Brighstone Down, G/SE-012 - 214m ASL - SZ 432 847 - OS Explorer OL29 - 1 SOTA point           

Saturday 14th May 2022 - St Boniface Down G/SE-008, Brighstone Down G/SE-012 & gig with Twisted Anthems @ Norton Grange Coastal Resort, IOW

Following descent from St Boniface Down G/SE-008, I caught the bus west along the south coast.

I alighted south of Brighstone village and walked about ten minutes along public footpaths to that point.

Here I collected a drink and some food - including a locally baked breakfast pasty - which was amazing!

From the village, I continued north up the byway and onto the footpaths that climbed onto the Downs.

A fabulous walk of about 45 minutes brought me to the trig point at the summit.

I could only raise one QSO on VHF this time so I set up the Alexloop and added three contacts on 20m CW.

I’d set myself a deadline of 1245 BST to start descending, and was ahead of this.

I had one eye on rounding off my day in suitable style!

I had twenty minutes to spare before my bus once I’d retuned to Brighstone village, so enjoyed a pint of ale in the beer garden of the Three Bishops pub.

A bus to Freshwater, then a change for the bus to Yarmouth, and I was back at the venue in plenty of time ahead of soundcheck.

Activating by bus. Not something I’ve done much of, but it was different - and fun! I was very impressed by the Southern Vecta bus service on the island.