Road Trip - Day 3 - Monday 18th February 2013

We didn't have far to go on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path Road Trip - two stops in fact - but we had plenty of plans to keep us busy. The first stop, Tenby, was a favourite of Liam's from our family holiday of summer 2012, so we spent a morning there. The pub we had stayed at did not do breakfast, so we partook in the Bar & Grill on Tenby's south beach.

   

Out of the cold, we could enjoy the spectacular views of the sunbathed coast through the large windows of the cafe. A full traditional breakfast for me, and pancakes with bacon and maple syrup for Liam were accompanied by mocha and J20 respectively.

We took the steep walk up into the town centre and passed through the town wall. Liam soon found the amusement arcade, and I won a quick quid on the Word Soup game. This was then used to part pay for a two player race on the driving game. I was leading until the final bend, when my son took me on the inside and crossed the finishing line first. I was gutted. Liam was jubilant.

   

Again, chatting with Steve MW0BBU on 2m FM, we drove down to Amroth, the official end of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. We took the necessary photos, and cracked on with some SOTA for the second half of the day.

The first stop was Brandy Hill GW/MW-037. After driving through Red Roses and towards Tavernspite, we took the sharp right onto the minor road across Brandy Hill towards the transmitter site. We parked on a pull in opposite an open entrance into the field adjacent the transmitter site, and walked across the short grass to the trig point.

JCBs and tractors were buzzing around the field, possibly working on the major new bypass that appeared to be being constructed in the area. We parked ourselves in the corner of the field, mainly to get a little shelter from wind, and I erected the 40m dipole. I had remembered to replace the pole, so that the thing would stay up at full height!

       

This turned out to be a satisfying activation. In the sunshine of the day, and sheltered spot, we were able to dispense with coats and hats. Furthermore, I made 29 QSOs in 17 manic minutes on 7.024MHz CW.  By the time we were back in the car, it had just turned 3pm. Sunset was about 5pm, and most daylight gone by 6pm, but I had plans for two more activations in the day. We couldn't hang around, so straight onto Mynydd Llangyndeyrn GW/SW-039 it was.