After hearing the bad weather forecast we decided to stick to somewhere local. Geoff thought it would be a good idea to try and find the memorial to a crashed wartime plane near Mugginton. Oddly enough i had been to the site in the late 80's covering the story for the Belper News. All i could remember about it was that it was in a large flat field with a barrier around it. At the time i was taken to the site with several others sat on the back of a flat trailer being towed by a tractor over several fields.
It was my turn to drive and we parked up in Mugginton village on the main street. Geoff had an idea where it was and he had printed out some maps and i had my GPS so we quickly found the footpath and set off towards Western Underwood. The weather was good at this time as we crossed the fields with some lovely open countryside. We passed through Western Underwood and got back onto the footpath after a tine spent looking for it. The finger post has been removed and Geoff is going to complain about it.
We followed the footpaths and ended up going through this fantastic large field of maize and sometimes it was taller than any of us and we had to keep our bearings.Geoff wasn't too sure where the crash site was so i googled it on my phone and found it was close to Leasow Farm. We followed the footpath towards the farm and then we found it.We did a few photo's then headed back on the footpath towards the Cock Inn which is now closed. The footpath continues opposite the Cock Inn, we crossed a couple of fields and stopped on a bank for our breakfast. The farm in the valley below belongs to a friend of our Rob's & Ikes so we called in and had a chat. There were all sorts of animals and fowl wandering about and Rob ended up giving the turkey's a feather trim. From there it was a short walk back to Mugginton where we had a look around the church before heading home.
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| This weeks route around Mugginton |
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| The old Dairy Mugginton |
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| Geoff |
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| Me |
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| Little bridge |
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| Geoff in Western Underwood |
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| A great weather vain in Western Underwood |
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| Looks like a ham radio installation |
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| Geoff on one of the footbridges. |
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| Field of maize |
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| Me lost in the jungle |
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| Rob & Ike, we go this way??? |
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| Field of gold |
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| Memorial for the crew of the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley MkV BD230 bomber which crashed in July 1944 |
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| Ike & Rob |
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| The crew :- Pilot Flight Sgt J W F Cooper, aged 24. wireless operator Sgt W C Norcross, 21, navigator Sgt H Cowan, 21, air gunner
Sgt M M Lyons, 18, and bomb aimer Sgt W B Smith, 21. |
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| It just goes to show that agricultural buildings don't have to look boring. |
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| The Cock Inn |
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| On the wall of the Cock Inn and still in use |
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| Geoff |
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| Which way to go?? |
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| Breakfast |
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| Buzzard |
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| I never knew that turkeys were so ugly |
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| Apparently this is a Cuban flag |
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| Village Hall Mugginton |
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| All Saints Church Mugginton a Grade 1 listed building dating from Saxon times. |
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| Brilliant clock inside the church |
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| The Tomb of Sir Nickolas and Lady Joanna Kniveton, cica 1475 |
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| Medieval Glass in the Kniveton chapel |
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| The clock on the left of the door. |
This was a cracking walk enjoyed by all although we nearly got lost in the maize field. It started to rain just as we got back to the car, lucky!!!
See you next week..
