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MHG52334 - BLACK ISLE, BLACKSTAND AIRFIELD, SATELLITE LANDING GROUND

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NH76SW 21.00 centred 71931 60651
Satellite Landing Ground at Blackstand farmsteading. Opened in August 1941 as a satellite to Lossiemouth.
D J Smith 1983
Robin type B hangar and a few buildings survive.
J Hughes 1993

Much of the area used as a landing ground has now been planted with trees. Some buildings survive, notably at NH 71199 60738 and NH 71793 61135.
Information from RCAHMS (DE), October 2004
The airfield known as Blackstand or Fortrose is situated between Blackstand farmstead buildings and Upper Whitebog farmstead some 700m to the SSE.
The runway was located immediately N of Upper Whitebog farmsteading (NH 72166 60459) The technical area was at Blackstand with the dispersals between the runway and this location.
Within the technical area several buildings survive including a Robin type aircraft hangar (NH 71792 61134), which has now been completely reclad, a water tower (NH 71615 61058), wooden hut to the rear of the farm range (NH 71596 61080) with several of the farm buildings which were utilised by the military. A new house stands on the site of what may have been a group of seven or eight huts, buildings or cottages at NH 71611 61008, visible on vertical air photographs taken in 1947 (CPE/Scot/UK 223, frames 3121 - 3122, flown 27 June 1947).
At NH 71872 61199 is a stone built cottage, now ruinous, which has been extended by the addition of a small brick built building immediately to the SW at NH 71859 61190. Both buildings were utilised by the RAF during World War II.
The main runway was N of Upper Whitebog farmsteading and ran from NH 71289 60215 to NH 72558 61136 covering an area of about 35.73 hectares. The runway is visible on a vertical air photograph taken in 1946 (106G/Scot/UK 112, frame 3075, flown 23 may 1946), which shows an area lacking in field boundaries trending WSW to ENE of some 1,573m in length. It is known that Upper Whitebog farmhouse (NH 72166 60459) was requisitioned as the officers mess during WW II (pers comm Mrs MacKenzie, Upper Whitebog farm to RCAHMS 29 October 2008) as was the row of cottages presently annotated on OS digital maps as 'The Cottages'.
The dispersal area occupied an area of about 48 hectares from NH 71321 60569 to NH 72373 61383 from WSW to ENE. The vertical air photographs (1946 and 1947) show that the within the dispersal area were at least seven triangular concrete blocks, one large hard standing at c.NH 7139 6051 and a rectangular feature with eight small divisions at c.NH 7143 6081. Several of the triangular concrete blocks which apparently provided mooring points for aircraft survive in the fields to the S of Blackstand farmsteading (pers comm Mrs MacKenzie).
Visited by RCAHMS (DE), 29 October 2008 <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	NH 7193 6065 (point)
Map sheet	NH76SW
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY
Civil Parish	CROMARTY

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