Captain's Log

Early Start

I slept well on my first wildcamp of the year. I did wake up a couple of times during the night since the wind made the tent rattle a bit. Curious how I sleep better when camping than I do at home in bed. Maybe I should camp in my garden. Daylight woke me up early, but I was too late to witness any sunrise. It was quite cold and so I didn’t hang about getting my walking gear on. The stiff breeze was still blowing as I got out of my tent. I was ready for take-off by 07:30.

This was the second day on my Mini Venture exploration of Kinder Scout. I’d camped on Kinder Scout’s northern edge, above Blackden Moor. Today I’d head westwards along the northern edge of the plateau, only branching away at Upper Red Brook, where I’d hop across to the western edge of the plateau, whilst calling in at its northern trig on the way. From there I’d follow the Pennine Way off the plateau and climb up to Mill Hill. There would then be a flattish section to Burnt Hill, before I dropped down to the A624 Glossop road. I’d then head southwards to where I’d parked my car at Hayfield. 

Kinder North

As might be expected for such an early hour, I had Kinder Scout to myself initially. The northern section of the plateau has a wonderful array of large rocks to entertain you as you walk along. At one of them, someone had improvised a stone wall against its overhang. There was a small bivi area underneath. It wasn’t one I’d particularly like to use with the huge mass of a boulder hovering above me. It didn’t look that weathertight either. Further along I came across my favourite boulder on Kinder Scout. It is a massive thing in the shape of a tortoise, or maybe a turtle. There even seems to be an eye on one side of the head. Far below, in the Ashop Valley, I could see another walker. It appeared that I wasn’t the only person alive on earth. At Upper Red Brook, I followed a vague track into the plateau. This led me to the trig point at Kinder Scout’s north western end. It had been years since I’d visited it and I felt a little nostalgic getting reacquainted. The old trig lay at the foot of the plinth of the current trig. Presumably it had toppled over at some point and became damaged. I continued southwards, crossed a wire fence,  and suddenly the western side of the plateau became visible. I dropped down through the heather and met the western edge path. I heard voices and four other walkers approached me from the direction of Kinder Downfall. I set off ahead of them, but with my heavier pack I was no match, and they soon passed me. As I descended down the stone steps at the northwestern tip of the plateau I had to make way for walkers climbing up. The world seemed very busy again. 

At the bottom of the steps, I crossed the col and completed an easy climb up to Mill Hill. Somebody had built an impressive cairn on the top of the stone Pennine Way marker. I tried to add my own small stone to its top, but without success. At least I didn’t knock it all over. I continued westwards on a road of flagstones. I’d been along here at the end of January (see Icy Day At Harry Hut And Kinder) on an out-and-back from Mill Hill to the Harry Hut hill. As might be expected from the title, the moors had had a coating of snow on that occasion, and the flagstones were so icy that I’d had to walk on the moor instead. I’d wanted to visit the crash site of Liberator B-24J 42-52003 too and despite passing the location twice on the out-and-back, I hadn’t spotted the wreckage. I can only think that snow had drifted over the wreckage since the site was so obvious today. There was quite a bit of wreckage too with parts of the fuselage scattered about and even an engine. 

Liberator B–24J 42-52003 

Liberator B-24J 42-52003 crashed on Mill Hill on the 11th of October 1944. It was a brand new bomber being delivered from the American maintenance base at Frecklington in Lancashire to Hardwick near Norwich. It was thick fog when they set off from Frecklington, but the powers that be deemed that it was okay to fly. Sergeant Jerry Najvar and Lieutenant Creighton Haopt were the crew. Haopt flew the plane and didn’t get off to a good start when he ran over some runway lights on take-off and it took three attempts for him to actually get airborne. Once they had gained some height, Najvar went back from the cockpit to see if there had been any wing damage. On his return he noticed that the altimeter was only showing 1,500 feet. Najvar stuck up his thumb as an indication for Haopt to ascend, but it looks like Haopt received this as an ‘everything is okay’ sign. The consequence was that the plane slammed into Mill Hill. Both Haopt and Najvar survived the crash, but were severely injured. 

Burnt Hill

I have to confess that the section from Mill Hill to Burnt Hill felt a little tedious. The flagstones didn’t really present much of a walking challenge. I met plenty of walkers coming the other way since it does provide a direct route from the A624 to Kinder Scout. The day was becoming very hot now and Burnt Hill seemed quite an apt name. Once I’d reached the road, I headed southwards on a footpath that ran parallel to it. Despite the distraction of the noise from the road, the track offered good views across the valley to Lantern Pike, a pretty Ethel. The track undulated rather than followed the contour of the hillside and then it started drifting away from the road. At last, when I was to the west of Knott, the track flattened out a bit and walking became easier. I noticed there were quite a few midges about. This didn’t bode well for my walk along the West Highland Way and Great Glen Way later this month. 

Return

Near to the shooting cabin on Middle Moor, I turned right on to the Snake Path towards Hayfield. This was a footpath created in 1897 by the newly formed Peak and Northern Footpath Society. I’d later see a plaque in Hayfield at the start of the footpath, to commemorate this. Nearby, I would also see another plaque commemorating the arrest of the leading members of the Kinder Mass Trespass on the 24th of April, 1932. The plaque stated that they served prison sentences of up to six months for their part in the campaign. There were some very pretty views over Hayfield as the footpath dropped down to the village. Open fell became fields, before a farm track delivered me on to the Kinder Road. From here it was just a short plod along the road, away from the village, to where I’d parked my car.    

It had been a lovely walk. The northern edge of the Kinder Scout plateau is always an impressive place to walk. I’m glad that I at last got to see the wreckage of Liberator B-24J 42-52003 and I’d be able to scratch another one off the list on my Dark Peak Aircraft Crash Sites venture list. The route from Burnt Hill to Hayfield was very pleasant with good views across the valley. I’d enjoyed my first Mini Venture of the year.