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The transmitter is down there somewhere!
Click on picture for enlargement
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(continued) As we were studying the map again, another team came charging down the track, and together we drove along the bridleway until we came to the bridge over the canal. |
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The transmitter is down there somewhere! Click on picture for enlargement |
Both teams ran over the canal bridge, across a field, over a wooden bridge over the river, and into a small copse. Just as the TX came on, Peter said that he could see wire on the other side of the river, so leaving Phil listening to the station on the DF set, we crossed back over the bridge, and ran along the hedge at the side of the river. We found the aerial, and leaving Peter to search one end, I started to follow the wire down the hedge, only to be called back quickly by Peter, who had found the transmitter. We were just about to go back to get Phil, when he appeared over the bridge and we directed him in. We all shot off back across the field, leaving the other team still in the copse. Two down, one to go. |
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River Cherwell, with copse to the right, and hedge to the left. Click on picture for enlargement |
We had already worked out the route across the map to station A, and as we approached, another bearing indicated roughly the area we should go to. Another well timed transmission, which allowed us to take two bearings on a "flyer", pinpointed the station to a long thin wood with a footpath along it, on Baker's Hill. We parked up in a small lay-by, next to another car - the operator's car? and ran down the footpath. A long transmission enabled Phil to follow his set as it turned, so that we ran into the wood at right angles to the footpath. We spread out, looking for aerial or the station, and very soon I spotted on the dry earth, signs that many feet had passed this way recently. I called Phil over, and together we decided to sweep the wood by walking parallel along the top of the hill. We had not gone far when Phil shouted that it was all over, as he had literally stumbled across the transmitter, cunningly concealed in a hole in the ground, covered with fern, so that only his hat showed above ground! The time? five to four. A chat with the operator revealed that several of the other teams that we had seen at Station C had already clocked in. Perhaps we had missed them at station B as we took so long going through the 30 m.p.h. limits. Pondering this situation we returned to the car. Just as we arrived back, Brian came screeching to a halt, leapt out, and was directed down the footpath by his navigator. At least we had beaten Brian, even if we had not won! But... |
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