Hi,
Just like to say thank you to all the chasers who made my activation of Pole Bank earlier today a success.
I had originally intended to activate this summit and another one in the afternoon, but time and temperature beat me, I’m afraid.
The plan was to take the old Land Rover to the car park near to the summit and have a gentle stroll to the trig point. However, when we got to Church Stretton, we were greeted with a Road Closed due to ice sign. Damn.
It was a long and arduous climb out of Church Stretton for me and Jill, my wife. The steep road was clearly covered in solid, compacted snow and ice making walking difficult. We also under-estimated the distance and time involved, but were on the summit and ready for a cq at about 12.00
Tried 40m ssb at 15 Watts via my linked di-pole.
My thanks to : ON4CAP, OE6WIP, M0COP, DL3HXX, HB9AGH, HB9BIN, IZ4RCQ, DF9GH, M6LEP, ES5GP, ON5QRP, HB9CGA, G0RQL, GI4SRQ, DL2HWI and SM6CMU.
The wind and wind chill eventually beat us, with Mrs. STQ starting to get very cold.
Appologies if I missed anyone…hopefully this did not occur. I also struggled to hear call signs today…put that down to the cold wind, rather than my age!
By the time we arrived back at Church Stretton it was after 2.00pm. The trip down seemed worse than the walk up - the ice in places is horrendous.
Decided to go and have a cuppa and a cake, to warm Jill up - hence just the one activation today.
Still, always another day.
Once again - thank you,
73’s John
Sounds like you worked for those winter bonus points. 
Thanks for the activation.
In reply to G1STQ:
It was a shame someone removed your spot as there were a few other chasers about, You may have got a few more of the regulars calling in,
Still your are home safe and sound which is the main thing .
G0TRB
In reply to G0TRB:
The spot was there when I listened but couldn’t hear John - the skip was too long, I could hear people working him. I will make enquiries about why the spot was removed, it could only have been the spotter or a member of the MT.
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
why the spot was removed
My (admittedly sometimes flakey) memory says it was a self-spot, so maybe John removed it when he shut down and packed up?
listened but couldn’t hear John
The band was playing games this afternoon; I listened to a few QSOs where I could barely hear John, and then something shifted, and he came through five and nine.
In reply to M6LEP:
Jill was getting too cold, having got a bit sweaty during the walk up and then sitting in the wind at the summit.
Last contact at 12.32 and I called cq for a further 5 minutes to make sure I had not missed anyone. No further stations heard (band conditions were strange) and closed down station at 12.39 and removed my spot.
(Pressed the wrong button on my Blackberry and deleted spot - too cold to respot qrt)
Hope that makes sense. John
In reply to G1STQ:
I put this article on the summit page a couple of weeks ago. http://www.sotawatch.org/article.php?summit=G/WB-005&id=4202
If you can get to the hamlet of Medlicott at all then you can have a lovely walk up the western side of the Long Mynd. The road onto the Mynd seems to be closed every time we have a few days of winter weather so I suggest this alternative. I’ll probably go there again in January.
73
David M0YDH
In reply to G1STQ:
(Pressed the wrong button on my Blackberry and deleted spot - too cold
to respot qrt) Hope that makes sense.
Yeah, figured it’d be something like that; it’s easy to press the wrong button when your fingers have gone numb… Thanks again for the activation. 
In reply to G1STQ:
Hi John,
pity you did not read the thread below as it may have pre-warned you!!
http://www.sotawatch.org/reflector.php?topic=5086#41604
Glad you made it up and down and I agree the 3 extra points were well deserved!!
73
Tony