The Wilts & Berks Canal

This was the first real Rural explore that I went on. I'd seen the place on a website called Dereliction in the Shires  so after contacting the owner we arranged a day and set off starting at East Hanney and walking the route to Wantage.  This stared off as a bit of an embarrassment due to us getting lost a bit and instead of following a footpath to the site we ended on the road but ended in the right place after following the footpath.

From the road this is where you start a bridleway with WIlts & Berks Canal on it

 

On the other side of the road a track which is the line of the old canal, follow the footpath and you should come to the A34 passing the remains of a lock, I'm not sure it runs under the A34 though as I have not been along this section

If you follow the footpath you should come to a bridge and see remnants of the canal

 

The footpath and track tell you it was the canal at one time

And this bridge is a big give away, the Great Western main line ran over it

Another footbridge will bring you to the first lock

 

Which looked in remarkably good condition considering it has been derelict for over 100 years, the lock gate hanging there I found amazing

 

Parts of the lock

I love the way nature takes over

 

 

Tree roots everywhere

And trees growing out of the lock itself

Onto the next one

Passing the remains of a lock side building

 

 

You will find the next lock not far away

 

And the remains of a building
 

The lock is covered in vegitation

going near the edge is dangerious near the ivy and trees block your path

The lock chamber

In the chamber

Chamber and lock gate

Unusual find is a milestone by the lock

The footpath will take you to the road from Lanes Barn to Grove and you will hav eto walk back along it to find the place a bridge would have been, its now culverted and the bridge removed.

From the top you can see where the canal used to be.

Parts where we followed the footpath

 

The next lock near grove

 

This one had water running through it

Which disappeared though the damaged brickwork

 

 

coming out in the main chamber

The chamber

Various parts of the lock

The lock

 

Last look at the lock

On to the next at Grove

This is one of the grove locks mostly filled in with rubbish and cable husks that have been dumped there

 

Trees have bee hard at work here as well

Doing there bit to demolish the lock

 

There is a bridge at the next lock

 

Which has been restored and is in use

Not sure there is much hope for the lock

 

Roots take hold in the walls

 

Holding cans in them

 

It looks in a  very sad state

As you walk towards Grove you will pass a section that has bee restored with a weir and dummy lock gate

 

After that section you come to the Wantage spur

 

Which may have been a basin as well for barges to turn

 

You will pass the remains of a bridge 

 

with old graffiti on it

You will eventually end up here where there were houses and building which may have been to do with the canal

 

 Which as you can see has been fully restored.

 

 

The reason for the spur ending here may have been for the flour mill which was in operation till 2022 when it closed and was taken over. I do not know what the places I visited are like now but if you want to find out it is and interesting explore

 

The last part of the Wilts and Berks canal.

 Part two here 

 

Flying Officer J.A. Wilding & Sargent J.F.Andrew

 On the 9th September 1944 a stricken Halifax bomber from  426(Thunderbird) Squadron, 4 Group, Bomber Command struggled to bypass Wallingford, just after passing near the bridge the port wing folded and the bomber crashed in a field near Newnham Murren and exploded killing the Pilot and Flight Engineer.

The story starts on the 9th September 1944, the 426(Thunderbird) Squadron, 4 Group, Bomber Command, of the Royal Canadian Air Force left Linton-on-Ouse, York. They were to make a sortie to Le Havre but the weather made it impossible to bomb with accuracy and the attack was called off. One Halifax VII bomber, NP68I was hit by flak.

To land safely back in Linton several bombs were ditched in the English Channel, leaving ten 500lb bombs on board. The plane was engulfed in smoke and flames. The pilot, John Wilding,  gave the order to abandon the aircraft. MacKay, the rear gunner, advised that the turret was unserviceable. Wilding told him not to panic, to do the best he could to get out saying “I’ll try to hold it”. MacKay using his feet pushed until the door gave way. An explosion followed and he rolled out through a sheet of flames and landed with an injured left leg. The wireless operator, Thorb (Tommy) Thompson bailed out, as did the navigator, Ed O’Meara. The bomb aimer, Len Irving, was the last to leave by the front hatch. Quite why they did dump the other ten puzles me.

  During its last few moments the aircraft was guided between Wallingford and

Benson, when the port wing folded  It was seen to turn over on its back and spin in.

The plane came down at Newnham Murren, Crowmarsh, about 500 yards

From  the eastern boundary of Wallingford. Three tons of bombs still aboard, the aircraft exploded, the blast shaking the town’s buildings and shattering windows.

 Wilding was found a few hundred yards away from the crash crater, inexplicably lacking any trace of parachute harness or pack. Andrew was found about twenty-five yards from Wilding, firmly strapped into his parachute harness and with his pack lying unopened beside him. An investigation found that the No 7 cylinder had blown off the port outer engine and that there was considerable internal damage. This was the most common failure of the Halifax XVI Hercules engine.

    Flying Officer J.A. Wilding had completed nineteen sorties and, for his actions with No 426 Sqn, was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross posthumously. He is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery at Woking, Surrey. Sergeant J.F. Andrew, also Mentioned in Despatches posthumously, had completed fifteen sorties; he is buried in Kerry Cemetery, Powys.

That is the story of J.A.Wilding and J.F Andrew, I felt I had to look into it a bit more so went to look for their graves and the crash site. 
I checked on Where's the path for possible spots and the most likely place looks  to be either a small copse of trees which is around 500 yards away or across in an other field just a bit further.

The area has a small depression and Wallingford Bridge is around 500 yards away in the distance.
 

 The other possible site is in the field beyond the hedge but that takes the distance to over 600 yard.

This is a screen print of where I think a possible crash area is, the copse is just over 500 yards from Wallingford Bridge

After looking at GE again I reassessed the position and 500 yards from the Eastern Boundary of Wallingford is around  where the line is marked, the map shows the area in 1940

 This map shows both modern day Wallingford with the Historic version, both have the possible crash site on which is around 54o yards from the Eastern boundary. The dark green area is around 35 yards across which I'd say would be around the size of crater 3 tons of bombs would make.

The photo here shows the area I think the crash happened,it would be around mid photo north the shadow from the tree on the left.


Wilding Road and Andrew Road were named in Honor of of them and on the junction a cairn was built, each year on the Sunday nearest the fateful day a service is held

 

Both RAF personnel and Canadian are represented at the service Wreaths are laid at the base of the cairn

 

The Canadian flag is flown above the Town Hall
You can read some more about the crew in the link

 

Sergeant J.F. Andrew is buried in Kerry Cemetery Powys,

 

 Flying Officer J.A. Wilding Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.

They will never be forgotten.

RAF Hampstead Norreys

I was attracted to this one because of the pillboxes shown on the DOB so a visit was in order. I remember the place from diving past for many years and over time had watched parts disappear.  One place comes to mind is the guard house which was near the stables at Wyld Court. It was there for years then I noticed it had been removed, maybe it had deteriorated and the landowner demolished it. The photo below was taken in 1955 and you can see the three runways and all the dispersal points.  wikipedia

I decided to go along and see how many of the pillboxes were left and in what condition they were. One I knew as near the farm as it can be seen when you drive past and I had spotted a second in the woods on the way from Aldworth.

Turned out to be well overgrown with brambles though did have some of the embrasure  shutters from the war still in place. From there is was a drive round to the farm to ask if it was ok to visit the one in the field. The Manager was a little reluctant due to other people wandering round with out asking but as I had he told me where to go an look for the pillboxes.

One of the reasons for visiting was the field had no crops in so easy to get to. The external is suffering from erosion and on to it still has earth from the camouflage.
Inside there are shutters, the steel door and gun mount.

The next is across the old airfield quite near what was an old quarry, the door from this one was outside. Finding the next was by luck as I popped into the woods to look at a building and spotted the pillbox.

  

 The last pillbox was reached by walking along a footpath that was near Aldworth then cutting across the field.

 

 

Outside is eroded and the earth is still on top along with the curly wire posts for barbed wire, inside are more along with shutters and the steel door in place

 The rest of the old airfield is worth a look with old air raid shelters in place as well as the bases of buildings and the ammunition dump.

 

 

 The one above is being distorted by tree roots which is growing on top

 

You can even come across the odd aircraft tie down. The old runways have been removed though parts of the perimeter track still exist. The place where the main runway used to be is used by light aircraft which are kept on site  near the farm.
The place was worth the time to visit and look round and hopefully I will get back for the parts I have missed.