The exact cause of the crash has never been established. However much of the UK was shrouded in cloud when Over Exposed left Scampton on a routine supply run to collect mail and pay from the much larger airbase at Burtonwood. The cloud base was below the 2,000ft summit of Bleaklow, meaning the flight would be conducted on instruments. Its hard to comprehend how difficult and challenging this could be in the digital age. Reading off analogue instruments, carrying out complex navigational calculations, without the luxury of computers in the cockpit. Over Exposed was flying into a strong head-wind and appears to have begun its final descent too soon. Whether due to instrument or pilot error will never be known. Mercifully the crew probably never knew what hit them and died on impact.
The site is accessible from the Snake Pass (A57) and sixty-six years after the crash a substantial amount of wreckage still remains. A memorial stone was erected in memory of the crew on the 40th anniversary of the crash and, weather permitting, come Remembrance Sunday people come here to show their respects and leave poppy's.
Beaklow itself is a wild and magical place, with a rich folklore all of its own. It and neighbour Kinder Scout mark the start of the Pennine Way. A nineteen day, 268 mile long, odyssey along the backbone of England. A walk I hope to undertake one day. It's the first high ground weather systems coming in off the Atlantic hit, meaning its usually cold, wet and cloudy. The summit is covered in wet boggy peat, over eight feet deep in places. But on the rare occasions the weather clears the views can be spectacular and the crash site provides a moving focus for a circular walk. At least that's what I've been told having never been there. So when a clear day beckoned on the last day of August I decided to tick it off my bucket list, but things didn't quite go as planned.
Pulling up on the lay-by at the Snake Pass I realised I'd left my mobile/camera at home. So all I'd have of the day was my memories and no way of calling for help other than my whistle, if I needed it, not that I ever have. Setting off along the Pennine Way, where the boggiest sections had been paved and in places the path seemed to merge seamlessly with the streams running though the groughs (natural fissures cut into the peat by water), I was soon engulfed in the magic of Bleaklow.
Bleaklow Head where I parted company with the Pennine Way is reputedly the most haunted place in the Peak District. Its claimed to be haunted by the spirits of an entire Roman legion that vanished here without trace. Some claim they were ambushed by a local British tribe, murdered, and buried in the bog where their bodies remain to this day. A faint path leads the Wain Stones. Where two boulders bear more than a passing resemblance to two heads frozen in the act of kissing. An even fainter path then leads on to the Hern Stones. Which resemble nothing that I could discern. Then the path disappears and you strike out on a compass bearing towards Higher Shelf Stones, to encounter the crash site from which a path leads back to the Pennine way. It was here the walk got really interesting.
The ground between the Hern and Higher Shelf stones is rough, broken and boggy, making following a straight line difficult to say the least. I fear I may have drifted from my bearing negotiating some of these obstacles. Encountering a particularly boggy patch of peat I edged gingerly forward, testing the ground with my walking poles as I went. It seemed solid enough so I put my best foot forward, only to find myself suddenly immersed up to my waist in a bog.
The important thing in situations like these is not to panic and thrash about. Because you don't know how deep the bog is and the more you struggle the quicker you sink. As it was a solo walk I couldn't call on a colleague to grab my walking poles and pull me free. I was either going to have to extract myself or call for help. Fortunately I could see solid ground in front of me, on which I placed my poles. The next thing was to lighten my load. So I lifted my rucksack over my head and placed that beside my poles, ensuring I could reach my emergency whistle if needed. Next I leaned forward and used my arms to anchor myself on the edge of the bog. A bog can be up ninety-five percent water, so you treat it like a swimming pool. Spreading yourself and your weight over as large an area as possible to maximise buoyancy and hopefully reduce the rate at which you sink into it. The next step is focus on freeing one limb, even if in means the other going in a bit deeper to do so. My right leg seemed to be slightly freer than my left, so slowly and deliberately I put all my effort into pulling it up onto solid ground. That done it was simply a matter pulling my left leg out.
The suction was terrific, the bog wasn't letting me go without a fight. Perhaps I had a helping hand from the spirit of one of those Roman legionaries? I am part Italian after all. The other thing that struck me was how cold it was. Had I not been able to free myself at the first attempt I was going waste no time blowing that whistle. I experienced the early stages of hypothermia many years ago on a wet weekend in Wales. Its not something I want to repeat.
The rest of the walk past off without incident. I couldn't spend as long as I wanted at the crash site, as the priority was to get back to the car and into dry clothes. I never go walking without a keeping a change of clothes in the car, having perfected the art of changing 'discretely' at the roadside.
The one thing that really sticks in my mind is not the official memorial, but a plain, weathered, wooden cross planted amid the wreckage. No story, no explanation, just a simple, poignant, statement of remembrance. I hope to return with my camera, perhaps by a different route, after Remembrance Sunday to pay my respects properly and bring back some photos.
I also have some rich reference material in the above, which I hope in one form or another will make it into my writing. Talking of which a thoroughly revised and less grammatically offensive version of Rebels will be coming to smashwords in the next week or so.