Chanctonbury Ring - G/SE-009 SOTA (2025)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Saturday 12th April, 2025.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Chanctonbury Ring, Southern England, England.
Summit ID: SOTA reference G/SE-009 (1 point).
Summit Height: 240m elevation, 217m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 50.89658, -0.38222. Maidenhead Grid IO90tv.
Distance: 4.1km travelled with 150m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1h 30m (including operating).
Weather: 18°C, cloudy, 9kph S wind, 47% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, Slim-J, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4, Elecraft KX2, AX1.
Callsign Used: M1HAX/P.
Contacts: 5 (2m FM, 20m SSB).

Trip Notes

Chanctonbury Ring (240m) is one of the most iconic landmarks along the South Downs, instantly recognisable by its distinctive crown of beech trees planted atop an Iron Age hillfort. The site has been occupied intermittently for over 2,500 years, with evidence of Neolithic activity, Bronze Age burials, and two Romano-British temples within the earthworks. In 1760, sixteen-year-old Charles Goring planted a ring of beech trees around the ramparts, creating the famous silhouette that defines the Sussex skyline. The Great Storm of 1987 destroyed over 75 per cent of these trees, though a replanting programme has gradually restored the ring. This summit was the first of five activations on a busy Saturday working through the G/SE region.

I parked in the large free car park on the edge of the Wiston Estate, accessed via the Washington Bypass road. From here, the route heads almost due east for about two kilometres along an excellent quality trail. At a signpost, take the left-hand fork toward the summit. There is also a trig point approximately 600 metres from the true summit which lies within the activation zone if preferred.

The wooded area at the summit provides some shelter from the prevailing winds and offers plenty of space for operating away from the path. I set up my Yaesu FTM100D with a Slim-J antenna and made two contacts on 2m FM before switching to my Elecraft KX2 and AX1 for HF. The 20m band was productive, yielding three contacts including a summit to summit (S2S) with EC2AG on EA2/VI-056 in Spain.

This is a straightforward and enjoyable walk which I would particularly recommend to novice walkers or those new to SOTA. The combination of easy access, historical interest, and good operating positions makes it an ideal introduction to the hobby.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Chanctonbury Ring on Saturday 12th April, 2025.

Walking Route for Chanctonbury Ring

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Chanctonbury Ring. The G/SE-009 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 M1HAX/P from G/SE-009 Chanctonbury Ring on Saturday 12th April, 2025 (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 Chanctonbury Ring:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for G/SE-009 Chanctonbury Ring.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Chanctonbury Ring.
• Google Maps Page for Chanctonbury Ring.
• Wikipedia entry for Chanctonbury Ring.

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