My human was allowed some time off work recently so we decided to go for a wild camp on Broad Flats near Malham in the Yorkshire Dales.
We also took a trip over the border into Lancashire to summit Pendle Hill (famous for the Pendle Witches). At the start of the hike there was a small memorial stone to two airmen who died in the 1940s after crashing; one on Pendle Hill and the other near Gisburn. The photos from the hike are in the Hiking section.
On 6 February 1944, five American P-47 Thunderbolts were flying from East Wretham in Norfolk, to Warton near Preston having taken off despite being advised of bad weather over Lancashire. Two pilots, Captain Charles Francis (Flight leader) and Flight Officer John Runnells (aged 22) were killed. Capt. Francis’ Thunderbolt crashed on approach to Warton, while FO Runnells crashed on Pendle Hill. He was believed to have run out of fuel while circling in the hope of getting a break in the cloud to enable him to obtain visual fix of his location.
Flight Sgt J. L. Goulter was flying a Boulton Paul Defiant which crashed on 24 October 1942 near Gisburn.
We also came across a memorial plaque on a cairn in remembrance of two members of the Clayton Harriers running club, Judith Taylor and Alan Heywood, both of whom died in 1994 in separate but equally tragic circumstances.