Tuesday 2nd October 2018 - Gun G/SP-013 & The Cloud G/SP-015
No gig - night off!
A mid-morning amble up to the trig point on Gun. A few minutes operating on 2m FM on the HT. Three QSOs.
That evening, it was activity night, meaning an activation of The Cloud. Any intentions to meep Barry GM4TOE to set up a nice DX 2m QSO were thwarted when my smartphone ran out of charge early into the activation. I had remembered to charge up the Tracer battery and the Petzl headtorch - but not my phone - doh!
It was definitely feeling colder, but I managed to stick it out for the full 3.5 hours. Not a bad old VHF activation - 117 QSOs on 2m.
6 DXCCs: G, GW, GD, GI, GM & F.
18 QRAs: IN99, IO64, 74, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, JO00, 01, 02, 03.
Friday 5th October 2018 - Walton Hill G/CE-002
Gig: Joe Longthorne
Venue: Marina Theatre, Lowestoft
Walton Hill was a “bit out of the way” for the ‘commute’ from Macclesfield to Lowestoft. However, when I looked at it from a purely financial perspective, it would cost me no more than £10 of extra diesel. Suddenly that looked good value to indulge in SOTAing, so I went for it.
I set off pretty much immediately after waking up that morning - Lowestoft is so far away that it is closer to most places in Holland than most places in England! The run down the M6 was pretty clear, and a 15 minute jam on the M5 in Birmingham didn’t do too much damage.
I parked in the usual car park on Walton Hill Road in the Clent Hills, not far from J3 of the M5. I felt confident to “wing it” with just the handheld carried, so left the rucksack, pole, battery, 817 etc in the car. I felt I needed to leave as much slack time as possible in the bank with a couple of hundred miles still to cover across to East Anglia.
Contacts seemed slow to arrive on Walton Hill, but I’d got the four in the logbook inside fifteen minutes of operating. It seemed everyone I spoke to was in, or heading to, Great Malvern. Which was funny because that’s where the sound crew for that night’s gig were coming from!
Furthermore, having descended and started to drive again, I heard a CQ SOTA call on my mobile rig. It was Phil G4HQB/P who was, of course, on Worcestershire Beacon G/WB-009 - which for those who don’t know, is the summit that towers above Great Malvern!
I pulled into the car park at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft just about in time, but rather ‘last minute’. No problem though, because the musical director’s motor pulled in just after I did! We all went for a Wetherspoons fish & chips tea after soundcheck, before doing the concert.
I’d opted for Cambridge YHA for my overnight accommodation. It was nice and cheap at £15 (plus £5.63 for a full breakfast), plus I figured it would get me a few miles in towards my following evening’s gig in Lancashire. It also had a 24 hour reception, so no need to check in before my gig. I was a little taken aback when I got in the car, put the postcode in the satnav to reveal a distance of 85 miles to get there! It seems Lowestoft is nowhere near anywhere!
Saturday 6th October 2018 - White Hill G/SP-006
Gig: Motown Gold
Venue: The Outbarn, Waddington, near Clitheroe
After a hearty breakfast at Cambridge youth hostel, I hit the road. The route covered a good distance up the A1, before a stretch along the M62 followed by a tedious route across Bradford and Keighley.
White Hill isn’t one I make a habit of doing annually - it is the opposite end of the SP region from my home QTH, and it is a bobbins hill with a dreary soggy route. However, I’d reached the point of being just two hills from an annual G/SP completion, and it was very close to my gig. Easington Fell G/SP-012 was even closer - almost on the doorstep - but I’d already activated that one in 2018.
I parked the car at the Cross of Greet layby on the Bentham to Slaidburn road, and entered the access land through the gate opposite. The “ascent” was much flatter than I’d recalled - but also much boggier. I knew it was boggy of course - I’d just forgotten how relentlessy boggy it was!
False summits tricked me, drew me in, then laughed in my face on several occasions in the second half of the ascent. One in particular had me eagerly anticipating the trig point as the horizon loomed close, narrowing dramatically - only to reveal a further 2km of uphill sloggery once I’d peered over it.
The ascent took me about an hour, so I factored in what time I needed to start descending in time to check into the hostel and get to my gig. It wasn’t very long at all. Hence I decided to try and get away with a handheld-only qualification once again, even though this time I’d carried up all the kit.
Six contacts were recorded, all 2m FM except one - Geoff G6MZX - who called me in C4FM (Fusion) mode. I got back down and drove to Slaidburn YHA. Reception would close at 10pm, so I needed to check in and collect the late access code. While there, I decided I might as well have a shower and get changed into my gig suit, as the venue was only a further 6 miles down the road. I was chuffed to hear the volunteer warden utter those magic words “There’s just you in that dormitory tonight”!
After a couple of hours pumping out the Motown classics for a very enthusiastic and appreciative crowd, I said goodnight to my bandmates, and made my way back up to Slaidburn for a very comfortable and restful night’s sleep.
Sunday 7th October 2018 - Ward’s Stone G/SP-003 & Winter Hill G/SP-010
Gig: Joe Longthorne
Venue: Viva Blackpool
It had been a cold night in Slaidburn and there was ice on the car windows as I walked across the road from the hostel to the Hark to Bounty pub. I’d heard the pub would be open for breakfast from 8am, so decided this would be the perfect start to the day. I fancied a change, so went for the Bouny Rarebit - cheese on toast with a couple of poached eggs and baked beans.
Even at breakfast, I was minded towards a new (for me) approach to Ward’s Stone - from the Jubilee Tower car park to the west, and via Grit Fell. I researched several reports online, and it eventually dawned on me that the usual approach up the track from Tarnbrook would be infinitely more enjoyable.
I parked on a patch of grass in Tarnbrook, a tiny farming hamlet up a long cul-de-sac. From here, two thirds of the route is along a good Land Rover track, eventually leading to a shooters lodge. I’m sure there used to be a “No entry to walkers” sign at the entrance to this last section of track, necessitating some rough walking on the fells to either side. Anyway, this time, there was no sign of any such sign, so I pressed on ahead.
This was good, because it meant a good track to cover another 20m of ascent, leading onto a rough but clear shooter’s path snaking up the fellside past a succession of grouse butts. It was just the final half mile or so that became a vague trek uphill on pathless terrain, but the ground was firm and the going easy. In fact it had been a delightfully enjoyable walk - much better than I remembered it.
I had a bit of time to spare this time, so I decided to visit both trig points on the summit plateau. First I headed across to the higher (561m) trig to the east, before switching back to the 560m trig towards the west, and very close to some rocks that offer good shelter.
I set up the 20m GP, using the large rocks to provide important shelter from the stiff breeze. This was necessary to keep the mast in one piece - and keep the operator from freezing to death! Yes, winter is definitely on its way!
It was a great activation on the radio.
35 QSOs:
20m CW: 12 QSOs, including S2S with EA6/DJ5AA/P on EA6/MA-066.
20m SSB: 16 QSOs, including S2S with S56KVJ/P on S5/GS-006, LZ1GJ/P on LZ/RO-057, OM/SQ9MDF/P on OM/ZA-106 & HB9GUA/P on HB/AG-012.
2m FM: 6 QSOs, including S2S with Viki M6BWA/P & Rod M0JLA/P on G/LD-011.
70cm FM: 1 QSO - S2S with Viki M6BWA/P on G/LD-011.
Now it was time to pack up and reverse my walk back to Tarnbrook.
I completed my reccy of the summit plateau by visiting the curious installation right on its west end. This comprised a windmill, a couple of solar panels, and a metal enclosure, assumed to be housing a generator.
I’d memorised a view to the SE of a little peak standing between two larger hills, as a target for getting back to the track. This worked out, and landed me at the top turning circle just above the shooters lodge.
From here it was an easy and pleasurable walk down the rest of the track to Tarnbrook and my car. I was nice and early for soundcheck by the time I got to Blackpool, and more than ready for my Sunday roast carvery dinner afterwards!
The guys in the band all went for a wander down to the Layton Rakes (Wetherspoons) pub as we usually do during the first half (house cabaret & stand-up comedian) of the show for a natter and a pint of ale (just the one!). As we walked back to the gig venue, my Fitbit tracker indicated 17,000 steps for the day.
As is becoming usual for me, after the gig I drove home via the M61, with a little detour to Winter Hill. A short walk on the access roads on the summit with my handheld resulted in a 2 QSO activation on 2m FM. I then returned to my car with the intention of taking a 30 minute nap then walking back up to activate again after midnight UTC (1am BST).
Monday 8th October 2018 - Winter Hill G/SP-010
Ha! Some “half-hour nap” that was - it was past 6am when I woke up! I wandered back up to the summit with the handheld, confident of there being a bit of activity from the early risers. I was wrong. There was hardly any.
There was at least a regular chap often on at that time of a morning. I managed to manipulate an exchange of callsigns and reports between his observations of all that is wrong with the world.
So another leg of the tour is complete. The next one starts tomorrow - and I’m quickly running out of summits. The radius of pointless repeats is set to extend to unprecedented levels…