How time flies. Already, it was the third annual "Liam's Road Trip", which
has become a pleasant fixture in the February half-term. The previous two Road
Trips were Pennine Way in 2010 (including 2 SOTA activations) and Coast 2 Coast
in 2011 (including 3 SOTA activations). Reports and photos for both may be seen
at http://tomread.co.uk -
which will also host same from the 2012 Offa's Dyke Road Trip, eventually!
Happily, Liam seems much more agreeable towards walking these days, so snatching
some activations along the route was not a problem. Many of them were only short
walks having said that. There would have been even more but for the poor weather
on the last morning, but nonetheless, eight activations in the four days was a
very pleasing return.
Wednesday 15th February 2012 - Day 1
Our first stop after leaving the house was a mere couple of minutes up the
road - Weston Bakery on Earlsway where we had oatcakes stuffed with cheese,
mushrooms and sausage (me)/black pudding (Liam) for our breakfast. Then it was
time to hit the road properly, heading south on the M6 and M5. We enjoyed the
song "Man or Muppet"
from the new Muppets film, as it was played on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on
BBC Radio 2.
It was a lovely sunny day, so the exit for Kidderminster and Halesowen could not
be ignored. Walton Hill G/CE-002 beckoned! From the usual parking area, we took
the five minute ascent along the muddy path to the summit. I set up for 40m CW
with the FT-817, Mini Palm Paddle and half-wave dipole, just a few metres from
the trig point. Liam set up for Nintendo 3DS play, reporting that he had added 8
Playcoins on the ascent.
On 40m CW, I made just 6 QSOs on 7.0315MHz before things dried up. I packed up
and switched to 2m FM from the handheld, having wandered 30m or so north from
the summit to give better take-off over the Midlands. A further five contacts
were added to the log, which included SOTA chaser Peter M1CNL and MT colleague
Brian G8ADD. Liam and I descended to the car, an act which earned my son
another two Playcoins for future use. We then got on our way back down the M5,
with thoughts of a late afternoon activation after first touching base with the
start of the Offa's Dyke Path.
Not so. Suddenly, as I was approaching Junction 13, my accelerator pedal ceased
causing any affect on my progress. Nothing. Zilch. Not a sausage. There was
clearly a problem in the diesel getting through. I glided across the lanes until
coming to a halt in the hard shoulder, agonisingly 50m short of where the entry
slip road at J13 joined the main carriageway. This meant that a breakdown
vehicle would need to get on at J12 in order to get to me!
Liam and I crossed over the slip road and went down into a handily placed
concrete recess for better safety. I called Green Flag, who were eventually with
me just 30 minutes after they said they would. Despite 90 minutes of cold and
boredom, Liam remained in good spirits and seemed to enjoy his ringside seat
aside a busy motorway! It turned out that a pipe into the diesel fuel filter had
come adrift. This was easy for Jason from Green Flag (who was excellent) to fix,
but as the problem had caused my last gallon of diesel to leak out (I was due to
refuel at the services), it was impossible to restart the engine. This
meant a free ride in the Green Flag van for Liam and I down to the services to
collect some diesel, before turning round at J14, back up to J12, and down again
to the car, which was now receiving its third visit from police / traffic
enforcement officers.
At last, we were on our way again. Liam, revelling in Jimmy's absence, proved to
be a revelation with the road atlas, calling out the directions for me to turn
onto the M48 and M4 to approach the Severn Bridge. This cost a toll charge of £6
to cross, and then we were very close to Chepstow. Directions were now a bit
tricky, and it took a short while to locate Sedbury. But we did, and we left the
car on the roadside as we went for a walk down the Offa's Dyke Path in order to
find its start point.
The start of the ODP, atop the Sedbury Cliffs, was marked by a large stone
block. The first section of the walk followed along a remaining visible section
of the dyke earthwork, and was quite undulating between the cliffs and the
village. After a quick look at Chepstow Castle in fading daylight, we drove to
Monmouth, which I had decided would be our first overnight stop. We found a twin
room at The Queens Head in the centre of town.
The landlord, a South African chap, but living in Monmouth for 34 years, was
very friendly and helpful, and a keen supporter of live music. He even told me
that he is prepared to take a loss on the three evenings of live music he puts
on every week, and that he won't allow any performers to use backing tracks or
drum machines. He even added that he refuses to book any band that describes
itself as a "tribute band"!
Liam and I followed the landlord's recommendation to eat at the Mexican
restaurant just around the corner, and a fine recommendation it was. My spicy
mushrooms and prawns, followed by paella were both superb. Accompanied by a
tequila sunrise and a Desperado beer, this was a most enjoyable meal. We
returned to the pub and took our seats to watch the Kevin Figes Trio, playing
free-form jazz. They were really good and I enjoyed the performance. I didn't
enjoy the typical thigh-tapping and head-nodding from half the audience who were
pretending to understand what was going on and pretending to be into it! Jazz
music - great! Jazz audiences - yuk!
So despite the car problems earlier, it has been a relatively successful first
day. In fact, we it not for the car problems, we would have been further on than
Monmouth and therefore missed out on a great meal and music. We retired to our
en suite twin room (very reasonable - £35 including breakfast) and watched a bit
of snooker before going to sleep. Tomorrow, we would head first to
Ruardean Hill G/WB-021.
OE7PHI |
40m |
CW |
HB9BIN |
40m |
CW |
PA0HRM |
40m |
CW |
OK1DVM |
40m |
CW |
IK3DRO |
40m |
CW |
HB9CGA |
40m |
CW |
G6ZQX |
2m |
FM |
M0MSW |
2m |
FM |
M1CNL |
2m |
FM |
G8ADD |
2m |
FM |
G0XAE |
2m |
FM |
|