The Begwns - GW/MW-025 SOTA (2023)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Sunday 16th April, 2023.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: The Begwns, Mid Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/MW-025 (1 point).
Summit Height: 415m elevation, 157m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 52.09156, -3.23480. Maidenhead Grid IO82jc.
Distance: 1.5km travelled with 48m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 35m (including operating).
Weather: 10°C, light breeze, cloudy.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 5 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

The Begwns (or, The Begwyns), are a small upland region in eastern Powys, Wales. Located north of a significant bend in the Wye Valley and west of Hay-on-Wye, the name ‘Begwns’ derives from the English ‘beacons.’. The elevation varies from 250 meters to 415 meters at ‘The Roundabout,’ a hilltop with a wooded feature, planted with trees in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The area also has several small ponds which host rare aquatic plants like the fern pillwort and tubular water-dropwort.

This small hill is worth one point within the Summits on the Air amateur radio scheme. The large common area offers a number of options for walks, however I opted for the most direct approach from the minor road to the east of the summit.

There are several grass verges where a car can be parked along the road. A grassy trail leads directly up to the summit. The ‘roundabout’ at the summit can be seen from the roadside in clear conditions.

The walk is less than a mile out-and-back and lends itself well to an extra hill should you be travelling in the Powys area.

The trees at the summit are enclosed with a dry-stone wall and there is a spacious seating area in the centre. This sheltered summit area lends itself very well to an extended SOTA activation or even a (slightly predictable) wild camp location.

In not much more than five minutes I had made my required number of contacts, including regular SOTA chasers Stuart and Matt from Gloucestershire, and returned back down to the car.

This easy walk with its comfortable summit area lends itself very well to HF activations and novice activators looking to shake down their equipment and/or procedures.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of The Begwns on Sunday 16th April, 2023.

Walking Route for The Begwns

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for The Begwns. The GW/MW-025 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 5 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/MW-025 The Begwns on Sunday 16th April, 2023 (all times shown are UTC):

In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.

Additional Information

The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in The Begwns:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/MW-025 The Begwns.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for The Begwns.
• Google Maps Page for The Begwns.
• Wikipedia entry for The Begwns.

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