After visiting my mother in Leyland on my way back to North Yorkshire, I made for the M65 leaving it at junction 5. I then passed through Rawtenstall on my way to the parking spot for Freehold's Top SP-011 which lies between Bacup and Todmorden in the A681.
I drove up the rough track a short distance and parked by a gate at grid ref SD 8913 2384. There was just room for one car there. It felt secure as the car could not be clearly seen by passing traffic. I set off with my Border Lakeland Terrier Treacle on a lead at 3.45pm. She loves doing SOTA, there are always plenty of interesting smells on a moor like this one.....
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| Distance walked - 3.5 miles with 280 feet ascent |
From the gate I used the little walked Rossendale Way which proved to be quite boggy. If you take this route make sure you keep to the left of the fences and walls along the way to the summit. The walk up took me 33 minutes with minimal ascent.
I set my antenna up near the trig point and pond. Take off was reasonable and I worked 9 stations with a Yaesu VX-170 and vertical dipole. I worked G4ZRP on The Wirral, but only just, as Hailstorm Hill SP-009 was right in the line of sight:
If practicable I prefer to take a different route back and as my walk up was over boggy land I went back down via the Liners Gate track (a route since favoured by Tom and Jimmy M1EYP/M0HGY). This proved be a good move, although I had to climb back up a spoil heap to reach my car at the gate. The walk back took me 29 minutes. On the way I passed some former coal mines and a radio mast - use not known:
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| Not my antenna!! |
All in all a pleasant activation which was accomplished in under 90 minutes all round.
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