SOTA - Brown Clee Hill - G/WB-002

Brown Clee Hill - 540m, 2 points

Association: England Region: Welsh Borders
Latitude: 52 28 36 N, Longitude: 2 35 58 W
Grid Reference: SO 593867, QTH Locator: IO82QL

With the winter bonus in full swing, and so far not scoring any points, I decided a quick run out to the Clee Hills was the order of the day.

A bright, cold, crisp morning when the sun came up, and as I got closer to the Clee Hills I could see the tops coated in white. All was well until I turned off the main road onto the narrow untreated country lanes. These were slippery under  several inches of snow. I slithered my way slowly to the start of Brown Clee, booted up, warm clothes on and started the climb on the snowy track.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, and as we ascended the snow got thicker and thicker. There were quite a few people at the summit as I arrived, but having spotted an ideal concrete post close by, I went over to use this  as my pole mount.

 Plenty of chasers around and contacts came thick and fast. I just worked the 3 bands as I wanted to make the most of the day and move onto nearby Titterstone Clee.

SOTA - Brown Clee Hill - G/WB-002

Brown Clee Hill - 540m, 2 points

Association: England  Region: Welsh Borders  
Latitude: 52 28 32 N, Longitude: 2 36 2 W
Grid Reference: SO 593867, QTH Locator: IO82QL

After a quick cup of coffee and some lunch, I drove the 5 or 6 miles from Titterstone Clee Hill to a spot at  the end of a bridleway on the western side of Brown Clee Hill (SO585868). There is parking here for a few cars on the grass verge. Today there was no one  else around. The climb initially follows a steep easily followed bridleway, but as the gradient level's off the path veers of to the left across a boggy plateau towards the summit. The cloud base had lifted somewhat and there was slightly more of a view than from the earlier Clee Hill summit, but the cloud and mist rolled in with regular monotony, often hiding the tall masts at the summit. The ground was wet and boggy and there were a number of wild ponies grazing on the dry bits!

The masts at the summit, shrouded in cloud.

At the summit I found a marker post just beside the metalled roadway to the communications facility. I used this as an antenna support and set up the station on the short grass. It didn't take long for the activators to find me, and I quickly rattled off another productive 53 QSOs and 18 DXCC.

Daylight was rapidly fading and with quite a walk ahead of me I packed up and headed back for the car.

A good day out with 10 points earned, almost doubling my current total to date. I'm planning further activations while the winter bonus is still in place!

A convenient pole support

The Shack

Bridleway on Western Approach.