Since I discovered that POTA had an award for activating in the first week of the new year, naturally I had to kick off 2025 by getting my nerd on in a field. January 1st was a write-off, with wind and warnings in place and a G4 solar storm lighting up the ionosphere. The 2nd however, looked ideal—a frosty start and a chill in the air, but sunny all day and with much calmer conditions far above.

Upton House, centrepiece of Upton Country Park

Today’s outing was Upton Country Park, POTA ref. GB-0443. It’s a park I’d been to many times before, but this would be the first time with a radio. From my childhood I remember the house and playing football on the long front lawn that runs down from it, so I was a bit nervous about how conspicuous I’d be sat in the middle of that empty space.

I needn’t have worried though—the lawn was so muddy I discounted it immediately, and set off for other parts of the site. One memory I definitely don’t have from childhood is that the site opens directly onto Holes Bay. I should have brought the proper camera, as the curlews and shelducks were having a field day in the shallow muddy water.

View over Holes Bay

Upton House and its grounds have been in the hands of various wealthy Poole families since it was built in the early 1800s by the Spurrier family, wealthy off the back of the Newfoundland fish trade which Poole was key to at the time. The following century included Spurrier losing all his money on a maggot race, King Charles X of France, an heir suspiciously returning (or not) after being lost at sea, and a lot of marrying cousins. You can read the full story starting from here. In the 1950s it was given to the council, and today while the house is only rarely open for exhibitions, the surrounding park includes the formal gardens along with obligatory visitors’ centre, tea rooms and childrens’ play area.

There is a Roman connection to the site as well, with the remains of a Roman road and pottery industry on site. My grandfather was a wood turner, and occasionally back in the 90s he was part of historical demonstrations here which included wood turning and other crafts using ancient techniques.

A lovely day for POTA, and even a picnic table.

Back to the present day and the radio bit, the bands were in good shape today. Near the start, an Italian station came through at S7 on the meter despite running only 5 watts, and I had transatlantic contacts on both 10 and 20 metres.

Plenty of regular hunters showed up, as did fedi mutual Alex, KR1ST, though I narrowly missed out on QSOs with Joe, KC1SRI, plus Tobias, DC1TC, and Harm, DK4HAA, who were out with Ove, DK1BOU for another multi-operator activation—I got onto their frequency just in time to hear that they were shutting down due to the rain!

Still, 34 in the log is a decent haul, including 6 transatlantic. I think I may have beaten my record for the shortest distance HF QSO as well. Regular local hunter John, M6EAM in Christchurch was soon followed by a new contact, Jon, 2E0WJD in Creekmoor—less than a mile away and probably line of sight through the trees!

Many thanks and Happy New Year to all my contacts this afternoon. See you on the air next time!