7 summits in the
North Pennines
This had been planned for some time and there is always a
danger that the weather can spoil things but as it turned out we were blessed
with glorious spring/summer weather although cold on some of the summits. Barry M0IML and myself had booked into the
‘The Dales Guest House’ in Ingleton which is run by Penny and Paul Wearie
(015242 41401)....highly recommended. Most of the summits were close by apart from
two in the Howgills...
17/04/2015
G/NP-010 Pen-y-ghent
Now Barry had to travel all the way up from Kent (6 hours)
in the morning so both of these summits were down for afternoon
activation. I parked my car at SD84307145
right next to the track which is part of the Pennine Way and takes you up to
the south side of Pen-y-ghent.
On our way to Pen-y-ghent
He duly
arrived and our 7 summit extravaganza
was about to begin. Now any reference to 23 cm in our joint contact info will
be between Barry IML and Mike G4BLH and Brian G4ZRP...some great signal reports
during the four days including a few strange signal paths. Thanks to Andrew G4AFI/p on G/CE-001 and Mike 2W0YYY/p on GW/NW-076 for the s2s...made our day.
Our joint contact
info:- 8-40m, 9-2m, 1-23cms, 2 s2s
'Come on Allan..another one to do' Trig Pen-y-ghent
Pleased with this pic...on the way down from summit
G/NP-017 Fountain Fells
A short car journey NE to SD853723 and we were ready for the
second summit of the afternoon.
Taken from the trail leading up Fountain Fell-SE face of Pen-y-ghent and our cars
Once again this is part of the Pennine Way so a
visible grass path is evident ..... Barry had a nice pile-up here but as soon
as things went quiet we packed up with thoughts of a nice cool pint and an evening
meal in our minds.
Our joint contact
info: 21-40m, 7-2m
Fountain Fells
As I had arrived the night before I had sussed out one the best
places for a drink and a meal. This was
at the Craven Heifer Inn (01524242515) and indeed it became our ‘local’ for the
duration of or stay....only 300yds from the B&B :)
18/04/2015
GP/NP-011 Great Coum
We parked the car at SD72308225 and made our way along the
track to SD70658270 where we headed West up on to the ridge leading to the
summit.
Heading for Great Coum..bottom sign reads 'Lambs are more worried about dogs than mint sauce'
Great Coum to the right...our path up - middle of pic
Plenty of protection from the
wind up here and a good view of the Howgills which were on the list for the
following day.
The Howgills...A blue haze spoilt most of my photos during the 4 days...
Great Coum ...Drying my sweaty coat :)
Thanks to Mark G0VOF/p for the s2s on 2m from G/SP-003 Ward's Stone
Our joint contact
info: 31-40m, 9-2m, 2-23cms, 1 s2s
G/NP-004 Whernside
We moved the car to SD72158175 then passing through a gate
and passing some sheep pens we headed ESE towards the summit along a clearly
visible well trodden grass path and stone wall.
As we arrived in the activation zone a few s2s
were in progress so I quickly erected the fishing pole with 2m dipole and held
on by hand to complete the contacts with Karen 2E0XYL/p and Neil 2E0TDX/p on
G/LD-014 and Gerald M0WML/p on G/SP-003...thanks everybody :)
Ribblehead-Viaduct and Ingleborough NP/005 to the right...from Whernside
A quiet Whernside trig...not for long...
After moving closer to the trig another 3 s2s
made the logs with Simon G4TJC/p on G/NP-013, Colwyn MM0YCJ/p on GM/WS-128 and
a lovely chat with Jack GM4COX/p on GM/SS-165...thanks once again.
Our joint contact
info: 34-40m, 12-2m, 2-23cms, 6-s2s
As we tucked into our evening meal in the pub a text from Gerald
MW0WML arrived informing us that he and Sue were on their way up to NP and
asking for details of where we were staying...details duly sent...
19/04/2015
G/NP-013 The Calf
This was our only foray into the Howgills and involved a
short journey North. We parked at SD69809695 on the A683....crossed the small
bridge below the parking spot and made our way up towards Cautley Spout, up Red
Gill Beck,then Force Gill Beck hitting the Dales Highway leading to the summit.
Cautley Spout..distinct lack of water?
Above Cautley Spout...we started from the green bit in the distance
First in the log for both of us was Rod
M0JLA/p on G/WB-021 so thank you Rod for giving our one and only s2s for this
summit. I had a nice short pile-up on
40m including a contact with Carolyn G6WRW/m on her way to a summit and wanting
confirmation that we would be on Yarlside later...confirmed :)
The Calf....A busy summit....we were tucked in this gutter on the right..out of the wind :)
It turned wet and windy here so the
activation was curtailed when the rain and the mist came down.
Our joint contact info: 2-60m, 25-40m, 1-23cms,
1-s2s
G/NP-019 Yarlside
Having put on our wet weather gear we headed back down but
thankfully the sun appeared again so off they came once more. Heading back the
way we came we then headed North up the valley from the top of Cautley Spout on
a faint grass track then East up the first cwm leading to Yarlside.. As
promised first in the log was an s2s with Carolyn GW6WRW/p and Helen MW0YHB/p
on GW/MW-027..thanks both. Other notable s2s were with Andy G6PJZ/p on G/NP-026
and Michael DB7MM/p on DM/BM-329...thanks once again
Barry chasing 23cms on Yarlside
Our joint contact
info: 2-60m, 23-40m, 4-s2s
A text message from Gerald saying that he and Sue were booked into
our B&B... arrangements were made for us all to meet up at our ‘local’ and a
lovely evening was had by everyone...SOTA being one of the main topics of
conversation and plans for future activations
.....sorry Sue :)
20/04/15
G/NP-005 Ingleborough
At breakfast Gerald
informed us that he had alerted for G/NP-007 Wild Boar Fell so we could look
forward to one s2s. On what was turning out to be one of the hottest days of
our visit we parked our cars at SD701731 and headed up the ‘A Pennine journey’
track to the summit.
The summit was
quiet but we still set up a short distance away from the trig with Barry
getting a 23cms with Mike BLH immediately. It was great to get Adrian G4AZS/p on G/WB-006
on 40m with Gerald also booming in on 2m at the same time...crossed mics for a
while as we shared the s2s...thanks both.
A delighted IML on Ingleborough - mission accomplished
Our joint contact
info: 6-60m, 39-40m, 2-2m, 2-23cms, 2-s2s
We left the summit feeling rather pleased that the weather
had been kind during our activation in NP but nor relishing the long journey
home. Thanks everyone both chaser and
activators alike for being there and to all those who spotted for us and gave
us the ‘heads up’ for s2s....too numerous to mention but you know who you are...
73 Allan GW4VPX & Barry M0IML
