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I always fancied climbing Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean from Craig but didn't have a precise idea of the route, not until I read a chapter from "Hell on high ground" regarding a plane that crashed into one of the corries of this Corbett. According to available sources, there is next to nothing left at the crash site (a few tiny pieces, hard to locate) but I was touched by the story surrounding the accident so much that I really wanted to just visit the spot of the tragic demise of another Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. Plus trying an usual route up the demoted Munro was a nice bonus.
The idea was to climb Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean from the south using the old stalkers path and descending via Am Fliuch-choire. We didn't plan to add Moruisg as the summit of the Munro lies in an inconvenient position for this circular, so we left it out for another day (we'd love to do the full round of all Moruisg tops at some point). The descent is quite steep so I wouldn't recommend it in wet weather/winter conditions but on a dry sunny day it didn't present much of a challenge.
The infamous car park in Craig, where midges take no hostages:
The last remnants of the morning mist, today it burned off much earlier. Forecast was for a very hot, sunny day, so we took extra water, as we couldn't be sure if we'd come across any usable streams.
Fuar Tholl and Sgorr Ruadh from the track above Craig:
This is the usual approach for Maoille Lunndaidh and we were overtaken by several people on bikes, obviously going for the remote Munro. We didn't hurry too much as we only had one Corbett planned today. Moreover, the temperature was already hitting record high levels...
On the baking-hot approach to Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean:
The stalking path starts about 1km up the track from the turnoff to Bealach Bhearnais (route for Sgùrr Chòinnich and Sgùrr a'Chaorachain) but the bottom end is not marked so we simply started climbing up the steep, grassy slope. It would be a nice ascent but for swarms of clegs. They really enjoyed the hot weather! We had repellent, thankfully, otherwise we would have been eaten alive!
After about 100m of ascent, we came across the one of the zig-zags of the stalking path which we followed nearly all the way to the summit.
Sgùrr na Feartaig and Bealach Bhearnais from the northern slopes of Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean:
The path ends at 750m. From the higher ground, we had superb views to the two Munros across the glen:
Also, the Achnashellach hills came into view:
We were much slower than usually due to the heat and I was so glad we were only doing this single top today...
- Water, water, kingdom for a slurp of water!
Of course, we cautiously carried enough water to fill a bath

so frequent stops were made to insure our bodies were well hydrated. We sweated it out so quickly that despite our best efforts, we probably stank of sweat for miles (no wonder clegs were attracted to us!

).
- Nearly there!
The cliffs of Applecross:
Reaching the summit was a relief! Lucy claimed her 127th Corbett!
There was another group of walkers on the top (they must have come via the usual route from Moruisg side) and they were making a lot of noise, shouting, screaming and even playing music on their mobile phones. I have nothing against showing your enthusiasm on the hills, but IMHO turning the summit of a Munro into a local disco is taking it a bit too far... So we humbly retracted from the top to the southern cairn, where we sat down for a sandwich.
Panoramic snaps of Southern Strathcarron hills, from Sgùrr na Feartaig to Maoile Lunndaidh, "the green giant":
- Our views were better anyway ha-ha!
- Maoile Lunndaidh and Moruisg
Hazy outline of the Cuillin ridge:
Liathach and Sgurr Dubh:
Beinn Eighe:
Having rested and regenerated a bit after the sauna experience on the southern path, we started the descent towards the crash site, giving the mobile disco unit by the cairn a wide berth. Maybe they thought we were rude by not socializing, but we were not in the mood to join the shouting competition, giving the reason we came to Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean in the first place.
Initial descent via the well-worn path down the NE slopes:
After dropping about 100m, we left the path and carefully descended the steep, initially rocky slopes of Am Fliuch-choire, taking care not to go A over T:
Kevin negotiating the rocky side of the corrie:
We didn't really expect to find anything; the vegetation lower down was quite lush, high grass hiding what was left of the doomed Whitley. According to one of the sources, all that was left comprised of "a small number of insignificant pieces of metal", but this trip wasn't about photographing chunks of the plane. It was more like a pilgrimage to the spot where tragedy occurred and feeling the atmosphere of the place.
Looking into the corrie, the Whitley crashed somewhere above the gully of the Allt Coire an t-Seilich:
There is very little information about this crash online, but thanks to "Hell on high ground" by David Earl I can describe the story in detail.
It all started on 26th February 1941, when 3 RAF Squadrons were sent from Yorkshire to carry out raids over Germany, specifically the city of Cologne. The raid involved Whitleys from 51st and 78th Squadron as well as Hampdens from 83rd Squadron. One of the Whitleys was coded P4996 and it started the journey from its home base at Dishforth. The crew of five were led by Wing Commander G.T. Toland, an experienced pilot, described as
"one that was sure to bring them home safely". The second pilot was Sgt G.A. Forsyth with another Pilot Officer, D.H. Gates, acting as navigator and bomb aimer. The crew was completed by two wireless operators/air gunners, Sgt G.R. Armstrong and Sgt N.R.Lane. The raid was successful: the aircraft found their targets and dropped bombs despite heavy flak. Now they just had to return home...
P4996 crossed the English Channel with no problems en route, but as soon as they reached the British Isles, weather turned... well, just turned British:
"Visibility was now very bad and the dense cloud began to play havoc with the r/t and heavy rain and even snow showers were being encountered as they flew further north."Stuck in dense cloud, with the crew struggling to get any bearing (they had no radio beacon and no visual fix, so they were basically flying blind), the plane just kept flying... Another two hours have passed and they were now in desperate situation, with fuel running low. They must have realized that they have long overflown their Yorkshire base, but by how much? And where were they exactly? To establish that they needed at lest a patch of clear sky, so it is assumed that the pilot decided to drop below the clag, maybe in a desperate hope to find a suitable landing spot. But they were out of luck. As they emerged out of the overcast cloud, they saw they were in a remote Scottish glen, surrounded by high peaks. It was indeed Strathcarron, and P4996 was heading straight for the north-western face of Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean, a 3000ft mountain with two prominent northern corries. Just minutes before the tragedy happened, the crew managed to release a flare, which was seen (presumably by locals) and reported to the Police.
The following morning the site was reached by local Police officers who found the remains of the doomed aircraft. Sadly, all five crew lost their lives. The recovery of the bodies was carried out by RAF personnel from Evanton and the wreckage was cleared by No.63 Maintenance Unit at Carluke in Lanarkshire.
For me, it is still hard to comprehend, how P4996 overflew its home base by 400 miles?... Obviously, weather must have been sh**e and with the radio out of order, they simply kept flying north, hoping for a break in the cloud to get a visual bearing. Many of the crashes of which sites I have visited so far were a result of bad weather/zero visibility. The story of this lost Whitley really touched my soft spot as the five boys on board were returning home after performing their mission and sadly, they never found the way back to Yorkshire. Instead, their lives ended on this rarely visited mountain slope in Strathcarron...
We descended the slope carefully, scanning the ground around us but found nothing. We didn't really expect to see any signs of the crash as apparently the site was cleared pretty thoroughly. But it was an interesting, new route up/down Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean. Lower down Kevin found a good spot to cross Allt Coire an t-Seilich:
Posing on the edge of the gorge:
Allt Coire an t-Seilich was almost bone dry today but in wet conditions it could be a problem to cross
To return to the track (visible in the left upper corner in the photo below) we followed a deer fence. The ground was a bit bumpy and again, in wet weather it would probably be a splogathon.
One last look at the crags of Creag an Ardaich:
We used up almost all of our water, but cunningly, we left an extra bottle in the car for refreshment after this late July sauna. We then drove home safely, still thinking about the five lost boys from Yorkshire. I'm not very religious but sometimes when standing at the spot where a plane crashed, I wonder if the souls of those who died here still wander over the moors, glens and corries. If so, I hope they do find their way home one day.
In my next TR I'll change the subject from lost planes to remote mountains. A new Corbett - and one with attitude! To be posted soon.
Internet sources:
https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/scotland/armstrong-whitworth-whitley-p4996-glen-carron/http://www.edwardboyle.com/blog/?p=1073Books:
1. Hell on High Ground, Vol. 1: A Guide to Aircraft Crash Sites in the UK and Ireland. (1995)
by David William Earl
2. Aircraft Wrecks: The Walker's Guide: Historic Crash Sites on the Moors and Mountains of the British Isles. (2009)
by Nick Wotherspoon, Alan Clark and Mark Sheldon