Out & About Introduction.
The new "Out and About" section of this blog is going to be dedicated to interesting places in and around the North west of England. The idea really is to document recent places I have visited and offer a brief potted history and perhaps inspire others to get out there and see for themselves.
The first 'Out and About' entry features a hill top scramble to find the fascinating crash site of an Ill fated American B-29 heavy bomber which crash landed some 70 years ago and still lies in pieces atop a bleak moor in Derbyshire.....
Boeing B-29 Superfortress 'Over Exposed' Crash Site.
RB-29 Recon USAF
The same B-29 'Over Exposed' in action
Tragedy on the Moors 1948
On the morning of November 3rd 1948 an american recon superfortress took off from RAF Scampton in lincolnshire on a routine flight across England to the USAF base at Burtonwood near Warrington, Cheshire. Carrying a total of 10 crew members and 3 passengers (plus the wages for the base) the B-29 never made the short 86 mile journey across the Pennine hills subsequently raising the alarm when it failed to land in Warrington. Rescue teams were alerted and later that morning the burning carcass of the bomber was spotted high up on the moors at a spot called high shelf stones.
By chance an RAF mountain rescue team were on manouvers a few miles away and went to assist the emergency only to find that all on board had sadly perished in the fire.
Photograph of the wreckage taken by mountain rescue 1948
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress 'Over Exposed'
As the nick name suggests this bomber was in fact an photographic and recon aircraft once used in the gathering of information of early american Atom bomb tests over the atols of the pacific.
It would be a B-29 such as this that would go on to flatten the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima with nuclear bombs in 1945 - the famous B-29 'Enola Gay'
B29 Stats
Wing Span: 141 feet
Length: 99 feet
Height: 29 feet
Speed: 400Mph
Engines: 4 x Wright R-3350s
Power: 2200 Hp per engine
Max gross weight: 141,100 lbs
The Boeing B-29 was a huge 4 engined heavy bomber !
Where is it?
Location: Higher shelf stones, Bleaklow, Derbyshire, England
Coordinates: N53°27.039 W001°51.904
Altitude: 1976 feet asl
Ordnance Survey map: OL1 - The dark peak (peak district)
Nearest Town: Glossop
Nearest parking: lay-by A57 Snake pass near Glossop
Terrain: Peat moorland/Cloughs/Dykes/marshy in places.
'X' marks the spot
*The photo above shows a crude route to the crash site marked on my map. Starting at the bottom (the circle) follow the arrows along the Pennine way trail then take a left off the path, over the rough moorland and acend to the X marker
1. After Taking the A57 'Snake pass' road out of the town of Glossop the road began to rise steadily for a few miles until eventually the road levelled out with large open spaces to both sides of the road. Along the left hand side of the road began evidence of a rough looking lay-by of sorts which is perhaps the best place to park.
Section of the Pennine way trail
2. Adjacent to a small pool on the left side of the road is a wooden sign post indicating the Pennine Way trail. Walking north along the trail (away from the road) the path is a mixture of rough stones and paving slabs. Easy to navigate unless it has been snowing. Looking to the east the rising peak of high shelf stones can be seen. This is the place to head for.
3. The next step would be to leave the Pennine Way and head across the moorland and ascend the mount to the left but finding a suitable place to do a left hand turn would prove to be difficult.
Apparently there is a trail across the moorland but this was never found.
Instead the left turn was made when the hill was along side and the sides of the trail were low enough to climb over. This is perhaps not the best strategy but it worked.
Triangulation point on the summit
5. The easiest way to find the crash site is to find the trig point first. It isn't that hard to find once at the top of the hill. Some really breath taking views can be observed from here.
The crash site is only about 100-200 feet from the summit but it isn't visible.
Scene of devistation
4. From the trig point the crash site is North east down the slope, over a few peat gulleys and the crash will become visible. It covers quite an area!
5. The return journey is much easier to navigate due to the view point from the hill. A light patch of undergrowth can be seen running down the hill and across the moor back to where it meets the Pennine way again. Its not as complicated as it sounds.
on a clear day its easy to see the cars parked by the road side in the distance so heading west then south down the trail again always leads back to the car. (not so useful in bad visibility)
Tangled, mangled remains from the past...
Wheel stantion
one of the four huge propellor engines
Remains of a tyre
The Memorial stone and plaque
Memorial plaque
USAF personnel lost
Captain Landon P. Tanner (pilot)
Captain Harry Stroud (co-pilot)
Technical Sergeant Ralph Fields (Chief engineer)
Sergeant Charles Willbanks (navigator)
Staff Sergeant Gene A. Gartner (radio operator)
David D. Moore (radio operator)
Technical Sergeant Saul R. Banks (camera op)
Sergeant Donald R. Abrogast (camera op)
Sergeant Robert R. Doyle (camera op)
Private first class William M. Burrows (camera op)
Captain Howard Keel (technical advisor)
Corporal M. Franssen (passenger)
Corporal George Ingram (passenger)
R.I.P.
Rememberance day poppies festoon the site
Final thoughts
Taking a walk to the top of high shelf stones is both invigorating and emotional. On one hand the complete feeling of peace and being at one with nature and on the other saddened and respectful as you walk through the remaining wreckage of the B-29. It's difficult to put into words.
A highly recommended walk for the reasonably fit.