As has been well documented here, the SOTA summit of Upper Park (GW/MW-032) sits within a private estate, and individual access had previously been almost impossible to obtain.
A change in approach — whereby access was requested on a group basis, managed by someone local (@GW4BML), relieving the estate of any administrative burden and accompanied by a sizeable charitable donation — saw today mark the third group-organised activation of Upper Park.
The summit draws not only SOTA activators but also members of the Relative Hills Society, and the estate ‘kindly’ forwarded their requests to be included in today’s group. We ended up with 12 SOTA activators and 20 members of the RHS — quite the gathering.
On arrival, I noticed a large number of cars and an even larger number of dogs. We were not the only group making use of the estate that day; the Mid Wales Working Gundog Society were also in attendance, holding their retriever tests nearby.
With Ben away on holiday on the Isle of Arran, I was asked to host the group for the day. I welcomed everyone on arrival and once the group was assembled, ran through the plan, timings, and a few reminders.
A group photograph was then kindly taken by Nic (M5NIC) before we set off.
The walk up passed quickly — I lost track of time entirely, having fallen into conversation with various people along the way — and before long we arrived at the expansive activation zone. There was little shelter from the wind, which had noticeably picked up by this point.
The RHS members headed into the woodland to claim their hill, while the SOTA activators spread out across the large activation zone and began setting up their stations.
Band conditions proved challenging. I could see Gerald @G4OIG spotted on 7.085, but couldn’t make out so much as a hint of a voice — nothing at all. I finished the activation with just a single SSB contact on 40m, GM3ZRT, who also happened to be the same contact Simon @G7WKX made. The remainder of my QSOs came via 2m FM.
Others reported mixed results across FM, SSB and CW, with Jared seemingly having made the wisest call of the day by bringing an 80m setup. Despite the difficult conditions, every activator qualified the summit — and some even managed a Complete!
As people began making their way back down, whether heading on to another summit or starting the journey home, I managed to grab a couple of pictures of the class of 2026.
All in all, a thoroughly satisfying morning on the hill — made all the better for sharing it with fellow SOTA activators once again.
73, Robert
