Lesley and I spent last weekend on the island of Mull, staying in Tobermory. On the Saturday I walked up Ben More (whilst Lesley went to the island of Iona), which is the highest summit on the island, and the only munro summit that you need to catch a ferry from the Scottish mainland to visit. Unfortunately I got no views as there was humid mist and clouds from low elevations all the way to the summit. I walked up the easiest route on the north side of the mountain and it was a long, sweaty climb.
I descended from the summit on a slightly different route to look out for any signs of an air wreck site from 1942 that is mentioned as being near the summit of Ben More in the book ‘High Ground Wrecks and Relics‘, but I found nothing at the map grid reference it quotes. It may well be that there are no remains of this Bristol Beaufort aircraft left on the mountain (a museum in Tobermory has a small collection of some the wreckage from this crash). About 10km to the east of Ben More there is a more well-known air wreck site from a crash in 1945 where there are substantial remains of a Douglas C-47 Dakota on Beinn Talaidh.
The weather on Sunday was much better, with clear blue skies and a lot of heat. Lesley and I went to standing stones at Dervaig on the north coast, and Calgary beach and the island of Ulva on the west coast, and we really could have been in the Mediterranean it was so idyllic and hot.
You can see photos from the trip on my website here.
Lesley has written a blog entry about the trip here.
DONNA
Hi, I ran into your blog while researching an airplane crash that happened in Scotland in 1942. It was a Bristol Beaufort that crashed into Ben More. a RAF plane. My sister in law’s fiance was on it. Do you have any info on that crash? I see where you referenced a book about that crash site in Mull. It’s a bit expensive for me to order from Amazon….do you have anything you can share about that crash? Or info about the relics and the museum?
Thanks,
Donna
Eddie
The small book ‘Night on Ben Talaidh’ which is about the Dakota crash on Beinn Talaidh contains a small amount of information about the Beaufort crash on Ben More as well. It is available here:
http://www.brown-whittaker.co.uk/catalogue.html
Dave Pye
Not sure if you still need this information but Beaufort is not on the summit of Ben More but about 1 mile to the North. Some wreckage remains.
Dave
Eddie
Hi Dave,
Interesting – I wish I’d known that when I was there! Next time I’m in Mull I will have to have another look (but who knows when that will be)
Eddie
The BBC Alba program Ulaidhean in one of its episodes (shown on STV recently) has a short segment about the Mull Museum on Tobermory and its collection of wreckage parts from both the Dakota and the Beaufort crash:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g1mtf
Andy
A few years late in adding this…but all the same if you want a route that will make sure you find the wreckage, take a look at http://www.scottishislandspeaksrace.com, and check the running route for Ben More. When you follow their route off the summit it takes you through the wreckage area. I’ve done it twice – first time in daylight and the wreckage is very obvious across a reasonable area. Second time at night and I literally ran into a wheel. Hope that helps if anyone else is trying to find more info on the plane (which is how I ended up here).
Alan Downing
I am pleased to say that I donated the wrecked on display at the Tobermory museum from both the Bristol Beaufort and the DC3 I recovered these items back in the 1980′s anyone interested I got photos and other info I can share
Email me alan876969@gmail.com
Eddie
Hi Alan,
Many thanks for this useful information!
Shirlie
Hi Eddie, this is so interesting to read as I have Just found out that the pilot was my Dad’s 1st cousin. I’ll definitely be paying a visit. Shame I have just found out as I spent the weekend in Inveraray and could of drove up had I know. Thank you
Alan Bates
I remember, as a small child, my father telling me that he was a member of the army rescue party sent up Ben More to retrieve the bodies. Don’t remember much detail of what he said but it always stuck with me. Poor guys.