Everywhere but there!
DH Mosquito
HJ923 nr Greenhill.
(Distance covered = 1.6miles/Ascent =
75 metres)
I'd been to search for this crashsite three times already before eventually finding it on the fourth visit, twice by myself and once with some members of ACIA. All three visits had been FTF's. I only found it on my fourth visit because the members of ACIA had also been back a week or so earlier and they had found it, and given me a 10 digit grid reference.
Amanda the Panda, parked up beside
Greenhill Farm, it's possible to drive another mile down the road past here,
but parking further on is very limited.
The first attempt I had at finding this crashsite I went at probably the worst possible time of the year, as the hillside I searched was covered in waist high bracken. It transpired I was actually searching along the correct bit of hillside where the crashsite is located but, because of the bracken, I'd given up about 100m short of where it's located.
Greenhill Farm.
On my second attempt at finding this crashsite I'd arranged to meet up with a couple of members of ACIA*. They had a copy of the accident report which described the site as being on a 'particularly steep part of the hillside', this along with other snippets of information suggested the site may be located on a hill to the east of Greenhills Farm called Blackbrough Hill.
above and next 2 photos:-Climbing up onto Big Law, Blackbrough Hill is the steep one over to the right.
View from Big Law down to Heatherhope Reservoir.
Thought I'd found something here but it was
just a broken Belfast Sink, probably put there by the farmer for his
livestock to drink out of.
I'd arranged to meet Jim and Kenny from ACIA at Greenhill Farm, but because I was there very early I headed up into the hills and had a bit search around the neighbouring hill. I had a nice long sit down and some breakfast on top of a small hillock called Scowther Knowe and waited there for Jim and Kenny to catch me up then we spent the whole day searching Blackbrough Hill and its surroundings.
Sitting on top of Scowther Knowe waiting for Jim and Kenny
from ACIA to catch me up.
While we were searching near the top of the hill a walker stopped to ask what we were doing, he also thought the Mosquito had crashed on this hill, near the hillfort that was on the summit. Despite high hopes and a lengthy search however we found nothing.
Above and below:-As I approached these two, the first thing I could see was their horns, which for a fleeting second I thought were bits of wreckage sticking up out of the ground.
After our FTF on Blackbrough Hill Jim did a bit of detective work and tracked down and old Farmer who used to live in the valley at the time of the crash, he gave him some more clues which suggested the crashsite was on the hillside I first searched albeit a little bit further along the valley.
Setting off for search number 3, this time all on my lonesome again..
This time I had parked in the next valley
over to the west, at Swanlaws, just to make the walk in a bit different and
a bit longer.
Walking up the track above Swanlaws Farm I noticed the Farmer scootling up an adjacent field on his quad, I quickened my pace a bit to see if I could intercept him, to ask if he knew of the crash or if he'd ever come across any bits of metal (or wood in the case of a Mosquito) while he was out and about on the Hills. I needn't of bothered quickening my pace because the Farmer was scootling up the field to intercept me, as he wanted to know where I was heading because he was concerned that I might get too close to his cattle, some of which had young calves; whether he was concerned about my welfare or the cows welfare I failed to establish.
Continuing on my way over the hill and down the other side.
Back in the Yett valley.
Above and below:-Searching for Mosquito remains 'take 3'.
While I had come very close to finding this site on my first visit, I
came even closer on my third attempt; In fact at one point I was
standing less than 10 metres from it. I searched the same hillside as
on my first attempt, only this time I had worked my way along from the
south. After reaching the area where I'd given up the first time
around it
was quite late in the day and I was a bit chowed off with my lack of
success, so I decided to call it a day. There was one small area that I
hadn't searched, but as it could be in no way described as steep never
mind particularly steep as mentioned in the accident report, I just had
a quick look over it from the ridge above. Of course as it turned out
that small area is where the crashsite was eventually found by ACIA.
What I was looking for was just over the other side of the small knoll on the left. I stood on top of that to have a quick look over the other side but failed to spot the crashsite as there was nothing immediately visible on the surface.
Blackbrough Hill taken from Little Humblemoor
Stopped off at another crashsite on the way home from 'Find the Yett Mozzie' part 3; although as the memorial states "near this spot" I haven't added this one to my crashsites found list.
If someone had tasked me to go and search every bit of that Hillside where a Mosquito didn't crash, then I don't think I could of done a better job of it than I did. At least on my fourth visit to the valley I was kind of guaranteed to find something thanks to the ACIA members, who had also told where they'd buried all the bits they'd found under a sod of earth.
above and below:- Back in the Yett
Valley for attempt number 4 of finding remains of DH Mosquito HJ923.
Approaching the small bump from the other side, this photo is taken roughly from where I searched up to on my first visit here.
Above and below:-These photos of the crater at the crashsite better demonstrate how close I was on my third visit, as I stood on top of that bump in the background to have a quick check of this side of the knoll. The amount of dead bracken also suggests that if I'd continued that other 100m along the hillside on my first visit then I probably still wouldn't have found it, as the bracken at the time would not have been dead!
More Wreckage photos.
*--ACIA = Air Crash Aviation & Archaeology, https://acia.co.uk