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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

HAWTHORNE CRATER CLEARANCE BEGINS


DAVE PLATT

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1 minute ago, horrocks said:

Steve's video is beautiful, what a lovely frosty morning. I love those slightly surreal and abstract scenes looking straight down from the drone.

 

I have found the Butte extremely resistant to my B&W photography, I never seem to get the right light, and you have to find a viewpoint clear of that ruddy fence. I had another go at it last week, not sure about the results yet.

 

I'd be very interested to see the results; it's a location I find magnetic (I wish the steps up to the top were magnetic however). As Steve mentioned in the thread it was a bit parky, and speaking of parky this one of John (Frajohn) Knight's has been posted on the forum before and is a current favourite. All of mine are rubbish unsurprisingly.

 

Pete.

5a9d96abd54a9_SnowyButtedeWarlencourt(JohnKnight).jpg.74f6e139a1ebabde27c73c28d68e6e61.jpg

John, if you read this please don't sue, I've spent all my pocket money on damp-coursing. :thumbsup:

 

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9 hours ago, Skipman said:

It's Hawthorn Crater, isn't it?

 

Mike

😂😂😂

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3 hours ago, Fattyowls said:

 

I'd be very interested to see the results; it's a location I find magnetic (I wish the steps up to the top were magnetic however). As Steve mentioned in the thread it was a bit parky, and speaking of parky this one of John (Frajohn) Knight's has been posted on the forum before and is a current favourite. All of mine are rubbish unsurprisingly.

 

Pete.

 

John, if you read this please don't sue, I've spent all my pocket money on damp-coursing. :thumbsup:

 

 

That's the conditions I was hoping for last week. This must be Jan 2013?

Edited by horrocks
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43 minutes ago, horrocks said:

That's the conditions I was hoping for last week. This must be Jan 2013?

 

7th December 2012, sorry it's taken so long to find that out, but I kept coming across good photos. I got sidetracked with a few of yours too.

 

Pete..

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38 minutes ago, Fattyowls said:

 

7th December 2012, sorry it's taken so long to find that out, but I kept coming across good photos. I got sidetracked with a few of yours too.

 

Pete..

 

A shame that so many of those photos were lost to the photobucket cash grab.

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Update on the Hawthorne Crater project

 

As of this morning 0930hrs in the pouring rain and we love typical Somme weather, all lovely and muddy!

 

Apart from more tree cutting and clearing, A hefty truck and flatbed trailer deposited a rather large digger on site, which has been progressively working around the crater lip, looks like the workings for a pathway going in.

 

This is OP work with a good set of Bino's as its hoofing down and i'm on a dry day!

 

I can also see some red signs, probably warning signs to keep away whilst the work is going on, no idea how long this will last, so consider your access if visiting over the next couple of weeks or so.

 

Pictures to follow in the next few days when things have settled.

Regards

Dave

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Wonder who else is on the team?

Tony

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so looking at the survey sketch there are actually 2 craters? Caused by the one explosion?

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4 hours ago, Simmo said:

so looking at the survey sketch there are actually 2 craters? Caused by the one explosion?

No, there was the initial detonation on 1st July, and a second mine was blown in November.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Good Evening All

When the 2nd blow happened in November on the Hawthorn crater which British units attacked it after the explosion? On my last visit to the area in late March we went up to the Redan Ridge and had a look at the craters up there, being as there was not a lot of vegetation growth you could look right down into one of them, small but fairly deep.

Regards

Andy 

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Thank you for posting your photographs Dave. I look forward to seeing the site develop Mc

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  • 1 month later...

I wandered around and through the craters in early May. It's all a bit raw and untidy at the moment, and I was concerned that spoil from the path building was finding its way down the crater banks in places, and also that the cut scrub and tree trunks weren't being cleared all that thoroughly, and down to ground level. I was also worried that any further root-level tree clearance would start to damage the shell cratering on the eastern (Beaumont) bank of the upper crater. I feel reassured from reading the twitter feed that there is going to be no further tree felling, and also pleased at the 'soft' landscaping in the form of the woodchip paths. The pathway link to the cemetery is very welcome news.

 

I was interested in the old field markers that run through the craters, I hadn't seen them in previous visits due to the undergrowth. I assume that they mark the line of the German trench, and must have been put in place for earlier generations of tourists. They have all been tagged by lengths of baton with a white card marker stapled to them, and can be seen by the sharp-sighted in Dave Platt's photos no's 6-9 in the original post.

 

A photo below that I took of Malins' view, taken on a very misty early May morning.

 

Z7FGDK.jpg

Edited by horrocks
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I'm not normally a fan of black and white, but that is a thing of beauty Toby.

 

Pete.

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I was up at the crater on Sunday. Sadly my photography skills aren't that great.

IMG_3003.jpg

IMG_3004.jpg

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I'm struck by the almost complete lack of vegetation under the trees in the first photos posted.  Either grass or undergrowth will be needed before the rainy season or one might expect some erosion to occur.

Edited by 2ndCMR
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I think the clearance is not a bad thing, providing provision is being made, as some pals have alluded to for conservation as well.  I visited Hawthorn for the first time twenty years ago, on a muddy Spring day.  However the crater was not as overgrown then and it was possible to get a good sense of the crater.  The trees allowed one to orient oneself from the position of the famous film of the explosion, it was all good.  Except of course little trees get bigger, soil erodes unless positively prevented et cetera.

 

so for me this is a potentially beneficial step - the challenge will be to ensure that it is conserved now and maintenance of path and route to the floor of the crater are executed sensitively.  Lovely pictures everyone.

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Gareth, I particularly like the second photo looking back towards the Sunken Lane. Looks like another damp old day!

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One looking back the other way, early May.

bsFm8Z.jpg

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Good Evening All

I have heard a rumour through the grapevine that at some point they are going to open up the site on the other side of the road known as the Bernwerk, has anyone heard anything about this?

Look forward to your reply.

Kind Regards

Andy  

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19 hours ago, horrocks said:

One looking back the other way, early May.

bsFm8Z.jpg

 

Amazing photo, actually looks as though the mine has begun to explode. Superb Pic !!

 

 

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On 12/06/2018 at 09:51, Gareth Davies said:

I was up at the crater on Sunday. Sadly my photography skills aren't that great.

IMG_3003.jpg

IMG_3004.jpg

 

Would that be you I spoke to on Sunday? I spoke to a couple at the lip of the crater briefly and met them again at Ulster Tower. Thanks for posting the images.

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I was there with a bus load of 13/14 yr olds.

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2 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said:

I was there with a bus load of 13/14 yr olds.

 

Right, so it was not you. There were quite a few of that age group touring that day. All that I came across were very well behaved. 

 

Cheers.

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  • 8 months later...

Can anyone please help me.

I shall be on the Somme on Saturday, I hope to be able to visit the crater, has the clearance now finished and is the crater accessible ?

 

Many thanks

Stuart 

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