The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Hatfield

📍Crash of Wellington W5557 with six Polish airmen of 305 Squadron (305 Dywizjon) in 1941 Having been to the remains of RAF Lindholme I received a message regarding a memorial to a crashed polish aircraft. I've heard tales of a plane on Hatfield Moors that was visible when the peat bogs were low. Today I went out to find the memorial 🛩️ On the night of 26th / 27th September 1941, the crew of this 305 Squadron aircraft undertook an operational flight to bomb Cologne and took off from base at Lindholme at 19:27hrs. All appears to have gone without incident outbound and over the target area. Fog was over Lindholme during the early hours of 27th September 1941, and while it was clear air above 500 feet, fog was seriously affecting visibility below. Added to that, other aircraft that were returning to Lindholme were short on fuel, so there was a possibility that Wellington W5557 may also have been low on fuel or even run out of fuel. Having flown back into the general area of Lindholme airfield, the crew lowered their undercarriage and were making an approach to land when it was thought that the pilot either misjudged the height the aircraft was flying, or it had run out of fuel and the pilot was attempting a forced landing. The aircraft struck trees and then crashed on Hatfield Moor, just short of the airfield at 01:30hrs. Sadly, three members of the Polish crew were killed in the crash, and a fourth died just over twenty-four hours later in Hospital in Doncaster Hospital. The body found in 1987 cannot have been part of the W5557 crew, as in the casualty file (AIR81/9282), it states they were all buried on the 30th September 1941, and no one was missing - Source (Yorkshire Aircraft) Pilot Sgt Eugeniusz Buszko (aged 27) Killed on impact Wireless Operator Sgt Jerzy Sławomir Leyche (aged 23) Killed on impact Air Gunner Sgt Wiktor Wasilenko (aged 18) Killed on impact Second Pilot Sgt Tadeusz Korczyk (aged 27) Died of injuries Navigator FL/t Stanisław Barzdo Injured - Later killed in action in Germany May 1942 (aged 26). Air Gunner Sgt Zdzisław Pisarek Injured - Passed away in Pennsylvania (aged 74). Rest easy gentlemen

There has been a Christian church on this site since at least 633 AD, as recorded by the Veneral Bede who mentioned that there was a church and a priest during the time of the Battle of Hatfield in that same year. The current stone built Norman church dates back to around 1150 AD.

The tracks and gravel paths around Armthorpe and Hatfield are great. They are pretty hard-packed too and good underfoot. The ambience of the whole area is very tranquil.

More than 200 bird species have been recorded visiting Hatfield and Thorne Moor. Winter visitors include whooper swans, pink-footed geese, hen harrier, and short-eared owls. From March-July a very special summer visitor is the diminutive woodlark and also oystercatcher, lapwing, ringed plover and great crested grebe can be spotted around the lakes. Badger Corner Lake is a special place to watch your favourite birds.

The Humberhead Peatlands are a remnant of a large wetland that occupied the floodplain of the Humberhead Levels thousands of years ago. They have been worked for peat throughout recorded history. The impact of this working has been to leave the remaining area with too varied a water table to allow peat formation. It is a fascinating area full of wildlife and of course it is quite boggy!

Hatfield Moor is a beautiful nature reserve, which boasts lovely scenic views and a variety of nature to take in whilst you're walking around. It is a SSSI area and Thorne and Hatfield Moors form the largest area of lowland raised peat bog in the United Kingdom.