Twelve teams started at Salcey Forest on a bright summer afternoon. The hidden stations were G3TRY/P and G4MDF/P. Both signals were heard at the start with the 1960 kHz signal appearing very weak, however no team requested an approximate bearing. Thoughts of what might lie ahead were triggered when the starter arrived in a Raynet Ambulance, but it was not required that day.

Seven teams proceeded towards station A, which was situated on the outskirts of Northampton near to Duston Mill. The Tx operator was hidden in a very small tent inside a hedgerow alongside the lake. The other five teams headed off to station B, which was situated on the disused railway line near Mixbury (this area was also used last year when Coventry ran an event on the same map), however this site proved quite difficult to some of the teams as the Tx operator (Eric) had put up wire on both sides of the old railway. The wire was linked across and other taps went in various directions. All this was coupled with the fact that the site was under the main power lines. The Tx was hidden under a disused bridge totally covered by wooden pallets and discarded fencing panels.

The teams who found station A first encountered a massive traffic jam on the A43 but to some this was no problem, whilst the teams heading to station B got a rather large soaking as the heavens opened up at Northampton.

Tea was served, superb as usual, at Grafton Regis village hall.

The results revealed an excellent performance by Chris Plummer, who finished the contest at 15:40:39. The second place was taken by Andrew Mead, who went the opposite way, at 16:05:14. After hearing how these winners made it look easy, the contest manager stated that Ray Goodearl and Graham Phillips had qualified for the national final in Torbay.

Thanks to all the teams and the tea ladies for making it a successful day

Brian Bristow