Friday 5th October 2018 - Walton Hill G/CE-002

Gig: Joe Longthorne

Venue: Marina Theatre, Lowestoft

Walton Hill was a “bit out of the way” for the ‘commute’ from Macclesfield to Lowestoft.  However, when I looked at it from a purely financial perspective, it would cost me no more than £10 of extra diesel.  Suddenly that looked good value to indulge in SOTAing, so I went for it.  I set off pretty much immediately after waking up that morning - Lowestoft is so far away that it is closer to most places in Holland than most places in England!  The run down the M6 was pretty clear, and a 15 minute jam on the M5 in Birmingham didn’t do too much damage. 

I parked in the usual car park on Walton Hill Road in the Clent Hills, not far from J3 of the M5.  I felt confident to “wing it” with just the handheld carried, so left the rucksack, pole, battery, 817 etc in the car.  I felt I needed to leave as much slack time as possible in the bank with a couple of hundred miles still to cover across to East Anglia.  Contacts seemed slow to arrive on Walton Hill, but I’d got the four in the logbook inside fifteen minutes of operating.  It seemed everyone I spoke to was in, or heading to, Great Malvern.  Which was funny because that’s where the sound crew for that night’s gig were coming from! 

Furthermore, having descended and started to drive again, I heard a CQ SOTA call on my mobile rig. It was Phil G4HQB/P who was, of course, on Worcestershire Beacon G/WB-009 - which for those who don’t know, is the summit that towers above Great Malvern!  I pulled into the car park at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft just about in time, but rather ‘last minute’.  No problem though, because the musical director’s motor pulled in just after I did!  We all went for a Wetherspoons fish & chips tea after soundcheck, before doing the concert. 

I’d opted for Cambridge YHA for my overnight accommodation. It was nice and cheap at £15 (plus £5.63 for a full breakfast), plus I figured it would get me a few miles in towards my following evening’s gig in Lancashire.  It also had a 24 hour reception, so no need to check in before my gig. I was a little taken aback when I got in the car, put the postcode in the satnav to reveal a distance of 85 miles to get there!  It seems Lowestoft is nowhere near anywhere!  Another long drive beckoned for the morning, where I'd planned to activate White Hill G/SP-006 ahead of my gig.