On Saturday I walked to the 1130m summit of Ben Lui (or Laoigh) near Tyndrum. This is a summit I’ve been to twice before, and despite its height, the usual route from the A85 in Glen Lochy is a relatively straightforward climb. The difficulties are actually all low down on the mountain, where the River Lochy has to be forded, the Glasgow to Oban railway line crossed, and a route found through a confusing and incredibly muddy conifer plantation.
Unfortunately I didn’t get many views as the cloudbase was fairly low and a lot of the walk was in mist. Part of the reason for going back to Ben Lui though was to visit the site of an aircraft crash site. I was worried that the site would be difficult to find and indeed it is located in a fairly inaccessible location on the south-eastern flank of Ben Lui, about 200m below the summit. I managed to find it in the mist though, and took some photographs which you can see on my website here.
This is the site of an RAF Lockheed Hudson that crashed in the Second World War, and the site is gloomy and sobering, with many large pieces of wreckage remaining at the site even after over 60 years, including the two engines, wings and fuselage with markings still visible on it.
Lesley
Fun day out then? Rather you than me
mum
I agree wuth Lesley!
Alistair
Re the Ben Lui wreck was it not an RAF Jaguar aircaft which crashed in the late 1970′s
Eddie
Hi Alistair,
The wreck I saw was definitely an older aircraft and other websites and books say that this wreck is that of a Hudson from the Second World War.
A Jaguar came down near Beinn a’Chleibh (2 km to the west of Ben Lui) in Nov 1979, I assume that’s the one you mean – can’t find out much about that at the moment.
Military aircraft that come down nowadays (since the 70s really) are completely recovered, regardless of the inaccessibility of the crash site (e.g. the two F-15s that crashed on Ben Macdui in 2001).
Don Ford
Hi Eddie
I am the nephew of Len Aylott who was one of the crew of the Hudson that crashed on Ben Lui, in 1941.
My son and I are hoping to reach the site later this month and take some photos. I understand that a plaque has been erected in May 2008, in memory of the crew. It’s should be quite an experence!
Eddie
Hi Don,
Very interesting to get your message, it is always good to get some contact from someone with a personal connection to these sites in the hills.
Interesting also to hear that there is now a memorial plaque at the site – let me know if you put the photos online when you get them.
Ron
Hi All,
This story I am about to relate is true, although I understand a few will pooh! pooh! it, I too, will keep it short.
My partner and I are hill-walkers and were approaching Ben Lui with intentions to climb early in the morning; when, Four young men appeared on the forest track but did not look like walkers. To me and my partner we agreed later they resembled airmen in dress, leather flying jackets i.e. fur lined, and one chap resembled an old type motor-cyclist wearing gaters of sorts, their dress was never meant for hill-walking and too, all looked strange.
I spoke to them ref: the weather and I mentioned something to them about the gate we had to climb over. They did not heed us but carried on walking in the Tyndrum direction and out of site.
Years later we spoke with a girl in Stirling who used to work in the ‘Green Wellie’ in Tyndrum, she said a plane had crashed there on a hill years earlier. I did some research and lo & behold Four Aircraftmen had perished on Ben Lui in 1941. I now truely believe they were apparitions of the Airmen.
The story itself is a bit longer but I have cut it down not to bore; I too, promise this story to be true but was sceptical to begin with and being aged 63 at the time gave me no reason to ‘tell porkies’………………..Ron.
Eddie
Hi Ron,
Your tale is very interesting, but I don’t believe a word of it!
Ron
Oh yes Eddie, there are at least ‘two words’ in the narrative which are true, Stirling & Tyndrum, the rest are made up by English literature, so you may, in that respect be right.
Jim Humphrey
I climbed Ben Lui in the late 90s with a friend and decided to decend toward the col between Ben Oss and Ben Lui, however we dropped down a bit short and navigated rocky out crops to find a gully with an enormous ice block that could have been there for years with the lack of sun, picking our way down and around the base we came across some wreckage of the plane athough not as much as in some of the photos.