Freeholds Top - G/SP-011 SOTA (2024)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Tuesday 16th April, 2024.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Freeholds Top, Southern Pennines, England.
Summit ID: SOTA reference G/SP-011 (1 point).
Summit Height: 454m elevation, 155m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 53.69328, -2.14384. Maidenhead Grid IO83wq.
Distance: 6.4km travelled with 105m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1h 40m (including operating).
Weather: 6°C, moderate breeze, heavy rain showers.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: M1HAX/P.
Contacts: 10 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Freeholds Top stands at 454 metres on the Lancashire-Yorkshire border, with 155 metres of prominence making it a qualifying Marilyn. The summit lies in a relatively remote section of moorland above the Rossendale Valley, surrounded by wind turbines that have transformed the landscape in recent years.

I started from roadside parking for approximately ten cars on Bacup Road near the village of Sharneyford. The route initially follows a surfaced access road that appears to have been constructed for wind turbine maintenance, though it eventually deteriorates into a rougher track.

The walking itself covers about 3.2 kilometres from start to summit. The final section sees the road peter out into a grassy trail across open moorland. Underfoot conditions were wet and muddy throughout, requiring careful foot placement in places.

At the summit, a trig point stands beside a large pond, creating a distinctive landmark. I used the trig point as a convenient table for my radio equipment.

Despite the remote location, I made ten contacts on 2 metres FM with my Yaesu FTM100D in around fifteen minutes. The pile-up included Andy M0ALA, Brian M0NSI mobile, and Walt G6XBF among others. Propagation appeared favourable for this typically quiet one-point summit.

On the return, we had to wait while a farmer herded livestock along a section of the track. Back at the car, I drove on to my final summit of the day, Hail Storm Hill. Freeholds Top offers a straightforward activation with minimal navigation challenges, though waterproof boots are advisable year-round.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Freeholds Top on Tuesday 16th April, 2024.

Walking Route for Freeholds Top

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Freeholds Top. The G/SP-011 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 10 amateur radio contacts operating as M1HAX/P from G/SP-011 Freeholds Top on Tuesday 16th April, 2024 (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 Freeholds Top:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for G/SP-011 Freeholds Top.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Freeholds Top.
• Google Maps Page for Freeholds Top.
• Wikipedia entry for Freeholds Top.

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