First day of the Long Mynd mini trip.
The low cloud and drizzle that waits for us at Church Stretton greeted us like a dog that had not seen its owner since July. Visibility was zero on the top of the Mynd as we turned into the car park.
A first for the group was seeing Ian M's little face light up as we arrived, - (it is rather unusual for Ian to be at a venue before us.) He does of course work to 'British standard Mitchell time', any one who knows him will recall that the pre-arranged time can vary by as much as a week!
The low cloud was still lurking first thing so mass rigging ensued followed by the regular coffee shop scramble down at Church Stretton.
The low cloud and drizzle that waits for us at Church Stretton greeted us like a dog that had not seen its owner since July. Visibility was zero on the top of the Mynd as we turned into the car park.
A first for the group was seeing Ian M's little face light up as we arrived, - (it is rather unusual for Ian to be at a venue before us.) He does of course work to 'British standard Mitchell time', any one who knows him will recall that the pre-arranged time can vary by as much as a week!
The low cloud was still lurking first thing so mass rigging ensued followed by the regular coffee shop scramble down at Church Stretton.
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| Ready and waiting..... |
Everyone watched the rain showers develop on the horizon, bets were placed on their arrival time. Eventually
the clearance that was forecast for midday arrived at 4pm, soon six
gliders were launched into the WSW wind, low cloud still hampered
visibility on the ridge.
Ian M Kestrel 19 523 and Mark C ASW20 ENW stretched their 700ft to the limit out in the valley searching for wave, it was there but they could not quite step into it from such a low height, Andrew L K6 GDE enjoyed the views of his old stomping ground, usually from the top of the stack!
The ridge was soft all evening despite a brisk wind, most beats were between 400ft and 600ft this was probably due to wave. Flights of around 2 hrs was about the max due to the light fading.
Ian M Kestrel 19 523 and Mark C ASW20 ENW stretched their 700ft to the limit out in the valley searching for wave, it was there but they could not quite step into it from such a low height, Andrew L K6 GDE enjoyed the views of his old stomping ground, usually from the top of the stack!
The ridge was soft all evening despite a brisk wind, most beats were between 400ft and 600ft this was probably due to wave. Flights of around 2 hrs was about the max due to the light fading.
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| Long shadows at Long Mynd |
Forecast for tomorrow looks very promising---- watch this space! - MC
Having helped get the club gliders out, Ruth had a site check flight with the duty instructor soaring the edge of the orographic cloud which was sitting on the Bishop followed by a simulated cable break and then was let loose solo in the K21 to soar for an hour in the now beautiful afternoon conditions.
JB had been nabbed by the Scottish vintage lot to reminisce about the eagle and was then treated to the front seat of their T31 while another of their group flew their magnificent Slingsby Kite (1 of only 4 in the world) Flying around with them is almost as bad as trying to dodge paragliders.
Ron and Wooly in ASH 711, Pete St in Discus 230, Matt in ASW24 M5, Ian and Tom in DG1, hundred, all filled their boots cruising up and down the ridge and trying every thing to contact the wave that looked like should be there but to no avail. - Matt
Also Friday but North of the Fourth.
The advance party of the Portmoak expedition having arrived on site late on Thursday were greeted with similar gloom to that of the Mynd gang, a leaden over cast hung over the field and mist crept up the flanks of the Bishop while the windsock was doing it's best impression of a gravity indicator. Not the most inspiring start but there was a clearance forecast to come through after lunch. It must have been running to British Standard Mitchell time because by 2pm it was still very grey but at least we could see the bottom of the Bishop and there was a hint of blue to the west. |
| The Bishop has a cloud hat |
JB had been nabbed by the Scottish vintage lot to reminisce about the eagle and was then treated to the front seat of their T31 while another of their group flew their magnificent Slingsby Kite (1 of only 4 in the world) Flying around with them is almost as bad as trying to dodge paragliders.
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| Glorious afternoon light on the Bishop |
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| Pete enjoys the view |
