The Easter hols had been somewhat quiet for SOTA for me. The first week, we were away on a family holiday in Bridlington, and the only summit within a distance acceptable to Marianne from there (TW-004) we had already done.  Then there were some rather important relegation clashes for our beloved Macclesfield Town FC (York, Leyton Orient and Rochdale) that required our attendance - all won thankfully.  Furthermore, my 15 year old niece was a bit worried about her forthcoming GCSE maths exam, and so has spent most of the second  week staying here with us receiving intensive tutorial!

That lot basically left Friday 16th April 2004 alone for any Easter SOTA play, so at 8.05am, Jimmy, Liam and myself drove Penelope out to North East Wales to tackle variety of hills. I had originally planned to start with Moel y Gamelin GW/NW-042, and then move onto Moel Gyw GW/NW-053 after lunch, and this is indeed what was posted upon the SOTA Diary. However, late the previous night it occured to me that I had overlooked one other remaining summit in the region - Hope Mountain GW/NW-062, and so this was added to the itinerary, throwing the remaining plans into disarray!

Following our altercations with electric fences and loose dogs last year, I figured it would be sensible to call in on Hope Mountain first, giving a greater probability of catching the farmer about the place. Still there was no sign where the public footpath should start, and still instead there was the "CCTV and Loose Dogs - enter at your own risk" sign. I decided to put the cat amongst the pigeons and drove into the farmyard. One of the dogs was soon jumping and barking around the car, and I was glad I had chosen to remain inside it! Sure enough, the farmer came out; I explained that I had drove in because of the "Loose Dogs" sign, and that I was looking for the PROW, and showed him my OS Explorer map which showed it leading through his farmyard. He indicated where it continued out onto the open field. I asked him if the electric fence was still blocking it - he said that it was. He then asked me if I was the "Complaining officer". I said "No, just a walker" and asked him what the best way around the fence was, and the best place to leave my car.

   

Then things took a turn for the better. The farmer said he was very much walker-friendly, and especially liked to see people taking their kids out walking in the countryside. He suggested I parked my car next to his in his yard, and let him lead the way out onto the field, with him controlling his dogs and collapsing the fence for us. This would have been OK, as the right-hand side of the field is just within 25m of the summit. However, sensing an opportunity, I asked him if it was alright to visit the trig point. He readily agreed, and I explained a little about SOTA and the Marilyns list. This was a good result, and while there is still the matter of blocking PROWs, I did feel some sympathy as he explained about the terrible and incessant problems with theft he and his neighbours endure on their land. Faced with the prospect of having tractors and expensive farm machinery stolen, against the prospect of rapped knuckles from a council rights of way officer ... well you can see what choice he would make!

From the farm it is a 5 minute stroll to the summit, from where the FT-817 and SOTA Beam were deployed, and I worked Graham, Charlie, Alan and Mike (G4BLH - to become a mainstay today) on 2m FM, then the Birmingham Three on 2m SSB. We then made our way back to the farmyard, where the farmer reappeared to collapse the electric fence and quieten his dogs as we got back in the car. I thanked him and shook his hand, and will probably send him a letter of thanks, with a view to future activations!

Thanks to the following stations, the first four worked on 2m FM with 1 watt, and the remainder on 2m SSB with 2.5 watts: