Walking into history - Mount William and Mount Tumbledown - 1 January 2021 - No 19

View from Mount Tumbledown towards Stanley

From my kitchen window I have a direct view of Sapper Hill - the scene of the last battle in the 1982 conflict with Argentina.  If I look to the right I can see Mount William and Mount Tumbledown.  So today, New Year's Day I decided to walk to Mount William - and then depending on the terrain and the weather perhaps I'd venture further.  The weather was cloudy and rainy in the morning so I delayed my departure until 11:30 when the rain stopped.  The skies were grey.

Balsam bog makes for difficult walking conditions - the ground often moves beneath your feet.

Dressed for calmer summer conditions - wearing factor 50 - Mt William behind

Diddle-dee berries 

Vanilla Daisy standing proud

Dressed for summer - windy conditions - still wearing factor 50 and hiding from the sun

Looking towards Stanley from Mt Tumbledown.  The harbour is formed by a sunken river

Nature's window - on Mount William looking south

The view from Mount William - a vantage point to spot ships

Mount William and Mount Tumbledown guard the approaches to Stanley from the west.  The landscape, for me at least, evokes Lord of the Rings.  The peaks are of  jagged rock.  They are narrow on their east and west faces but wide and extended on their norther and southern slopes.   They reminded me of the spine of a stegosaurus.   I'm no geographer however they look like arretes to me!

The route to Mount William took me over the slopes of Sapper Hill.  It was difficult walking.  There were few tracks - and none seemed to go where I want to go.  Significant quantities of peat have been extracted from the hillside.  The ground is in uneven.  There are hidden hollows and not so hidden hollows.  Some of the ground is boggy, other parts the ground flexes under your feet.  You have to be careful - and anticipate that you may lose your footing.  

The walk to Mount William was worth it.  I clambered up the rocks and was rewarded with spectacular views over towards Bluff Cove and Fitzroy.  

Having spent some considerable time exploring I came across what looked like the square front wing of an older Land Rover Defender.  An MoD serial number was visible.  I imagine this ended up on Mount William after the conflict!   I crossed the valley between Mount William and Mount Longdon walking next to the huge KTV transmitter mast and then onto the southern slopes of Mount Longdon.  

Three features confirmed I was on Mount Tumbledown.  First I came across a sculpture of Pluto (part of scale model of the solar system) and then I spotted a lone Scots Pine.  The battle for Mount Tumbledown was fought principally by the Scots Guards.   Finally I saw a cross memorial which I recognised from photographs as being a memorial to the fallen on Mount Tumbledown.

The views were spectacular in all directions - helped by the fact that the grey skies had given way to sunshine and blue sky.   It was very obvious just by looking at the view that once Mount Tumbeldown  had fallen it was largely all over for the Argentinians.  With the British holding the high ground overlooking Stanley there was no where for them to go.  They had run out of options.

As I was walking back towards home I came across two abandoned Argentine Field Kitchen wagons rotting in the countryside.  This was a curious finding as many Argentinian soldiers - including those on Tumbledown - complained that they weren't well fed.

Argentine mobile cooking facilities