An impromptu day out doing cinema and shopping at Festival Park in Stoke, soon morphed into an impromptu day out at the seaside when Marianne took stock of the rare nice weather outside on Monday 20th July 2009. Off to Llandudno it was, and therefore the outing was loaded with a couple of “agendas”.
We did all the “stuff” first - McDonalds on the A55, Llandudno Pier, amusements, drinks etc - before returning to the car and heading for the Marine Drive. This toll road is £2.50 to access, but it is rather spectacular, and a route up the Orme that is somewhat easier on the radiator!
I have to say, I was not impressed by the hospitality at the Summit Complex. Marianne found a sign on the cafe saying “Toilets closed, more toilets in the visitor centre”. Down at the visitor centre, she was turned away by a member of staff, bluntly uttering the word “Closed” at her. Llandudno seems quieter every year we visit, and if this is how they treat tourists and day-trippers, it’s little wonder!
I therefore aimed to make it a fairly snappy activation. I had never done HF on Great Orme GW/NW-070 before, so I strung up the 40m dipole and spotted myself. Jimmy walked off to the trig point and called on his handheld - until it went out of charge. He returned to my operating position, sheltering from the stiff wind by a brick cuboid, and borrowed my VX-7R to complete his activation.
Contacts came thick and fast for me on 40m CW, and I was soon packing away after 13 QSOs in 15 minutes, including no less than eight DLs. After packing away, I checked on Jimmy’s progress. He had struggled, but was at that point completing his fifth QSO.
In order to get our £2.50’s worth, we took the descent road back to the Marine Drive, and continued around to the West Shore of the peninsular. In Deganwy, we pulled in at a large pub for a coffee before heading off back to Macclesfield. We were impressed by the food quality and portion sizes of the impressive meals being served, and subsequently amazed to see prices typically of the £3.99 order for these feasts. Inconveniently, we were all still a bit full up from the late McDonalds lunch earlier, but a note was made for future reference.
No soup on this one. Many thanks to all who called in.
Tom M1EYP