G4YSS: G/NP-005 Ingleborough on 2m-FM, 27-05-26
Issue-1 pse rprt errors
Activation of INGLEBOROUGH G/NP-005 using 2m-FM QRO on Wednesday afternoon, 27th May 2026
All times: BST (UTC plus 1hr, UOS as ‘z’)
EQUIPMENT:
FT1500 2m-FM 50W mobile transceiver
J-Pole for 2m-FM and a short mast
HRB 11.1V/ 5 Ah Li-Po (No9) battery in ‘as new’ condition
VX150 2m-FM, 5W H/H (not used)
UV-3R H/H. 2-Band, 2W-FM in top pocket (not used)
Garmin GEKO-301 GPS
Pack weight: 9.5kg (21 pounds) inc regular fleece
INTRODUCTION:
This was the third activation of a 1-week holiday at Bramaskew Farm B&B 2-miles north of Sedbergh. This place was new to us but I can readily recommend it especially if you like good home cooking and have a good appetite. It’s a sheep farm run by Janet & James and located at the end of a track off Howgill Road in very picturesque surroundings.
EXECUTION:
My XYL was looking for a lazy day today so there was no morning outing to sample the wares of various coffee shops etc. Neither could I interest her in the Dent Heritage Centre. Oh well, I had to face it. I would just have to entertain myself and after thinking about it for about a minute, Ingleborough was chosen.
I set off on the drive to Newby Foot Farm, which was today’s start point 4km SSW of NP5, at around 11am passing travellers and Gypsy caravans on the Sedbergh to Kirkby Lonsdale road. Luckily they weren’t going my way so delays were minimal but not so on the return. The journey took 47 minutes; the ascent starting at 12:13 in 21C with a stronger breeze than on previous days.
I would have got away nearer noon but a car stopped and a fellow walked over to ask where were the waterfalls? He pointed up the farm track I was about to walk up but I assured him that there were no waterfalls and barely any streams up that way. He showed me the route on hos phone but it was only Google. I implored him to take a photo of my map and suggested he try the route up from Clapham. It’s 1968 since I was up that way so I couldn’t tell him whether there were waterfalls or not, saying, ‘I don’t do waterfalls, only mountains.’
ROUTE to NP5:
Key waypoints for the ascent are: Start point at Newby Cote Farm cross-roads SD 7319 7053, 216m ASL. Then north up the farm track SD 73334 70846 (bear left); SD 73375 70968 (pass a wall corner); SD 73366 71003; SD 73432 71208; SD 73762 71791; SD 74019 72623 (cross a minor beck); SD 74137 73091 (cairn); SD 74249 73419 (ruin); SD 74276 73432 (join the path from Clapham) and SD 74284 74015; SD 74291 73517 (Little Ingleborough shelter). The trig point is at SD 74120 74562 and the shelter is 40 metres to the North at SD 74130 74600. As I remember it, there’s a second minor shelter at SD 74100 74619.
For the most part, the path is evenly graded and passes over grass until Little Ingleborough
where it joins the popular path coming up from Clapham via Trow Gill and Gaping Gill. Compared to some of the steep approaches to this mountain, it’s a relatively painless way to ascend the required 500m but as the wooden sign at the start reveals, at 2.5 miles (4km), it’s still a fair distance. Not only that but the sign is significantly optimistic as it works out further.
When descending it’s worth noting that the marker cairn for the path off the summit plateau (important in cloud), is at SD 7438 7453. If you miss the right fork on the way down you’ll end up in Clapham. Look for a minor path which passes to the right of the ruin at SD 7425 7342.
Though this path is reasonably well defined, it is possible to lose it especially with snow cover, in the dark or in fog, so I now have 23 marked waypoints in the GPS.
This route doesn’t really do justice to a characterful mountain. If you want the real thing, choose a different route such as from the B6255 at the Hill Inn, Chapel-le-Dale. However if you prefer a benign, albeit fairly long walk, which is never really steep, this is it. It’s also quiet.
INGLEBROUGH HILL, G/NP-005, 724m, 6 pts. 08:37 to 10:26. 17C, sunny with a 15mph breeze. LOC: IO84TD, WAB: SD77, Trig: TP-4102. Good EE phone signal.
The J-Pole was set up with the mast wedged into a small cairn on the leeward side of the Hill Fort. There were far too many people about to set up in the shelter, which is why I chose this much less comfortable position. After moving two rocks to form a seat overlooking the west side, I settled myself down for the activation.
Just after I spotted myself two young ladies came to sit down right in front of me and started with their picnic. I worried that they’d had made a big error and that my activities would disturb them. In the event, they were so busy talking and looking at the stunning view that I don’t think they really noticed. They were soon on their way.
145.400 FM - 25 QSO’s:
After the self spot a CQ on S20 immediately got back Mick M0PVA in Billington, 2 x 59. We moved to .400 and chatted for a short while to give the chasers something to net onto and assemble – or so it was hoped. NP5 is high and well placed so more callers could be expected compared with NP’s 15 and 18 of previous days. Once again Mick worried if I had plenty of water so I told him about the pre-hydration technique I’ve used over the years.
G8KBH and G6AEK called simultaneously. They’re are both called Dave and both live ‘near Knott-End-on-Sea.’ 59’s all round. Presently there was what you’d call a pileup, a kind of mishmash of callers with little audible. In it I heard G7SXR Mark in Leeds and we swapped 59’s. Later in the activation Mark came back in with an experiment. He was hearing my 25W from inside his house just on a handheld with a telescopic whip but could he actually work me with this arrangement? Yes he could! He was scratchy as you’d expect but we exchanged 52/ 55! Surprising.
M3SSS was next. Sean was hearing me 59 on a dipole in Cleveleys, as I remember a place you can walk to on the beach from Blackpool. G7WKK Simon called from Liverpool and we swapped 59’s. I mentioned that I once lived there as a student, just off the Prescott Road but that was 1972.
By now I was having to move a bit quicker than my usual sedate speed. There were two, three or even four answering CQ’s or tail-ending. I find the best way is to keep asking until all the callsigns or parts thereof are jotted down in the log. After reading them all back, if I remember I’ll ask if anybody has ‘a bus to catch in the next 5 minutes?’ Usually nobody is that desperate but occasionally I have saved a man getting into serious trouble with an impatiently waiting XYL who wants to be taken to the supermarket. In this case no one was in that predicament so after reading all the particulars, including my name I worked through the following stations:
G0PMJ in Darlington – 57/ 53 but not feeling that great after having overdone it again in the garden. It was a bit warm for gardening! M7DOX Andy in Allerton (Bradford) using an FT70D handheld feeding a J-Pole mounted on a pole. Then M0XLT Kevin in Gargrave lamented that he was screened from most SOTA’s including NP5 (55/ 54). I first worked Kevin from White Hill SOTA SP6 on 28th December 2003 so when I mentioned to him that ‘we go back a long way’ it was truly accurate.
M0XUP/M Steve called me from the M6 ‘nr the M58 junction’ travelling south. He mentioned Maryport as a destination and also Dearham, his home QTH. At first I thought that he must be stationary. There was no flutter or engine noise and not the slightest whine from the alternator that you sometimes hear. Obviously he doesn’t run a car like mine!
G4ADF was next. Having been in aviation, I see Ian’s callsign as a piece of avionic equipment which makes it very memorable. It was 56/ 35 into Wigan but on increasing the power to 50 Watts I got back a 56. Ian gave me the heads up on a SOTA NP event on Saturday 25th July.
G0IYT is the callsign of Colin 8 miles NE of Blackpool. He was using 25W to a tri-band collinear – 2x 59.
A station I’ve worked with my handheld while walking on Irton Moor near my home was G4DUZ. Keith nonchalantly gives his QTH as ‘Huddersfield’ but it’s not the full story. He has a great ASL to the east of the town. We swapped 59’s and I logged IO93EO.
Continuing on: M8GYO Alan in Ormskirk was the second experimenter of the day. He gave me a 55 and then transmitted with three different powers. He was 52 with 1W; 54 with 5W and 57 with 25W. In terms of dB and all that good stuff, it doesn’t strictly make sense but my meter doesn’t have a proper scale so I have to guess.
M0SSD was next - George in Dalton-in-Furness. I regret I had to rush this QSO and subsequent due to another mini pileup. Apologies. G5WSW gave me 52 for his 57 from Barnsley and the name of Wayne. He also sent me a very colourful QSL card via the email system. Thank you Wayne.
MW0SZR Adrian called in with 50W from Queensferry in North Wales 57/ 52. After looking in his log I was told that we’d worked on 28-12-24 when I was on Helvellyn. That was before I did-in my Achilles. M7GDE Andy from Kippax gave me ‘55 to 59 with flutter.’ I suspected the effect of the wind on the joints in my antenna whip but on the next over Andy noted that I was now steady. He put it down to local overloading at his QTH which is part of Leeds. Andy is part of the local messaging system along with Mark G7SXR, Dave G0PMJ and another op he described as ‘ALA?’ Amongst other things, this system is used to alert SOTA and it has benefited me a time or two.
I was called by GM0SCA/P from the summit of Tinto GM/SS-064/ IO85EP. Simon was 53 to me but I got back ‘57 – easy copy.’ He was in the company of Robert GM4GUF who was holding up the antenna. The latter was connected to an IC705 running 10W. This was Simon’s second time on Tinto and I got the impression what he was fairly new to SOTA. If so, ‘Welcome!’
A callsign I used to work regularly but not any more was GM3GUX John in Anglesey. ‘Where have you been John?’ He explained that he couldn’t activate any more due to health reasons and rarely chases. He got to half an MG then had to give up. It’ll happen to us all one day but it’s very sad. On the good side, he can still walk 3 or 4 miles on the flat. John was in the shack fitting a computer fan to a 2m rig that was ‘getting very hot.’ I know the feeling. I put a finger on my FT1500 but the limit was three seconds. It must be quite a while as he didn’t recognize my call but did have some recollection of the club call I used up to 2020 – GX0OOO/P.
Moving on after a late lunch – one bag of crisps: G4KCP (ex G8FTW if I heard it correctly?) Reports were 57/ 59 and I received ‘Don in Wigan.’ Don told me that he used to do UHF satellite working and like myself, regretted the way VHF and UHF had gone in recent years. I mentioned my home of Scarborough and the lack of 2m activity there. He’d been to the WW2 naval battles in Peasholm Park, Scarborough twice but the visits were decades apart. ‘Nowadays it’s a woke battle.’ I can’t say, I haven’t seen it for many years but the way things are going nowadays, I can easily imagine.
My time was almost up so I had to log the final four quite quickly: M0JFE John in Fleetwood 59 / 59; M6KWB Kelly south of Blackpool 57/ 59; G4CLE Trevor ‘on an 830’ (if I heard right) in West Lancs and G0UXC Peter at Rainhill, Merseyside.
After 1.5 hours of FM at 25W and one QSO with 50, the 5Ah battery was likely close to flat anyway. Whether or not, I had to pack up and go down. The B&B evening meal was booked for 6pm.
The Descent:
The walk down took from 15:46 to 16:49 and it was a bit wearing towards the end where it gets steeper on the farm track. I haven’t had much in the way of knee trouble in the past but my left one hurt a bit today. After having turned off the Clapham path on Little Ingleborough, I saw no other walkers. I used to activate three or more NP’s in one day but that era has gone; NP5 was enough on it’s own.
COMMENTS:
This was the highest altitude achieved since the injury but I’m careful where I put my feet with special attention to the angle. The distraction before the start made me forget my post Achilles accessory - sticks. By the time I realized I was too far up the hill to go back.
It was another breathtaking day weather-wise with spectacular views once onto the top of the mountain. As I type this, the WX has taken a dip. The heat and evaporation has brought thunder but that looks temporary.
I tried to get away from the crowds, for their sake as much as my own but had this been a cold day I would have suffered sitting on the old fort, partially in the brisk airstream.
Ingleborough’s summit plateau is a large area and you only get the views when near the edges. Another thing about the place is that when the time comes to leave it can be hard to
find the ‘exit.’ You really need a GPS or a compass to get you to the right descent path, particularly if it happens to be foggy, which is often up there.
2m-FM went far and wide. NP5 became the top scorer of the week so far but unlike NP18, when I logged the NE a few times I only got Dave in Darlington this time.
I tried to put in a decent time, only stopping for the odd photo but it was a bit longer than in the past. Mostly it’s not very steep and therefore easier to keep a constant speed, albeit quite slow. Unexpectedly I was quicker than pre-Blackpool Rally in 2023.
More and more I appreciate the beloved high places but gradually the memories fade. You want to take a chunk of them home for later but the best you can do is a few photoraphs and a log sheet. You can’t re-feel the wind, the rain or the snow in your face, the roughness of the path, the texture of the rocks between your fingers when it gets really steep or the camaraderie of the people you meet on the way or work on the radio. Such is life but you grab it while you can.
ASCENT & DISTANCE:
510m (1,673ft) ascent, 9.6 km (6 miles)
Walking times: 79 min up/ 63 min down
Summit time: 2hrs-14min
QSO’s:
25 on 2m-FM
SOTA Points: 6
THANKS:
To ALL STATIONS worked and the SOTA spotting service.
73, John G4YSS/P
Photos: 1-2-5-7-9-10-15-16-18-22-25-34-37-151351p-151524p-151519p-153447p-40-41-44-45-46-47-48
Above: A short way up the Newby Cote Farm track. Ladder stile onto open fell
Above: The notice ref Ingleborough: Birds, Sheep, Dogs etc
Above: Little Ingleborough just peeping over at top of photo.
This is typical of the path for most of the way but it steepens toward the point where it joins the path from Clapham.
Above: Tragedy in a bog. Three trapped and long-dead sheep
Above: The only people I saw on this path
Above: Path marker cairn
Above: Looking back. Meeting the Clapham path (left of photo) from the Newby Cote path-head (right of photo). This right fork can be hard to find on the descent
Above: View of Ingleborough looking north from Little Ingleborough
Above: Now on the Clapham path with NP5 ahead
Above: The final approach to the summit plateau NP5
Above: A busy shelter
Above: A small cairn for the mast. Ingleborough Hill fort
Above: The two young ladies who sat down for lunch after I set up.
Above: Looking back to the shelter from the hill fort
Above: Looking over the western lip
Above: Walkers coming up the western side
Above: QRT
Above: J-Pole for 2m
Above: Part of the hill fort ruin
Above: On the way down. Path heading S to Little Ingleborough
Above: Little Ingleborough shelter or ruin? Just after this, bear right onto the path back to Newby Cote Farm …
Above: …around here
Above: The long path back
Above: Back at Newby Cote Farm crossroads and the transport