We decided to try to activate Leith Hill, as after checking the SOTLAS map https://sotl.as/map this was the easiest for us to get to. The tallest hill in Surrey, the summit is 295m high, with car parks taking you quite close to the top, meaning that is a fairly accessible peak. This was ideal for us, as we wanted to take quite a lot of heavy equipment (apart from the radio gear, we also had camping chairs, a camping table, and a thermos of hot chocolate). Its also great if you only have a few hours, and can’t commit to a day of hiking.
There are multiple car parks around Leith Hill, please check the national trust website for more information: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/surrey/leith-hill as some car parks are closer, but have a steeper walk to the top. We parked in the Starveall Corner Car Park, which meant we had a 3/4 mile gentle walk to the summit. The walk is lovely, winding through woodland on wide easy paths, but be prepared to encounter some mud in places!
At the top of the hill there is a tower, with a little cafe in the bottom offering refreshments, like pastys, hot drinks, and sausage rolls. As we approached the tower from the car park, we noticed that there was a small clearing, with benches and picnic tables set off of a small path. These are located just to the South / South East of the tower, and are ideal for a SOTA setup, because there is enough space to set up your equipment, without getting in the way of the other walkers. Although we had bought camping chairs and a table with us, the picnic bench was very useful, as it meant that bags and the hot chocolate thermos’ did not have to be placed on muddy ground. I can imagine that in the Summer, these picnic benches would be quite popular, so unless you are also going up on a cold, wet, wintery day, I would not rely on these being available to you.
We brought the Yaesu Ft-818nd with us, for HF, and the Quencheng tranciever for 2m. The HF antenna was the SOTA beams band springer midi, mounted on the SOTA beams carbon 6 mast. This mast is incredibly light weight, but was getting blown about in the wind, as it was blustery at the top.
However, the 2m was so successful in comparison to HF, that, once my Dad was finished with his activation, I changed over to 2m too. For 2m, we had a 3m slim jim on a 4m carbon fibre pole. We each managed to make our 4 QSOs necessary to get the SOTA points within the hour! This of course was then celebrated with a hot chocolate.