Dam.
(Distance covered = 1.7 mile/Ascent =+15m)
Republic P-47
Thunderbolt 42-75606
nr Hartfield Farm
(Distance covered = 0.4 mile/Ascent =+4m)
It wasn't a competition on this day just a dance practice in Newton Mearns for Heather, in preparation for her trip to a competition in Disneyland Paris later in the year.
The practice was going to last about 4 hours so as I didn't fancy just sitting around waiting I decided to pop over the other side of the M73 and check out two crashsites I'd heard about over that way.
Parked up just east of Hartfield Farm.
It was only about a 1.5 mile walk there and back which meant I could take my time and enjoy the sunshine. I figured this would also be a good warm up for the 18+ miles I was planning on doing in the Northern Peninnes the following day.
Nice country lane to start off with albeit a bit boggy.
To reach the crashsite I had to first cross two fields, the first one just contained Sheep; I don't mind sheep they just give you a hacky look then scarper if you get too close. The second field however contained lots of sheep and cows; cows are a different kettle of fish to sheep, some cows run away, some ignore you and some chase you, so as I entered their field I wondered what this lot would do!
Across the second field.
Walking across the second field, most of the critters either ignored me or moved out of the way apart from one cow which was standing right on my line of travel and seemed quite determined that it was not going to budge an inch. After being married for almost 25 years I have had plenty of experience of dealing with stubborn cows*, so I conceded and altered course to walk around it. The cow then implemented the favourite tactic of bovines and tried to sneak around behind me so it could chase me without beeing seen.
Mavis
the stubborn cow
Trying to get behind me with a definate "I'm going to have you" expression.
After being ushered out of her field by Mavis the next obstacle I had to overcome was a wide very boggy area. There used to be a reservoir here, although it is now drained it was still fairly obvious where it had been as it was very flat and too wet to walk over, so a small diversion to the east was necessary to find a suitable place to cross.
Flat wet area where the reservoir used to be.
Once over the wet bit it was a short walk through the heather to the west to reach the crashsite, which was a little tricky to locate as there is very little left and it is well concealed by the heather.
Across the heather, the crashsite is just
beyond the large bush at the far end of the heather at the left of the
photo .
Two small scars containing fragment of the Anson.
above and below:-Close ups of the two scars.
above and next 6 photos:-Some of the small pieces in the scars.
As well as collecting a list of crashsites I have visited anyone who has read my other reports may have noticed I also have a little sideline of Waterfalls, abandoned Tractors and missed photo opportunities, today I added another one to the latter list.
If I'd been a little bit quicker there would have been a C130 flying slow and low in the background of this photo.
The scar at the bottom contains remains of the Anson.
Had to settle for a RyanAir 737, just out of Renfrew.
View back across to the Anson crashsite(red
arrow) from Mavis's field.
As well as Mavis and her cow pals this field also appeared to contain sheep, goats, Llamas,
Alpacas and Kangaroos
and I'm sure there would be Rabbits and the odd wild Haggis in there as
well!
Back down the Country lane.
Not far from where the Anson crashed is Hartfield Farm, there is a tree lined road that leads up to the farm and about halfway up this is the crashsite of a P47 Thunderbolt.
Hartfield Farm is on the right, the P47 hit the trees in the centre of the photo.
As the report I'd read about this crash described it as being on the farm access road I figured it must be on the farm property. I wasn't planning on going to look for it because I don't like going into farmyards but as I passed the farm and drove down the narrow tree lined road back towards the main road I spotted the memorial sitting right next to the road, in the obvious gap in the trees which was caused by the crash.
The memorial is about halfway up this road on the left.
Above and below:-The memorial which has been place where the P47 hit the trees.
I was in two mind whether or not to count this one on my 'crashsites visited' list as it was just feet from the road and couldn't by any stretch of the imagination be described as being on a hill. My own rules however state that to count a crashsite on the previously mentioned list I have to find a piece of the aircraft or a memorial in situ, i.e. at the location the crash occurred. In the past several crashsites I have visited have been relegated to my 'Failures' list because, despite being 100% sure I was at the right spot I have abided by my rules. Therefore, as this one has a memorial and because the memorial is at the location of the crash, it counts!
*--Of course I was joking here, my wife is not a cow!