Reports from 2024
November 2024
Cheviot air disasters – local WWII crashes remembered
Speaker: Dave Chappell
Our speaker had a 52-year-long career in the RAF: he joined in 1963 as an apprentice, was commissioned in 1976, became senior engineer in 1995, and then was Safety Officer at RAF Boulmer until 2015. He became interested in the crashes while serving in Northumberland.
During World War II, nineteen military aircrew crashed in (or very near) the Cheviots, with 58 fataliies: Briish, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, Polish, US and German airmen.
The common factors which either caused, or contributed significantly to, all these tragedies were the height of the Cheviot Hills and the often challenging weather.
Many aircraft flight paths from south east England, and from the battle grounds of mainland Europe and across the North Sea, went over high ground. They crossed above the North York Moors at 1750 ft and the Lammermuir Hills at 1755 ft, but between them the Cheviot is “surprisingly high” at 2674 ft.
The weather at this alitude is very changeable, and low cloud, heavy mist, high winds and blizzards are common. Several crashes resulted from a failure of navigaion equipment (or the enemy compromising Allied signals). Once off course, there are few landmarks in the area to aid navigaion and in such conditons some planes flew too low and into hillsides. In this sparsely populated area it was shepherds who saw or discovered the crashes and were first on scene to rescue survivors. Shepherds John Dagg and Frank Moscrop were awarded the BEM and Sheila the sheepdog was given the Dicken Medal.
Eight of the aircraft – Vickers Wellingtons, de Havilland Mosquitos (“wooden wonders”), a Handley Page Halifax and a Flying Fortress – were on operations. Here are more details of two disasters:
On 15th January 1942 a Wellington returning from a night-bombing mission on Hamburg. With its communication and navigation equipment inoperative, it flew in a blizzard into the north face of Cunyan Crags in the College Valley. One RNZAF crew member died in the crash, and two RNZAF crew members died from their wounds several days later. Three British and one Canadian survived despite serious injuries. Shepherds John Dagg, Arch Guthrie and James Goodfellow were involved in the rescue.
The next year, on 9th January 1943, a Wellington which had been laying mines in the Frisian Islands managed to return to England though damaged by the Luftwaffe. It got lost in the snow and crashed, and four of its five crew died. The rear gunner survived – of the seven aircraft with a rear gunner, five rear gunners survived, two of them the only survivors from the crew.
Eight of the 19 lost aircraft were on training flights – a Hawker Hart, Spitfire, Bristol Beaufort, Hawker Hurricane, Blackburn B??? – and three were being ferried between units. Teams examined the wreckage to discover the cause(s) of each British aircraR crash. The equipment in enemy aircraft – a Junkers JU88 and a Dornier 217 – was scrutinised to reveal any military secrets.
All crash sites are now protected by law, and nothing relating to the crashes can be taken.
In 1995 a memorial to the lives lost was erected near Cuddystone Hall in the College Valley. This was replaced by a stone memorial in 2018, as part of the RAF centenary celebrations, and a small wall was built around it in memory of the shepherds who saved many crewmen. Visitors from the USA, Poland, Germany and France have joined in paying their respects there.
A few miles away from the sites of the crashes on the Cheviots was RAF Milfield. When first opened in WWI it was known as RAF Woodbridge. In August 1942 it reopened as 59 Officer Training Unit to train crew on Hurricanes, then later to train pilots and instructors on Typhoons. Tragically, 80 airmen died training accidents. In 1944 the Unit was disbanded, and the training moved to RAF Wittering. RAF Milfeld finally closed in February 1946, though its hangers were used as emergency food stores. The site has been used by Borders Gliding Club since 1968.
Chrys Murphy
October 2024
The Black Death
Speaker: Isabel Gordon
On an evening of atrocious weather, more than 40 people came to hear this fascina8ng talk.
By referencing Ebola, HIV and Covid, Isabel made the Black Death of 1346 very relevant, and what came across was the sheer terror of the populace when 25% to 40% could die and in some cases where the number who succumbed was much higher. She also explained that the term ‘Black Death’ is a misnomer, first used by the Victorians, as at the 8me it was called ‘the Great Pes8lence’ among other epithets.
The pandemic is thought to have been first introduced to Europe during the siege of the Genoese trading port of Kaffa (now Feodosia) in Crimea by the Golden Horde army of Jani Beg in 1347. Thence it was probably carried by Genoese trading ships to Europe and spread along trading routes, transmiZed person to person as pneumonic plague. This explains its rapid spread, faster than a purely rat-borne disease, though it was probably carried by fleas living on the black rats spreading through the Mediterranean Basin and reaching North Africa, West Asia, and the rest of Europe via Constan8nople, Sicily, and the Italian peninsula.
The Black Death had far-reaching popula8on, economic, and cultural effects. It was the second great natural disaster to strike Europe during the Late Middle Ages (the first was the Great Famine of 1315–1317) and it is es8mated to have killed 30% to 60% of the European popula8on, as well as approximately 33% of the popula8on of the Middle East. There were further outbreaks throughout the Late Middle Ages and, along with other contributory factors, the popula8on of Europe did not regain its 14th century level un8l the 16th century. There were further outbreaks every ficeen to twenty years un8l recent 8mes, including an outbreak in Los Angeles in the 1920s.
Isabel conveyed the sheer terror that people felt when faced by the onslaught of the pes8lence. About 90% of the popula8on were subsistence farmers who had few natural defences against the disease. If it was a punishment from God why did it affect good people, including the priesthood, as much as here8cs and the bad. For Muslims, death from the plague led to paradise for the faithful yet was a punishment for the infidel. There was no concept of contagion.
Isabel graphically described the plague pits for burying the dead, the death carts which traversed the streets of towns, and how people who were lec with no-one to say the last rites or hear final confession had to resort to confessing to women! An interes8ng footnote is that an8semi8sm had led to Jews being forced to live away from the popula8on, some8mes in gheZos and some8mes outside towns. The mortality rate of Jews was therefore lower as they were able to isolate, had a different diet, and beZer hygiene (washing was not considered a purifica8on in the Chris8an faith). Their higher survival rate fed further an8semi8sm.
In 1894, Alexandre Yersin, a pupil of Pasteur, deliberately went to an outbreak in Hong Kong to iden8fy the bacterium which was to bear his name – Yersinia Pes8s (or Y. Pes8s). He found that the bacterium is resident in host rats in central Asia, and that it is spread both by fleas and through the air. It needs two individuals to survive: a host which does not succumb to the disease and a recipient which does succumb and then spreads it.
Gene8c analysis suggests Yersinia pes8s bacteria evolved approximately 7,000 years ago, at the beginning of the Neolithic, with flea-mediated strains emerging around 3,800 years ago during the late Bronze Age.
This report does scarce jus8ce to the ambit of Isobel’s excellent lecture.
Peter Davies
The Black Death
Speaker: Isabel Gordon
On an evening of atrocious weather, more than 40 people came to hear this fascina8ng talk.
By referencing Ebola, HIV and Covid, Isabel made the Black Death of 1346 very relevant, and what came across was the sheer terror of the populace when 25% to 40% could die and in some cases where the number who succumbed was much higher. She also explained that the term ‘Black Death’ is a misnomer, first used by the Victorians, as at the 8me it was called ‘the Great Pes8lence’ among other epithets.
The pandemic is thought to have been first introduced to Europe during the siege of the Genoese trading port of Kaffa (now Feodosia) in Crimea by the Golden Horde army of Jani Beg in 1347. Thence it was probably carried by Genoese trading ships to Europe and spread along trading routes, transmiZed person to person as pneumonic plague. This explains its rapid spread, faster than a purely rat-borne disease, though it was probably carried by fleas living on the black rats spreading through the Mediterranean Basin and reaching North Africa, West Asia, and the rest of Europe via Constan8nople, Sicily, and the Italian peninsula.
The Black Death had far-reaching popula8on, economic, and cultural effects. It was the second great natural disaster to strike Europe during the Late Middle Ages (the first was the Great Famine of 1315–1317) and it is es8mated to have killed 30% to 60% of the European popula8on, as well as approximately 33% of the popula8on of the Middle East. There were further outbreaks throughout the Late Middle Ages and, along with other contributory factors, the popula8on of Europe did not regain its 14th century level un8l the 16th century. There were further outbreaks every ficeen to twenty years un8l recent 8mes, including an outbreak in Los Angeles in the 1920s.
Isabel conveyed the sheer terror that people felt when faced by the onslaught of the pes8lence. About 90% of the popula8on were subsistence farmers who had few natural defences against the disease. If it was a punishment from God why did it affect good people, including the priesthood, as much as here8cs and the bad. For Muslims, death from the plague led to paradise for the faithful yet was a punishment for the infidel. There was no concept of contagion.
Isabel graphically described the plague pits for burying the dead, the death carts which traversed the streets of towns, and how people who were lec with no-one to say the last rites or hear final confession had to resort to confessing to women! An interes8ng footnote is that an8semi8sm had led to Jews being forced to live away from the popula8on, some8mes in gheZos and some8mes outside towns. The mortality rate of Jews was therefore lower as they were able to isolate, had a different diet, and beZer hygiene (washing was not considered a purifica8on in the Chris8an faith). Their higher survival rate fed further an8semi8sm.
In 1894, Alexandre Yersin, a pupil of Pasteur, deliberately went to an outbreak in Hong Kong to iden8fy the bacterium which was to bear his name – Yersinia Pes8s (or Y. Pes8s). He found that the bacterium is resident in host rats in central Asia, and that it is spread both by fleas and through the air. It needs two individuals to survive: a host which does not succumb to the disease and a recipient which does succumb and then spreads it.
Gene8c analysis suggests Yersinia pes8s bacteria evolved approximately 7,000 years ago, at the beginning of the Neolithic, with flea-mediated strains emerging around 3,800 years ago during the late Bronze Age.
This report does scarce jus8ce to the ambit of Isobel’s excellent lecture.
Peter Davies
January 2024
A History of Norham – “The Most Dangerous Place in England”
Speaker: Martha Andrews
This intriguing title attracted a bumper audience!
Our speaker, Martha Andrews, gave an all-encompassing presentation with a superb selection of fine illustrations. In an hour she took us from prehistoric geology to the 21st century, when traditional salmon netting ended in 2009, including a wide range of details history topography, geography, saints and bishops, monarchs, warfare, architecture, treasures, and social history.
The glaciation which carved out the Tweed Valley left in its wake the small rocky hillock on which eventually Norham castle was built. Evidence of a midden with oyster shells suggests the site was used by early Neolithic hunter-gatherers.
Fast forward to the early Anglo-Saxon era, and it is likely that when St Aidan left Iona to found Lindisfarne Abbey he would have travelled via the Clyde to the Tweed valley, with only a small isthmus of land over which to transport his light-weight coracle ─ used for both transport and for shelter on land.
Cuthbert succeeded St Aidan as abbot, and he was buried at the monastery. When in 875 the monastery was sacked by marauding Vikings, the monks took St Cuthbert’s body to the abbey at Norham, where it is likely to have rested for many decades ─ hence St Cuthbert’s church became famed.
This region of Britain was unruly, governed by the Prince Bishops of Durham on behalf of the English monarch. The area is still known as Norham and Islandshire (the Isle of Lindisfarne) today, but interestingly it once included Bedlington.
The castle, built on a strategic defensive site, was frequently under attack from competing Anglo-Scottish forces; it was rebuilt in 1121 by Bishop Flambard to become a massively strong edifice. It was Queen Elizabeth 1 who decided finances were best spent re-fortifying Berwick rather than on the repair and maintenance of Norham Castle.
The church, which has impressive Norman architectural features, was likely to have been built at the same time, again on the site of earlier structures. We were shown images of fine Jacobean church furniture inherited from Durham Cathedral, and heard of tales concerning a past vicar of Norham.
Many famous names are linked with Norham. Here King Edward 1 chose John Balliol to become his “puppet king” of Scotland, not Robert the Bruce. The name of Sir Thomas Marmion, whose story was romanticised by Sir Walter Scott, is given to the iconic arch through which the remains of the castle can be viewed. Sir Thomas Grey, ancestor of the current Lord Howick of Howick Hall, once occupied the castle until a traitor caused it to fall to the Scots. During the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell led attacks from his base in Norham. King James IV of Scotland successfully besieged the castle at Norham, using a massive canon, Mons Meg, brought from Flanders. He survived a fall from an unstable wooden bridge and in gratitude he built the indestructible Ladykirk church – a completely stone structure – prior to his death at the Battle of Flodden with which Norham is also linked. To this day the ‘Common Riding’ from Coldstream includes Norham. Scottish John Knox, while in exile in England, married a woman from Norham.
Norham was given one of the earliest market charters in Northumberland, but the Market Cross was built in 1880 on an earlier foundation. The village retains its medieval street plan, and many houses have long gardens – burgage plots, used to grow food and to keep animals. Many buildings are thought to have been built with stone from the ruinous castle.
Norham village deserves a visit, and further reading, to do justice to its varied and turbulent history!
Rosemary Bell
A History of Norham – “The Most Dangerous Place in England”
Speaker: Martha Andrews
This intriguing title attracted a bumper audience!
Our speaker, Martha Andrews, gave an all-encompassing presentation with a superb selection of fine illustrations. In an hour she took us from prehistoric geology to the 21st century, when traditional salmon netting ended in 2009, including a wide range of details history topography, geography, saints and bishops, monarchs, warfare, architecture, treasures, and social history.
The glaciation which carved out the Tweed Valley left in its wake the small rocky hillock on which eventually Norham castle was built. Evidence of a midden with oyster shells suggests the site was used by early Neolithic hunter-gatherers.
Fast forward to the early Anglo-Saxon era, and it is likely that when St Aidan left Iona to found Lindisfarne Abbey he would have travelled via the Clyde to the Tweed valley, with only a small isthmus of land over which to transport his light-weight coracle ─ used for both transport and for shelter on land.
Cuthbert succeeded St Aidan as abbot, and he was buried at the monastery. When in 875 the monastery was sacked by marauding Vikings, the monks took St Cuthbert’s body to the abbey at Norham, where it is likely to have rested for many decades ─ hence St Cuthbert’s church became famed.
This region of Britain was unruly, governed by the Prince Bishops of Durham on behalf of the English monarch. The area is still known as Norham and Islandshire (the Isle of Lindisfarne) today, but interestingly it once included Bedlington.
The castle, built on a strategic defensive site, was frequently under attack from competing Anglo-Scottish forces; it was rebuilt in 1121 by Bishop Flambard to become a massively strong edifice. It was Queen Elizabeth 1 who decided finances were best spent re-fortifying Berwick rather than on the repair and maintenance of Norham Castle.
The church, which has impressive Norman architectural features, was likely to have been built at the same time, again on the site of earlier structures. We were shown images of fine Jacobean church furniture inherited from Durham Cathedral, and heard of tales concerning a past vicar of Norham.
Many famous names are linked with Norham. Here King Edward 1 chose John Balliol to become his “puppet king” of Scotland, not Robert the Bruce. The name of Sir Thomas Marmion, whose story was romanticised by Sir Walter Scott, is given to the iconic arch through which the remains of the castle can be viewed. Sir Thomas Grey, ancestor of the current Lord Howick of Howick Hall, once occupied the castle until a traitor caused it to fall to the Scots. During the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell led attacks from his base in Norham. King James IV of Scotland successfully besieged the castle at Norham, using a massive canon, Mons Meg, brought from Flanders. He survived a fall from an unstable wooden bridge and in gratitude he built the indestructible Ladykirk church – a completely stone structure – prior to his death at the Battle of Flodden with which Norham is also linked. To this day the ‘Common Riding’ from Coldstream includes Norham. Scottish John Knox, while in exile in England, married a woman from Norham.
Norham was given one of the earliest market charters in Northumberland, but the Market Cross was built in 1880 on an earlier foundation. The village retains its medieval street plan, and many houses have long gardens – burgage plots, used to grow food and to keep animals. Many buildings are thought to have been built with stone from the ruinous castle.
Norham village deserves a visit, and further reading, to do justice to its varied and turbulent history!
Rosemary Bell