Botheration, Tom, I missed your Spot by minutes-I worked Craig at 11.25 then shut down to do something else. I saw your Spot at noon, by which time you must have gone QRT. Never mind, I’ll catch you again!
Another “walk from home” activation in order to be ‘squeaky clean’ in regards of the current Covid restrictions. Apparently, the G Association Manager can be rather finickity about such matters…
The outward walk took me into town where I stocked up my rucksack with a Co-op meal deal. I then walked up to Higher Hurdsfield, a village adjoining the north-eastern part of Macclesfield. A public footpath took me up to Cliffe Farm on Cliff Lane (both spellings correct) where the honesty box stall was freshly stocked with Mars and Malteaser tiffin. At £1 each, I topped up my rucksack food supplies with two quid’s worth.
At the top of Cliff Lane, I crossed the main Macc-Buxton road to follow a footpath mainly parallel to that road through a farm. Back over the road just past Walker Barn (the site of the old Setter Dog pub, now a private house) and onto a very pleasant series of paths through farmland. This brought me to one end of Lamaload Reservoir, where I turned left along the lane.
I turned right back onto public footpaths at a road corner, and began the steady uphill plod to Shining Tor summit. There is a respite of a mainly flat and slightly downhill section on this, with fine views to the south, so it wasn’t all hard work.
Eleven contacts from the summit with my handheld, nine of 2m FM and two on 2m C4FM - the debut digital voice SOTA chases of Peter 2E0LKC and Anne 2E0LMD.
I rested for at least an hour on summit as I deliberated which way to return. After ruling out a long route via Rainow, Bollington and Tytherington, and the unimaginative “back-the-way-I-came” option, I chose to descend to the Peak View Tearooms and over onto a permissive path eventually leading down to Bottom of the Oven - the site of the Stanley Arms pub. It was now a beautiful sunny afternoon, and a pint of good real ale in the sunshine would have been just the ticket. Except that I’m having a dry month, and the pub was closed…
The walk then entered Macclesfield Forest for a beautiful section approaching Teggs Nose. Marianne offered to collect me for a lift home while she was out on a shopping trip, so I said “Meet me at Teggy”. I didn’t fancy the mainly roadside urban walk back through town to home, so her offer was most welcome and timely!
Each time I grabbed my phone for a photo it seemed that there had been activity on my “March the Month for Prostate Cancer UK” campaign. During the course of the walk, the total went from under £900 to beyond the target of £1000, so I was most pleased with that. In other news, at one point I found myself pushing my thumb and finger apart to expand the map - on a map case with a paper OS map in it…
I returned home to find a postal letter addressed to me - containing a cheque donation for the fund, from a well-known SOTA and WAB chaser - many thanks.
As I completed the walk, “Lockdown 42” route was born in my mind - a Teggs Nose Cafe - Shining Tor circular, potentially also including the Peak View Tearooms and the Stanley Arms. That will be a good one.
Here’s the photos:
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Well done, Tom. Very good that you passed your total. 
73,
Rod
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I passed the total thanks to generous support, including that contributed fom you and Viki yesterday - thank you.
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But you were the one that made the effort required.
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Thanks Rod.
As is customary when this happens, I have updated the target - in this case it is now £1500, which I think is ambitious, but doable, with six days to go and some good media publicity lined up.
Want to listen to the sound of this stringed instrument.
73 Martin
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Just got a mention (as did SOTA and March the Month - Prostate Cancer UK) on BBC Radio 5 Live.
It’s Dotun Adebayo’s show around the 3.37am mark if you can find it on “Listen Again”.
I’m also going to be on the news bulletins on Leek’s Moorlands Radio this morning, and possibly the next couple of days.
Tuesday, I’ll be on Mike Sweeney’s show on BBC Radio Manchester (10am - 2pm) talking about March the Month and this big overnight 26km walk-to-walk I’ll be doing on the 31st.
This morning, I’m up nice and early to take advantage of the slight easing of restrictions, and doing a couple of SOTA activations before work - The Cloud G/SP-015 and Gun G/SP-013.
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Well done on the Radio 5 Live mention at 03:37am. That’s a busy spot that is fought over. Yesterday they covered lockdown mental health issues in ferrets. Tomorrow morning I understand they will be covering protection of cabbages from wind damage.
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I understand that there will have been many golfers listening in on their way home from the first post -lockdown round…
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Luminous balls?
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Indeed!
Mrs. FMF found me a 20m length of luminous rope at a local tat emporium. At 5mm diameter it’s heavier than I’d usually use but as it was free I will see how it can be incorporated into the antennas.
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Many a true word said in jest. Which you would know if you were a regular listener to BBC Radio 5 Live’s longest serving presenter, Dotun Adebayo. Which obviously you’re not.
In any case, that’s when I texted in (well a little before of course) and when it went out. That suited me, because any later and I wouldn’t have still been listening on the car radio, I’d have been somewhere on G/SP-015.
FWIW, my interview on Moorlands Radio 103.7 went out in the primetime breakfast show. 
Anyway, never mind BBC Radio’s 3.37am listening figures - I’m more concerned about my 3.37am SOTA chaser audience for Wednesday morning, especially now that you have declared that you are unavailable… 
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Update: Turns out I’ve been played on the 30-minutes-past-the-hour news all day on Moorlands Radio, and this is set to continue through to Wednesday morning. There then might be a retrospective report that goes out during the rest of Wednesday.
Meanwhile, my planning and preparation turns to how many local activations I can squeeze in through the night (1am BST get-up) before needing to be back home before 8am - in readiness for my interview on BBC Radio Manchester with the legendary broadcaster and musician Mike Sweeney.
Moorlands Radio are struggling for content. They have had to stop paying their staff recently. It’s great that you are able to help them out. Apparently all eight listeners were at home today.
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Four sentences. Two truths and two fairy stories. It’s like an episode of “Would I Lie To You?” Or “Call My Bluff”.
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My website - http://tomread.co.uk - has been updated.
Click on ‘SOTA’ on the left-hand menu.
The 2021 activations details and photos are all on for Shining Tor G/SP-004, Gun G/SP-013 and The Cloud G/SP-015.
I’ve also added five new “Lockdown Walks” to that section - of particular interest to anyone in East Cheshire!
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