Six teams assembled at Stokenchurch on a bright and mild May evening to be greeted with a very strong signal heading north/north-west. Most teams concluded that the area around Thame 10km away was the most likely location, but Alan Simmons warned them of Peter Lisle’s propensity to erect long and high aerials and so it was to be again, with the transmitter located over 20km away in a hedgerow just west of Piddington Wood, few miles South-East of Bicester.

Alan Simmons it was who arrived first on site and with his eagle eyes spotted the aforementioned high aerial, followed by Peter’s knapsack, and eventually Peter himself. Exiting from the site and exchanging the usual pleasantries and details about the pub location proved to be just a tad too noisy and alerted Justin in Graham’s team to Peter’s location. Mark Coventry, despite his set having become inoperative, did well to arrive about 20 minutes later alongside John Mullins but with daylight fading and the tx proving difficult to df into, it took to near the end of the contest for them to hunt Peter down.

Sadly neither Steve Stone nor Brian Bristow found the tx, with confusing bearings close to the tx seemingly (and surprisingly) quite badly affected by power lines that passed about half a km from the tx site.

Most of the competitors assembled at Brill for refreshment and comradery, including nostalgic memories of the DF’s that used to start on the green in front of Brill windmill in days gone by.

Peter Lisle