I won’t be able to make it tomorrow unfortunately. Stuff on at home. Today was clear, but the weather in Stretton is awful - just been to the shops and got soaked. Really windy too.
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I can’t make it tomorrow either, family time. Lashing rain in Shrewsbury today, with local flooding…
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I’ve put out alerts for Pole Bank and the Caradoc, I’ll be there. Timings very rough as I plan to base in Church Stretton and hike to each.
Hopefully catch you on the radio tomorrow,
Jared 2E0JFJ
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I’ll be out…
- My early December antagonised slipped disc from 2015 seems cured
- The time-share dog will not be here and wont need walking
- I need some proper post-Advent excess exercise
And look at the forecast!!!
Only one word to describe that… Scorchio 
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That would also describe your car journey to get you from up there to Church Stretton in time for the social…
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Yes, at the speed limit it would take 5hr 6mins.
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Ah yes, but the G/WB region has a history of tardis-level transport speeds. Now if you could tap into that…
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Gerald @G4OIG seems to think we have tardis transport speeds down in Galloway when I drove him to Kirriereoch. I had the car in ECO where the throttle is muted, i.e. the when the pedal is at 75% depressed the throttle is only open 25%. And the oil temperature was cool. And the tyres were cold. And it was quite wet. Not conducive for giving it the beans 
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Well I’m a slow driver anyway I think. Whenever I get an ETA from my satnav / AA journey planner etc, I increase it by 50%.
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I’m in. Plans are a to be determined number of the Famous Five followed by a definite visit to Mr Bun at 3.30pm.
Contrary to my usual preference for HF CW I’m planning to focus on 2M FM. In the spirit of the event for S2S. But also to hopefully enable reasonably swift activations given the potential for rain and multiple summits. Will also have HF with me though - as it looks like @MM0FMF will be out maybe finally get that elusive MS0TA - M5OTA QSO?
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I’ve alerted for 1230 I’ll have 40m cw/ssb but will probably play on the higher HF bands. PM sent as well.
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It’s been a nice morning and I got all my three intended summits activated and qualified. The wx for the afternoon is poor though so any temptation to squeeze a 4th summit in is dampened - literally and metaphorically.
I’m going to head down to the bakery now, so should be in there before 2pm. I’ll hang around to try to see everyone, but if anyone else also wants to sit out the afternoon rain, I’ll be there shortly.
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It was not Scorchio. It was 95% grey cloud 
Talking to a mountain biker on the summit he too wanted to know where his promised sunshine and blue sky was. 1C on top, -2C on the drive home, 0C as I parked in the drive.
Myself and Tony M5OTA (@M5OTA ) failed in our M5OTA <> MS0TA QSO as the WX was poor on his 1st summit and he did a quick activation on his second. This callsign madness QSO will be rescheduled for 2024
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Ditto here (GW/NW).
Forecast yesterday was saying clear skies, sunshine, 0% chance of rain. I ended up getting soaked on the way down from my summit and not managing to catch any of the GF summits.
Temperature had dropped to 3 degrees at the Ponderosa so probably 1-2 degrees on the summit 
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Normal Usage - Hot, Sunny, temperatures over 25 Celsius
Variation - Scotland - Less than 3 feet of drifting snow…
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That wasn’t me that was Chris KQ2RP.
There’s no way anyone can be M5xxx and be located in Scotland. Sadly this will happen a lot when the UK licence is updated and we no longer are required to use the strange secondary locators.
I did hear him calling me but he was weak and faded away and we never made a QSO.
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SOTA Gaulfest
Corndon Hill GW/MW-013
A steep but short climb this one. Despite the Christmas indulgences, the early start and the lack of sleep, I seemed to find this ascent easier than ever before!
Stiperstones G/WB-003
A gentle 20 minute walk up from the NNR car park. The weather continued to stay clear and dry, so I was getting the summits done while I could. The forecast had deteriorated overnight and I knew to expect a period of rain at some point.
Long Mynd-Pole Bank G/WB-005
I took the most direct and short route from the road, meeting Jared 2E0JFJ as I reached the summit; he was just packing up and leaving.
4 QSOs on 2m FM with the handheld was what happened on each of the three summits! Gaulfest S2S or chaser (from /M) contacts were as follows:
M(W)7DBB/P on Corndon Hill GW/MW-013, & Stiperstones G/WB-003.
Jared 2E0JFJ/P on Titterstone Clee Hill G/WB-004, Long Mynd-Pole Bank G/WB-005 & Caer Caradoc G/WB-006.
Tony M5OTA/P on Titterstone Clee Hill G/WB-004, & Brown Clee Hill G/WB-002.
Kevin M0KXN/P on Brown Clee Hill G/WB-002.
Peter GB5ANT/A on Cyrn-y-Brain GW/NW-043.
The rain came later than expected meaning that I got all my summit plans completed during the morning, but the afternoon was a washout - so I went to Mr Bun the Bakers, Church Stretton earlier than planned. Kevin and Jared joined me soon after, but Tony only made it just before 4pm - and moments after Kevin and Jared had set off home.
Good event - thanks to Jimmy M0HGY for organising even if not participating!
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Nice to make contact. Glad you got your fourth on Stiperstones: heard you calling quite a bit.
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Thanks for writing up such a good summary of the day Tom. It was good to catch up. I’m glad that you made it home.
My day started with unexpectedly pleasant weather.
I spoke to lots of friends from a comfortable Helinox ground chair with a flask of tea and some Welsh cakes.
I spent some time in a flappy red nylon bag while it rained.
And then it started to sleet while I packed up.
I have lots of wet gear hanging up but I remained warm and dry which is a testament to how well NikWax TX direct spray works on tired waterproofs.
Thanks to everyone who called in. Sorry I didn’t manage to get on the key.
73, Kevin
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