Eleven teams assembled on an unusually warm October evening at Hodgemoor Woods, just north of Beaconsfield. A slightly earlier start time of 5.30pm meant that the start took place in daylight, but despite this and despite reasonable signals being heard from all three transmitters, a lot of difficulty was experienced obtaining bearings due to excessive sky wave. This resulted in approximate bearings being provided for all transmitters.

Transmitter A was located 13.5km almost due west from the start in Spring Coppice, to the west of High Wycombe. Six competitors chose this as their first site, with the first cluster of three competitors finding it just after 7pm.

Transmitter B was located 28km from the start on the top of a tall bank overlooking the River Thames between Sonning and Reading and entailed a run of about 1km from Sonning Bridge. No competitors chose this site first, and none arrived until 9pm, mainly due to having been delayed at Transmitter C.

Transmitter C was located 26km from the start in an area of woodland to the southwest of Bix. This site proved difficult, not least because there was no moonlight and the aerial was very high, making it difficult to spot. Several competitors having found the tx, then lost their way in the dark back to their car – a calamity also shared by the organiser who had ventured into the site to check how things were going! The heavy rain during the week had also made the terrain at this site extremely muddy.

George Whenham overcame all the obstacles to come in first, 15 minutes before the end of the contest, with Alan Simmons as the other competitor to find all three sites.

Thanks to Roger Shepherd, Steve Stone and a duo of David Hazelton and Tim Lisle for manning the sites, and to Fran and Pam for an excellent supper afterwards.

Peter Lisle