Peter Lisle's Report

Eight teams gathered at Maidenhead Thicket on what turned out to be a mercifully dry evening despite light rain on the journey there. Disaster had already befallen the ‘A’ team with Brian holed up at home with shingles and another disaster befell Bill Pechey who discovered that he’d left his maps behind, and decided (discretion being the better part of valour) to accompany Ray Goodearl on the event.

An incredibly weak signal (of the ‘were we imagining things?’ variety) from David Ryan resulted in competitors being provided with an approximate bearing of 150 degrees and a distance of over 20 km. Most teams hared off towards Bracknell with several including muggins stopping just south of the town for the 8pm bearing. To my surprise this was due east but still very weak and after duly considering the options I decided that Dave was playing tricks on the boundary of the West London and Reading and Windsor map and ventured to Chobham Common for my next bearing which indicated that he was likely to be somewhere in the Albury Bottom/Gracious Pond area, with an inviting pylon running through it. I decided to approach from the North but the footpath and bridleway seemed to have been replaced by a rather imposing set of guarded gates and I went past to the next road junction looking for other forms of access. Running out of time by then I stopped for a confirmatory bearing which took me straight back to the aforesaid gates which turned out to have a side-entrance onto the bridleway. A few terse minutes were spent negotiating with the guards on where I could park the car and I ran across some rather well manicured grounds into the woodland beyond and arrived at the ‘inviting pylons’ shortly before the 8.40pm transmission. Up came the Tx and I spotted first Andy Collett advancing from my left and then – as the set took me to the right off the footpath, Graham Phillips and trusty navigator about 50 feet ahead of me advancing to a rather inviting looking piece of foliage. Not even my legs could make good that distance but I managed to out-run Andy, thrust my card into Dave’s hands, and started to congratulate Graham on his winning achievement. ‘Not so’ said Graham and I looked round to see Andy grinning from ear to ear. He had managed to find his way to the pylons at the first attempt and had DF’d into Dave on the 8.30pm transmission.

Back at the car I got talking to the guards and demo-ing the DF set (as you do). We were interrupted by a young lady driving up to the gates whereupon one of the guards gave the car a thorough search before she was allowed in, and I asked what the establishment was that they took such precautions. It was then that I found out whose imposing grounds I had traversed – no less than the Sheikh of Dubai – complete with dozens of un-occupied houses and a fleet (parked in the open) of stretched limos and other fine vehicles. A few minutes later a rather less urbane head honcho security guard pulled up in a larger than life 4x4 and gave me a right telling off for straying off the footpath – apparently spotted on video camera. He didn’t seem so interested in the DF set...

Anyway well done Andy – you seem to do better on DFs without Brian around! (nudge, nudge!)

Peter Lisle

John Mullins' Report

Eight teams assembled at the start with David Ryan (Mr. X) on the transmitter. Unfortunately, Bill Pechey had forgotten his maps and as nobody had a spare he joined Ray Goodearl in his car but both competing separately. At 7:30 we all waited for the first transmission. One or two teams thought they had heard something but most could not hear anything at all and nobody got a bearing. The approximate bearing and distance were given out which were 150 degrees and a distance greater than 20km - no surprise there. The 150 degree bearing indicated somewhere near Chobham in Mr.X's home territory. Most teams took the route through Bracknell on the A322 although there was the danger of running into Ascot Race traffic and road repairs south of Bracknell.

In the event, the Ascot traffic had cleared by the time that competitors reached the area so they had a clear run. Competing on my own, I took a different route through Windsor, Old Windsor and Englefield Green, which was clear of traffic but slower. At 8:00pm I had reached the top of the hill before Englefield Green and decided to take a bearing on the 8:00pm transmission. The signal was weak but audible but it turned out that the bearing of 200 degrees was not very good. I continued south through Englefield Green towards Virginia Water and reached Chertsey Common by 8:15. The signal here was much stronger with a sharp null at 215 degrees indicating that the transmitter was probably south of Longcross. I decided that I needed another bearing so I made my way towards Valley End for the 8:30 transmission. The signal here was weaker but again there was a sharp null at 85 degrees confirming the area south of Longcross.

There seemed to be two ways into the site, either from the north, which turned out to be through the Sheikh of Dubai's property or from the south near to Gracious Pond. I chose the southern route and the transmission at 8:40 confirmed the location with three bearings almost converging on a point. I thought I was doing quite well until I arrived at the entrance to the site and found 5 other cars had beaten me to it. I set off walking towards the location to find Graham, G3XTZ, coming back looking rather smug. The 8:50 transmission started as I was walking and the signal strength increased rapidly showing that I was nearing the transmitter. Steve Stone ran across the path in front of me so he was still looking. Unfortunately the signal then stopped. I continued along the path for a bit but was wary of going too far. Alan Simmons then appeared and disappeared so I decided to retrace my steps to where I had seen Steve Stone.

At this point I got lucky. As I walked into a scrubby area there was a promising holly bush (it turned out to have been a rhododendron) and there was Mr.X lying underneath it. Fourth - not bad competing on my own. All eight teams managed to find the transmitter by close down and we all adjourned to the Four Horseshoes for some refreshment. Thanks to David Ryan (Mr. X) for an interesting and challenging event. Even the rain, which had threatened earlier, faded away.

John Mullins