Deliverance
Hawker
Hurricane AG680 in Great Sled Dale..
(Distance covered = 6.2
miles/Ascent = 337metres)
The 2nd day of my very 'mini' walking holiday in the 2024 summer break. The day before I had visited two crashsites on a hill called Whernside and had returned to the car absolutely soaked to the bone; on this day I woke up to clear blue skies and sunshine.
My plan for day two was to visit 4 sites in the area around Great Shunner Fell. Starting off by parking on the B6270 to the north of the Fell I was going to walk up Little Sled Dale then around and over to Great Shunner Fell then north to make an approximately 12mile circular walk, which included several diversions along the way to the four crashsites.
Lovely morning to start a 12 mile walk around those fells.
Great Shunner Fell off in the distance.
The first thing I had to do after parking the car was walk downhill as the B6270 was halfway up the side of a hill on the opposite side of a deep valley from where I needed to be. After crossing that initial gully it was a nice pleasant stroll along a good landrover track and as the weather was glorious I was optimistic about having a very enjoyable day of walking; that optimism was soon to take a battering!
Above and below:- descending into the Birkdale Beck Valley.
above and below:-View back up to where I parked the Shitroen.
Lovely bit of walking in the early morning sunshine.
The first crashsite I was hoping to visit is over the other side of that ridge.
After about 3/4s of a mile the landrover track descended slightly into a little valley containing some shooting butts, once I entered this small valley my early optimism and my enjoyment of the early morning sunshine and fresh air was destroyed by an onslaught of midges. Usually by walking briskly enough you can outpace the little bastards but for some reason here, they were keeping up with me.
Above and below:- Stopping to take these photos made me realise what was going on with the midges.
It wasn't until I stopped to take a couple of photos that I figured out how the midges here were able to keep up with me; there was a slight breeze blowing in the same direction as I was walking, so describing it in aeronautical terminology, although my groundspeed should have been enough to outrun the little shits my airspeed was actually zero, allowing them to keep up. Because of this every time I tried to walk up the dale I was enveloped in a thick swarm of them, it was so bad I was struggling to breath without swallowing a load of them. When I stopped walking they disappeared, this though made for very slow progress and I nearly gave up and turned back on several occasions . It wasn't until I reached the end of the landrover track up Little Sled Dale and had to change direction towards Great Sled Dale that I got some respite as I wasn't then walking with the breeze.
I started walking at 90 degrees to the breeze here and
consequently was left alone by the midge..
I can honestly say that my walk up Little Sled Dale in the Northern pennines was the worst experience I've ever had with midges, and that is some feat considering how bad they were in Rackwick Bay on Hoy*. The next day every bit of my skin that had been exposed was covered in little bumps from all the bites, and I had been wearing shorts!
Over the over side of the previously mentioned ridge and nearing the Hurricane crashsite.
While walking across to the Hurricane site from the landrover track I spotted someone else a little further down the slope, it was a man just wearing shorts and trainers, no shirt; he was running across the fellside in the same direction as me and he was carrying something. I at first thought it was someone else heading to the crashsite and running to avoid my fate with the midge, perhaps he was carrying a metal detector but 5 minutes later I spotted him running back across in the opposite direction but this time above me. He then changed direction and came directly towards me and it was then I realised the metal detector was actually a shotgun!
It was at this point that I started thinking that maybe's the midge were the least of my problems and perhaps I was about to encounter a redneck akin to the ones in the film 'Deliverance'. Turns out it was a friendly gamekeeper who was out checking the weasel traps and had simply come down to have a chat. He was into fell running so instead of using a quad to cover the area, he ran for training. Wish I could cover the ground even half as quick as he could!!
The Gamekeeper came running down here to have a chat, I think he covered 500 metres for every 50 metres I covered.
I was going to ask him if I could get a photo of him holding his shotgun,
which would have been put here ; but I didn't want him to think I was a
weirdo, so this one will have to do!
above and below:- Homing in on the 10 digit grid reference I had.
When I arrived in the area of the first crash site on my days itinerary the midge problem had regained it's status quo, as in, if I kept moving they couldn't get me but if I stopped I was soon surrounded by them; although it was nowhere near as bad here as it was earlier on the landrover track.
The 10 digit grid reference I had was about 200 metres out and the crashsite was actually over in that area.
At the point where, according to my grid reference I should have found the Hurricane remains; it wasn't there.
Because the grid reference I had was about 200 metres out and the wreckage was well hidden in a depression it took me a lot longer than I expected to find it, if you add that to the numerous delays I had experience in Little Sled Dale thanks to doing battle with the midge it meant I was now a long way behind schedule.
above and next four photos:-Searching for AG680 in Great Sled Dale.
After eventually finding and photographing the remaining wreckage and paying my respects I found a spot further up the moor where there was just enough of a breeze to keep the tiny blood sucking insects away. I sat there for quite a while having some refreshments and surveying the terrain I needed to negotiate to continue my planned walk; after much deliberation I decided to call it a day and head back the way I came.
Final resting place of Hawker Hurricane AG680 in Great Sled Dale.
Another factor I considered in making the decision to cut my planned walk short was because I was feeling a bit exhausted. I put it down to the struggle I had on the way up with the midge and the quite difficult terrain I encountered on the traverse from Little Sled Dale to Great Sled Dale but following a trip to the Doctors later in the week and several blood tests I found out I was suffering from Type 2 Diabetes, severe sleep apnea and High Cholesterol, all of which would better explain my tiredness. I've been wanting to loose weight for quite a while; now I have incentive!
Back in Little Sled Dale.
Thankfully I was able to enjoy the walk back to the car without being molested by anything flying, in fact the only thing I saw flying was a couple of RAF Typhoons that were screaming around the valleys, as is always the case however they didn't venture into the valley I was in so I could get a decent photo.
above and below:-Typhoons off in the distance, at least I was quick enough to at least get a crappy photo of them this time **
above and below:-Same photo as on the way out, but this time I wasn't being eaten alive by midge when I took it.
Above and next 17 photos:- Photos taken on a much more enjoyable and leisurely walk back to the Shitroen.
