Day of the Hinds.
Hawker Hind K6819 and
DH Vampire VV636 on
Bishop Hill.
(Distance covered = 5.0 miles/Ascent
= +464m)
Heather was at the last Championships of the year, The Kingdom of Fife Championships held in Glenrothes. I had planned on visiting the Ochill Hills but because of the weather I ended up going to Bishop Hill which was only 6 mile away.
The weather was atrocious as we drove over the Forth Road Bridge heading for Glenrothes, the sky was black and it was chucking it down. It was driving through this weather that made me think against going to the Ochills as I didn't have a grid ref for the two crashsites I planned on looking for, just the name of the hill where they crashed, so my slim chance of finding them would have been greatly reduced even further if I had been walking around in a cloud getting rained on. Therefore I decided to settle for a walk in the nearby Lomond Hills instead.
Heading up Bishop Hill, the weather over towards the Ochills still looking bad.
I
figured I would go and have another search around the crashsite of the
Hawker Hind on Bishop Hill, I had found pieces of it on a previous visit
but after looking on the internet when I returned home I found a photo of
the crash taken just after it happened and it was a lot higher up the
slope than the pieces I had found.
On my earlier visit I had inadvertantly taken a
photograph from almost the exact same spot as the photograph taken
immediately after the crash occurred, so that gave me an idea where to
have a look. A report I read also stated the Hind had hit a cliff face
then fallen back onto the slope below.
The first mile of the walk in I had the company of Diesel, a lovely
German Shepherd who reminded me very much of Kim, my German Shepherd
who used to accompany me on my first hiking trips back in the 1980's. I didn't
find out the name of Diesel's owner but when he turned back I kind of
hoped Diesel would abandon him to go with me.
After parting company with my new pal I headed off towards Bishop Hill
and took a rising traverse to reach the area
where I thought the Hind most probably crashed. I came across some pieces of
Aircraft wreckage quite a way from the other pieces I had found
on my first visit and quite a way higher up the hill.
At the time I thought these other pieces were from the Hawker Hind
but I have found out since that a De Havilland Vampire crashed just
north of the Hind near a rock outcrop know as Carlin Maggie, so these pieces are more likely to be from that.
Above and below:-I could find no numbers stamped on
these pieces which could of identified for certain which Aircraft they were from.
Finding these other pieces threw me off track a little as believing at
the time they also came from the Hind I deduced it must have crashed
somewhere between the two collections of wreckage so I searched that
area but found nothing else.
When I returned home and compared my photos to the one taken at the
time of the crash it would appear it was a little further south than
where I searched, just on the other side of the gully where the Hind
pieces lie.
above and below:-The Gliders were out in
force thanks to a fresh breeze blowing over Bishop Hill.
As it was a Championship at Glenrothes and Bishop Hill was only
a 6 mile drive then just a couple of mile to walk to reach these
crashsites, I had plenty of time left to dawdle and enjoy the now glorious
weather.
Although I wasn't planning on going back to Bishop Hill I was pleased
I did as it turned out to be a very enjoyable walk in some very
unexpected nice weather and I possibly found pieces from another crash. And to finish a nice day off there was some
brilliant results back at the Kingdom of Fife Championships where
Heather had finished tied runner up in her section and one of her
friends, Max Hind had won his pre-Championships which is a very big
accomplishment in the world of Highland Dancing.
Approaching the area of Bishop Hill where the Hind crashed.
Two cliff faces that may be the one
mentioned in the report.
Pieces
of Aircraft wreckage found on the way to the Hawker hind crashsite.
Pieces
possibly from the Vampire in the foreground, the Hind wreckage is
circled in the distance.
It definately looks like Carlins Maggie is flipping me the bird
!
I found the pieces, possibly from the Vampire, halfway up the ridge in the centre of the photo.
These sheep appeared to have been rained on
once too often and had gone rusty.
Still raining over to the west.
The Winter Sun beating down on Bishop Hill
Back into Glen Glen or Glen Vale to give it it's proper name.
Back at the carpark; if your planning on going hillwalking and would like some nice weather;
go the same day as me!.
Where I'd just been, taken from the road back to Glenrothes.
Vampire pieces to the left and Hind pieces to the right, the
estimated location of the Hind crash is is at the
top and slightly to the right of the gully where the Hind
pieces lie
Left to right standing:-Jake Hind, Max Hind, Ben Nichol and Heather, lying in front is Jake and Max's
very proud Mam, Angela Hind. Ben's sister also won her pre-championships at Glenrothes.
