Saturday 17th January 2009 would be the day Jimmy M3EYP and I would complete the original list of the 30 NP summits, and move to within one of the entire region completion. Activating Hoove G/NP-024 meant that we now only required the "new boy" Cracoe Fell G/NP-032 for our largest ever region completion as activators.

After the usual 6am get-up, and the usual home final preparations (with all the soul-destroying 'grotty' jobs like rinsing, filling and loading the bladders completed the previous evening), Jimmy, Liam and I were on the road by 0655z. Audio on the road was provided by Canalside Community Radio 102.8MHz FM until the signal deteriorated in the Knutsford area. It was then the new John Shuttleworth CD "The Dolby Decades" - not for the first time, but it's a good 'bribe' to get Liam up and out. When that finished, it was over to good old medium wave radio, and Fresh Radio (formerly Yorkshire Dales Radio) on 936kHz to see us up the M6 to J37 and down into Sedburgh.

Here, we called in again at The Dalesman Inn for breakfast. This is a pub/inn-based B&B establishment, but which offers its breakfasts to non-residents. It isn't the cheapest at £7.95 per head, but with cereals, fruit, fruit juice, toast, preserves, tea/coffee and a monstrous full English, it certainly does represent value for money. There's only Jimmy and me I know of that could actually finish one of these breakfasts! Liam opted for the grilled kippers and poached eggs for the cooked component of his breakfast.

   

From Sedburgh, Jimmy directed me out northwards, heading out to the right of Wild Boar Fell G/NP-007 and up Buttertubs Pass between Lovely Seat G/NP-030 and Great Shunner Fell G/NP-006. As usual, Jimmy offered Liam and I a running commentary on which surrounding hills were what and when we last activated them.  When Jimmy directed me onto a minor road that was signpost "Barnard Castle", it hit me that we had driven a long way for our walk today! When we were parking up at NZ018067 by signs for County Durham and Teesdale, I realised that we really had come a long way from home this morning!

In my planning for this walk, I had been checking the weather forecasts. The latest information for our target area indicated torrential rain in the early and later parts of the day, but with a five hour dry window between about 10.30am and 3.30pm. This turned out to be very accurate, and shows that it pays to do your homework.  Even in the dry part of the day, the gale force winds were still apparent, and so we were keen to get moving once alighting the car. A vague track over the boggy moor leads out from the parking area, in the general direction of the Durham-Yorkshire border, but soon fizzles out. For most of the way towards the summit, it was a trackless plod over indistinct soggy moorland.

I was on good form, and kept my feet dry all the way there and back. Both Jimmy and Liam failed to match the care and concentration of their father, and were soon reporting wet sock syndrome. Liam was particularly indiscriminate in where he was placing his feet. It was as though he had been on the Pennine Way for two wet weeks and no longer cared!

   

We were grateful that the cloud was both sparse and high, and that visibility was good. This was particularly featureless moorland, and I wouldn't relish trying to locate the summit in clag or any reduced visibility. As it was, we could see for miles, and could pick our approach for a good distance ahead.  The only obstacle was a deep ditch, flanked with steep banks of gooey black peat and a boggy stream lying along its base. Liam and I picked a way across it quite separately to Jimmy, who found his own crossing further up towards the horizon. Now the going got slightly steeper, but it was getting firmer underfoot, and we were right on the shoulder of the broad summit plateau.

The trig point came immediately into view, thus deeming our choice of approach as successful. The true summit lies a couple of hundred metres further along. Jimmy was left to tootle off with the camera to survey it, while I started to erect the antenna. Close to the trig point was a deep wide hole which we would use for shelter during the activation. The wind strength was picking up all the time, and it was important to be out of it.  I had difficulty getting the 80m dipole up in the strong wind. Eventually, with Jimmy's help I achieved it, but time was cracking on. I was already well behind my alert time, and there was no Vodafone coverage to solicit a spot either by SOTAwatch Spotlite, or via 'Dial-a-spot'.

   

Further difficulties were encountered with the failure of the Mini Palm Paddle to produce a dot. No amount of prodding and pressing persuaded the MPP-817 to dit, so I resigned myself to a 100% SSB activation. Early callers tried to persuade me to set the 817 to accept the buttons on the microphone as the dits and dahs, but I wasn't having any. I have tried this before, and all it does is quickly reduce my acceptable quality 26wpm to a very poor quality error-strewn 5wpm. I got the impression that some chasers were particularly keen to work me on CW, but there was no way I was prepared to reduce my own enjoyment of the activation to that level!

Tuning first to 3.660MHz SSB, I heard Geoff G6MZX in QSO with a special event station. Geoff mentioned the probability of SOTA stations coming on frequency, and even took a pause to listen for such. I took my chance and called in, but having established that it was the special event station's frequency, I would have to QSY. Phil G4OBK advised me to move to 3.656MHz SSB.

   

Some contacts were easier than others, it has to be said! Some were 59 both ways, while others were struggling with marginal copy from me and reporting deep QSB. They needn't have reported this to me - I could see the cause with my own eyes, as the wind rocked my antenna system like a pendulum pushing the dipole legs to within inches of the ground every few seconds. QRM became an additional issue, with strong EU stations coming up on the adjacent channels both above and below me.

Worked without difficulty were G4OBK, G6MZX, MX0BCQ/A, G3CWI and M0JDK. Worked successfully, but not without a little extra effort on both parts, were G0TDM, GW0DSP, G4CPA, 2E0YHB/P, G6WRW/P and G4BLH. The S2S contacts with Helen and Carolyn on Botley Hill G/SE-005 were pleasing.  Incomplete, and therefore unsuccessful QSOs were attempted with GM7UAU, G3RMD and F4CTJ. We heard all three stations perfectly clearly, but obviously could not reciprocate.

After topping up on the Sweet Potato and Chilli soup from the flask, we packed up the gear and commenced our descent. Visibility was now even better, and we could see our objective - my arctic steel Picasso in the parking area - for virtually all of the return trip. We made good time, and I still managed to keep my feet dry.

Reinstalling the FT-817 as a mobile rig, I found a Cleveland-based net on 144.750MHz FM. I joined for a little natter before driving back down the road. However, we did not reverse our earlier outward route, for we turned right and headed for the Tan Hill Inn - the highest pub in Britain at 1732 feet, and a highlight of our 2006 Pennine Way campaign.
   
   

The Theakston Old Peculiar and Black Sheep Bitter were on fine form, and the landlord was keen to exchange chat and pleasantries despite serving a very busy bar. He even invited Jimmy, Liam and myself round to the staff side of the bar for a photo. A Mars bar each accompanied the drinks as we went through to the back room for a relax. Here, Liam found two little kittens which he fussed and played with for the next hour.

   

I spotted the acoustic guitar on the wall and Jimmy the steam piano. I checked with the bar staff, and got the reply "Definitely, we encourage that sort of thing in here". Jimmy and I then unleashed "The Blue Danube" on The Tan Hill Inn, entirely predictable but entirely good fun! Jimmy also played a spot of Beethoven as solo piano, but I restrained myself from subjecting the patrons to my vocal chords, sorely tempted as I was to perform "Parchment Farm" on the guitar!

After a stop at the Tan Hill Inn that was an hour longer than intended, we hit the road, returning to Macclesfield for 7.45pm. The audio entertainment was reversed, with Fresh Radio 936, John Shuttleworth and Canalside, with a spot of chatter on GB3MN thrown in. We had enjoyed a good day out, and it took some doing, turning this most unremarkable and featureless SOTA summits into a fulfilling full day excursion. We managed it though, and there was a sense of satisfaction as we were tucking into Marianne's excellent homemade shepherd's pie at 8pm.

Many thanks to all stations that we worked, all on 80m SSB with 5 watts: