Topic: Chimney Rock & plane crash (Read 18891 times)

Mourneman · « **on:** June 20, 2012 »

Very enjoyable walk in the mournes yesterday,plan of action was to summitChimney Rock mountain & spend some time looking over for the WW2 bomber wreckage.Having parked the car at the Bloody bridge carpark we took the path that follows the river were we crosssed near the M.H.T newly build healh & safety bridge

1 by cue13, on Flickr

We had planned to summit Chimney Rock by frstly reaching the Donard ,Chimney Col then vear off across Chimneys Spur & down to the plane crash site,but the weather was clear & so we turned off & started to ascend Carr's face Face,walking along the now disused railway track.

2 by cue13, on Flickr

5 by cue13, on Flickr

Some very interesting pieces of machineryy still can be found with most parts of the huge winch which controlled the descend of the granite loads still in place,also along the rail you can see the iron cable used to control the carts.

4 by cue13, on Flickr

8 by cue13, on Flickr

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6 by cue13, on Flickr

Reaching Carr's face we scrambled around the rock face & onto the long spur that leads to the summit.

9 by cue13, on Flickr

Above Carr's face looking towards Donard.

After a quick map check we realised that the bomber crash site was located on Chimneys Southern slope facing Binnian & Annalong valley,& that we would be better trying to find it now rather that ascending chimney only to descend again back down looking for the plane.

11 by cue13, on Flickr

At this point we spotted a fellow hiker some 40 yards below us & we asked him if he knew anything about the bomber wreckage.

Not only did ,Chris know about the wreckage site but it was his website that i had be looking at the previous night,- http://www.chimneyrockb26crash.com/
the website that had inspired my search for the plane,serious folks what was the chance of that happening !Chris not only explained to us the full story surrounding the bombers last tragic journey,but he also gave us a full tour of the crash site,taking in all the pieces folks have no notion is even there.

12 by cue13, on Flickr

Chris & i look over the crash site

25 by cue13, on Flickr

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Armoured plate used to protect the pilot from bullets

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Chris on Chimney rock with Annalong valley behind

15 by cue13, on Flickr

Chris had a very wide knowledge of avioncics & also spoke of other crash sites throughout the Mournes,we were truly delighted to have met Chris & never could have expected to find someone so linked to story behind the fatal crash,chris also told us that he is hoping to guide a living relative of one of the bombers crew to the crash site later this year,having now spend so much time looking over the bomber remains we decided not to venture back towards the summit,but instead we contoured back down the mountainside towards bloody bridge,as we made our way down Lenny spotted a Irish mountain hare leaping across the valley floor in front of us,now reaching the river we watched a group bouldering.

It was one of those sort of walks you could never plan for,but one i'll remember for a long time,many thanks to Chris for his expert knowledge & stories

14 by cue13, on Flickr

Here's a link to some movie footage from today---

Panorama331 by anne1257, on Flickr

i've told Chris about ni-wild & invited him to join us

t18con · « **Reply #1 on:** June 20, 2012 »

have you done the lottery for tonight?

whoRya · « **Reply #2 on:** June 20, 2012 »

I wasn't sure what to expect when opening this thread. I feared like me you would have spent an hour bouncing through knee-high heather and finding sod all. Meeting the guy who set up the site, well thats the kind of luck that sees Ukrainian goals ruled out for no good reason.

Now we have our forum expert on the Chimney Rock crash site I'm sure I'll get a guided tour some time

I'll see it eventually.

Wolf_Larson · « **Reply #3 on:** June 20, 2012 »

Great pictures, thanks for the post.

RedLeader · « **Reply #4 on:** June 20, 2012 »

We had a great bivvy on Chimney Rock followed by a morning looking for the plane wreckage in 2010. As you can see below LandyLiam found the actual plane

You can see the pics here, it was a great trip that needs repeated...
http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1269.msg11529#msg11529

jimir · « **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2012 »

Hi Everyone
As John kindly suggested I have just joined NI Wild and I look forward to reading the posts on the forum.
I was glad I was able to help with information on the crash. I set up the website as a memorial to the crew and also to provide information for anyone on who is interested in learning more about them.
We had beautiful weather on Tuesday it only makes me wish I could get down more often.
Chris

Mourneman · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2012 »

Welcome to the Forum Jimir,look forward to joining you on some adventures

wee gaz · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2012 »

sounded like a cracking day out. so much history in the area. would love to do this trip

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Author Topic: Chimney Rock & plane crash (Read 18891 times)

Mourneman

Chimney Rock & plane crash

t18con

Re: Chimney Rock & plane crash

whoRya

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Wolf_Larson

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RedLeader

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jimir

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Mourneman

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wee gaz

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