GI/CA
Well we’ve opened our account with an activation of Carrigatuke GI/CA-003, with many callers on 80m CW and SSB. I don’t know when we’ll be back in GI, but the intention would be to complete the Mournes (GI/MM) where we have 5 down, 12 to go.
A bonus would be to do some GI/CA as well. It is interesting to note that three out of the five CA summits have never been activated, despite appearing on maps to be very close to the others. I then found out that they house British army installations and are considered ‘no-go’ areas.
Not overly troubled by that(!), I decided to find out more. The results are that the British ‘look-out’ posts were being decommissioned in 2006 and the land returned to greenbelt. This is certainly the case with Camlough Mountain GI/CA-002 and Croslieve GI/CA-004, although I am not sure about Tievecrom GI/CA-005. I haven’t been able to ascertain whether this procress is complete or not as of yet.
However, these further investigations revealed a further problem - crime! It seems that Southern Armagh is nicknamed “Bandit Country” for a reason! Most reports and resources refer to the continuing problem of vandalism and theft to cars left in the visitor car parks for Slieve Gullion GI/CA-001 and other places in the forest.
I will keep an eye and ear out for updated infromation, but if access is now available on the CA summits, I should certainly like to visit them. Perhaps using the local bus services to travel to and within the area would be wise though!
Tom M1EYP