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 - Christmas Day - Cleeve Hill - G/CE-001

Cleeve Hill - 330m, 1 point

Association: England Region: Central England
Latitude: 51 55 11 N, Longitude: 2 0 21 W
Grid Reference: SO 996245, QTH Locator: IO81XW

A few people had indicated that they would be out SOTA activating on Christmas morning.
As it happened, I was working night shift on Christmas Eve, finishing work at 0700 Christmas Day.
I decided to throw the kit into the car the night before, and if the weather was OK and I was still feeling sprightly, I'd make my way to Cleeve Hill for an early Christmas morning activation.

It was cold and frosty when I left work, and as I climbed the hill, the roads were white and glistening with ice filled puddles. I got to the car park at 0730, still dark but with a hint of daylight in the eastern sky. There was one other empty car in the carpark and I could hear the occupants, but not see them, exercising their dogs somewhere out on the common.

I was set up and operational a couple of minutes before 0800, temperature was -1ºC and the dawn was rapidly approaching.
Twenty metres only gathered 5 contacts before I moved onto 30m. I think every op in DL must have been there and the pileup was quite a handful. During this time the sun poked it's head up with a flaming red sky on the eastern horizon. Had I not been knee deep in callers I would have taken some photos!

Dawn.

32 contacts later, and after a chat to the now many walkers passing by, I had a quick run on 40 metres to finish off the activation. The temperature had risen to a balmy 4ºC by the time I packed up at 0915.

Time to go home to bed.

I was home having my breakfast at 1000 and then off to bed for some rest.
An enjoyable Christmas morning, beautiful weather and surprising to see so many people out on the hill that early on the day.

SOTA - Walbury Hill - G/SE-001

Walbury Hill - 297m, 1 point

Association: England Region: Southern England
Latitude: 51 21 8 N, Longitude: 1 27 54 W
Grid Reference: SU 373616, QTH Locator: IO91GI

SOTA - May Hill - G/WB-019

May Hill - 296m, 1 point

Association: England Region: Welsh Borders
Latitude: 51 53 21 N, Longitude: 2 26 37 W
Grid Reference: SO 695212, QTH Locator: IO81SV

SOTA - Slievetrue - GI/AH-010

Slievetrue - 312m, 1 point

Association: Northern Ireland Region: Antrim Hills
Latitude: 54 43 54 N, Longitude: 5 54 35 W
Grid Reference: J 347891, QTH Locator: IO74BR

SOTA - Cefn yr Ystrad - GW/SW-008

Cefn yr Ystrad - 617m, 4 points

Association: Wales Region: South Wales
Latitude: 51 48 51 N, Longitude: 3 19 33 W
Grid Reference: SO 087137, QTH Locator: IO81IT

SOTA - Fan Brycheiniog - GW/SW-003

Fan Brycheiniog - 802m, 8 points

Association: Wales Region: South Wales
Latitude: 51 52 56 N, Longitude: 3 42 30 W
Grid Reference: SN 825218, QTH Locator: IO81DV