Results of the 2003 Chelmsford/Colchester Snowman Event

Despite the inclement weather which threatened to cancel the event, Sunday 2nd February dawned dry and bright, and 7 teams assembled at Long Melford Green for the 12.50 p.m. start.

Two good signals were received at the start, so 5 teams set off for the weaker station A, G4KQE/P located on the Gipping Valley River Path, 25km East of the start. The other 2 teams headed for station B, G3WMM/P located 10.5km South-East of the start in Assington Thicks, although so strong was Station B that many thought he was much closer to the start.

All was very quiet at station A until 2.32 when the first competitor arrived, hotly followed by the other 4 in the next 6 minutes. Similarly at station B all was quiet, so Mike had just enjoyed a cup of coffee and was just about to water the horses, when in the distance he spotted Colin and Rosie, so had to dive back into his hide. All was then quiet for another hour and a quarter until the rest of the pack all piled in within 5 minutes of each other.

Meanwhile back at station A it had stayed dry until about 3.30 p.m. when a few spots of rain were noticed, so the polythene sheet was hastily thrown over the bush, upon which it started raining harder and even hailed for a minute or two. With some snow still on the ground, and hail during the event, the Snowman certainly lived up to its name this year.

Congratulations to the winner, Tim, who was presented at the tea with the Snowman Trophy, and commiserations to Richard, who was the first person in the afternoon to find any station, but then missed the footpath leading to station A. He then made a detour, leading to an extra half a mile run down another footpath to reach the station.

An excellent tea was enjoyed at Pat & Mikes, starting with Pat's legendary home-made soup, where the events of the afternoon were recalled. The organisers are particularly pleased, with all competitors finding both stations, we hope you all enjoyed the afternoon.

Andrew Mead