Now, as luck would have it, there are a number of photos that are useful here and, if like me, you have no reason to be familiar with the Harrowdown Hill area, they are a huge asset. What I am doing is adding a few relevant comments beneath each picture. By clicking on the title below each one you go to the Geograph site and get the full size view and an extract of the relevant ordnance survey map amongst other information. I have certainly found all this incredibly useful.
Track, to Harrowdown Hill
© Copyright Roger Cornfoot and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This is the lower end of the track that the searchers started walking, Louise having parked her car a short distance away. Following the discovery of Dr Kelly's body police vehicles drove up this track I assume because there are media photos showing the police presence in a field adjoining the wood on Harrowdown Hill. However there is a parallel road or track from Longworth and just to the west of this one. This serves Thames-Side Farm and, depending on field access possibilities, might have been a better option for the police, rather than this track.
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The lane over Harrowdown Hill
© Copyright Tim Kirby and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
A little further up the lane now, whereas in the first photo the right hand side was fairly open, the track here is far more enclosed. Although Louise and Paul searched the south part of the wood on Harrowdown Hill next I'll move on now to the south bank of the River Thames.
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Gate by the sign
© Copyright Bill Nicholls and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The searchers would have entered this scene from the centre right of the picture. It was about here that Brock drew their attention to the presence of people on a boat. The dense vegetation along the river bank is noticeable, but as this is a picture taken in August the flora is a little more profuse than it would have been at the time of the search.
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Passing on the bend
© Copyright Bill Nicholls and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Very close in location to the previous picture this photo clearly demonstrates two very different boats on the Thames. Unfortunately the Hutton evidence doesn't give us any real clues as to the nature of the boat that the searchers came across. Three or four people on board is as much as we know about it and that doesn't help a lot!
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River Thames near Thames-Side Farm
© Copyright Pierre Terre and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Now a view looking up the river. Thames-Side Farm is nearby on the south bank. Did the police ask the farmer if he had heard anything?
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This is the view of the Hill the searchers would have had as they trekked towards it from the river.
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Wood, on Harrowdown Hill
© Copyright Roger Cornfoot and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This is an image of the inside of the wood on Harrowdown Hill. There is a mixture of woodland types. some open and grassy as depicted here whereas other areas are almost impenetrable.
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Woodland path, on Harrowdown Hill
© Copyright Roger Cornfoot and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The remarks I added to the previous photo can also be applied here.
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The Bridleway to Longworth
© Copyright Tim Kirby and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
I'm just adding this as a final photo because it shows how dominant Harrowdown Hill is in the landscape. If you were to follow the bridleway signposted for about half a mile then you would arrive back at the point Louise parked her car.
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Google Earth is another free source of information well worth having. The wood on top of Harrowdown Hill is in stark contrast to most of the surrounding area in which there are few trees. looking at the Google Earth image of the Hill it would seem that the wood is divided into three approximately equal parts and one can just about make out the barbed wire fences tracking west to east and separating them. It is the presence of these fences that led Louise and Paul to their decision to include the search area to the River Thames before going into the northern part of the wood.
Just for general interest, a YouTube video exists, showing at 2.42 onwards the actual tree near to which (or against which) Dr Kelly's body was discovered. It is open woodland at the top of the hill, very similar to that in the Roger Cornfoot photo "Wood, on Harrowdown Hill" ,but with perhaps denser vegetation around, and the fence (which you have alluded to ,Brian) in the background. There seems to be no trace of vegetation or nettles around the tree at this high point, which was the picture painted by the Hutton enquiry, mentioning blood sprayed over nettles and blood soaking into leaf mould. In contrast, it looks a very open and dry place.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, Brock was, I read, a scent following dog, so I am surprised that he didn't pick up a scent from the path into the wood, when instead they seemed to reach the river first.
Beautiful
ReplyDeleteLou and Paul followed the route known to be Dr Kelly's favourite walk. I specifically asked them to park where they parked, walk up and over the hill and down to the river and return over the hill to their start point. My intention was to get police searchers to join them at the earl;iest opportunity but they located his body before I had any futher resources to send. The area was obliterated following the removal of his body in the process of searching by police search officers for anything that could be found which was alien to the area. There was a lot of blood but evidence of its presence was destroyed through this activity.
ReplyDelete