During late 2007 Nick Wotherspoon, Mark and myself discussed the idea of writing a guide to many of the high ground aircraft crash sites that we have visited over the years to put our collective experience into print. As we were all looking for a project we had quickly decided on what sort of book we wanted to write. By the following spring we had a confirmed publisher with the manuscript being completed by the Autumn of 2008.
When we began the project we decided that the core should represent the type of book we wish was available when we started visiting sites. This is one which combined both locations with information about the location, accident and aircrews for the whole country, that said many excellent publications have been written about specific regions and the country as a whole but they usually lacked one or more of the features we were looking for.
Together we have included nearly 500 entries with information about each aircraft its crew & passengers, circumstances of the crash and an up to date description of what the site is like, often with nearby features that may aid in finding it. Each one is accompanied by an Ordnance Survey map reference that at least one of us has visited or in a very small number of cases have been able to verify with a reasonable degree of certainty. Almost all of the sites had wreckage at the time of writing and those that did not were marked by memorials either at the site or close by.
Individual chapters cover the following named areas: South West Moors, Wales, Peak District, Pennines, Lake District, North Yorkshire Moors, Isle of Man, Lowland Scotland, Highlands & Islands of Scotland, Ireland.
Also we have included appendices of aircraft part numbers and company inspection stamps as a number of people enquire about these. These can be invaluable for aiding in the correct identification of aircraft crash sites, and not just those covered in this publication.
Aircraft Wrecks: The Walker’s Guide was first published by Pen & Sword (Aviation) in August 2009 as a hard back book, it is just over 350 pages with some 180 black & white photographs. It is to be reprinted in paperback in late June 2013. The hard back version is still available from online sellers.