Tom Read - click to email meBDXC ISWL WAB SOTA RSGB IOTA - see my radio page for more detailsLiam & Jimmy

Normanby Top 2013

 

After Bardon Hill G/CE-004 on Thursday 31st October 2013, I was now faced with a long drive into the Lincolnshie Wolds for Normanby Top G/TW-005. The driving route required me to take the A50 out of Coalville towards Leicester, but then turn North-East onto the A46 Newark by-pass. While this was a long section of driving, it was on an excellent road, and with plenty of people to chat to on the GB3CF repeater, the journey flew by.  I remained on the A46 beyond Lincoln and to Market Rasen, from where I turned onto the local minor roads to climb up through Normanby-le-Wold to the NATS radar station near the summit of Normanby Top G/TW-005.

Parking spot on Normanby Top    Normanby Top summit    Found it!

After finding a parking spot, I got chatting to a local farmer on a JCB. It turned out he was the landowner for the field beside the radar station which has the trig point at the end. There is no PROW through this field, a fact confirmed by the farmer, and in fact no PROW at all from anywhere to the trig point. However, he did give me permission to go and have a look for the trig point. He said that he had never seen one up there himself!

12m GP and mast        Not many people get to this trig point!

On our previous visit a few years ago, we never found the trig point, but I don't think we looked particularly hard. With a little bit of spare time, I decided to have a look for it. To confirm I was where I though I was, I turned on the GPS functionality on my Galaxy Siii smartphone, and opened up the OS Atlas app. Immediately, the 1:25000 view of the area around Normanby Top was shown, with the point showing halfway along the fence - exactly where I was!

EYP station - and legs!        Tom M1EYP

I walked to the end of the field, passed through an established opening in the hedge, and there was the trig point, exactly where the map says it will be! It was only about 20 feet from where Jimmy, Liam and myself had got to those years ago - goodness knows how we missed it!  Up went the 12m groundplane antenna and I got to work. I made 14 QSOs on 12m, one on SSB and the rest on CW. I still wasn't setting the world alight "INKy-style" with my QSO rate, so another multiplier was very welcome.  I was now more or less back on my original schedule, so I wasted no time in packing up and returning to the car. The third and final target was Bishop Wilton Wold G/TW-004.
 

G4ASA

12m

CW

US8IM

12m

CW

KG3W

12m

CW

N4EX

12m

CW

N7UN

12m

CW

W7RV

12m

CW

UU4JIM

12m

CW

WH6LE

12m

CW

RA6YJ

12m

CW

K4YA

12m

CW

K0LAF

12m

CW

K2ZC

12m

CW

N5XL

12m

CW

SV2OXS

12m

SSB