stairs farm

[mickw]

Boggy is an understatement its dire

[RobertM]

Are we talking boots, wellies or waders ?

[MarkS]

Is there any ground firm enough for a tent?

[Mike]

Are there any dry spots for tents please?

[Mike]

Spoken to the guys at the field. The field is a 'quagmire'. Only dry places to pitch tent are the gravel track. Nearby church has a spotlight and it is directly under the flight path to gatwick.

I could say more but I'd better not.

[RobertM]

Hmmm, not ideal then 

[Mike]

I'm about to take a drive down there, sans tent, to have a beer with the guys and check out the conditions. After all, it is a clear night.

If I think it's worth it then i'll come back tomorrow and stay overnight.

[Mike]

Well the guys are pretty miserable in the field and not having a lot of fun. The field is like The Battle of the Somme never mind a quagmire. The so called hard standing is not even wide enough for a vehicle so one set of wheels is on the grass anyway. Hence, there are huge ruts everywhere from the previous occupants. Anything left on the grass would be about 12 inches lower an hour later. Mark set his tripod up on the grass and rescued it just before the scope went under. There is no drainage whatsoever. The access road to the field is also heavily potholed and in a bad state. The local church has a 20th Century Fox style searchlight on top of it that sends a highly visible beam right across the sky and the aircraft coming into Gatwick are so low you can read the serial numbers on the side and work out the shirt size of the pilot. Basically it is a total disaster.

I stayed till about 10:30 then came home. Nearly hit a Stag and a Doe that jumped out in front of the car on the way back. Also saw 3 voles, 2 foxes, a cat, and 3 dead rabbits, one minus a head.

Anyway... If you are thinking of going tomorrow then don't bother as most of the guys are coming home tomorrow. Needless to say we won't be going back there.

[Fay]

I am home now, Mick, Tony & Carole will also be home. Mac, Mark, Chris & Duncan are still there.

This morning was the thickest frost I have ever seen, quite pretty but the sun will soon melt the hard ground & make it really boggy again.
We parked on the hard paths, although told not to & were supposed to park in another field, which would have been impossible, it was hard enough as it was.
If anyone else had been there, strangers, we would not have been able to leave the cars on the narrow gravel paths. Very small field, one step up from Tuesnoad.
No one got any images last night, except Chris got a few Rosette subs. They are hoping for a good night tonight.

[mickw]

3 dead rabbits, one minus a head

Cool, any photos ?   

OK, home now and happily sitting on the outside of a bacon sandwich and cup of coffee 

I think all that could be said has been said, but just out of interest, it was so cold and damp that my bottle opener froze to the table 
I may need therapy after an ordeal like that 

On a positive note, it's near Pooh bridge 
Which seems rather appropriate considering what a sh#t hole it was 

[Mike]

Which seems rather appropriate considering what a sh#t hole it was 

[Carole]

Well what can I say, except it was fine when I went to see it in the summer, and I had thought that an elevated site would not have had trouble with drainage, but was obviously wrong there.  I missed the light from the church beaming up into the sky, it was very faint and had to have it pointed out to me, However it was not far from polaris, so not much imaging going on there.

I think the fact that the other camps are currently closed speaks for itself and perhaps we should give up trying to camp in February.  I do think the owner should have warned us about the conditions BEFORE she took our booking, should have smelt a rat when Mike reported to us that some areas were "marshy".  The moles hills did not help and made the grass very bumpy.  

I came home purely because of the sub zero temperatures at night and the fact that I have no dew heaters and so imaging came to a halt anyway.  

I do agree that the gravel paths are too narrow.  

Only good thing was getting hook up, I had to have the heater on all night it was so cold.

So sorry folks, was trying to help.  

Carole

[Carole]

Some images, looking out of my tent at around 9am.  The white grass is frost.
I had ice on the inside of my tent. 


Mac Duncan and Mark's tents.


As you can see we had to set up the scopes on the hardstanding.


Carole

[Mike]

I like the fact that non of those scopes are level. They are all leaning in different directions.

[mickw]

More snaps - the Friday evening

Are we having fun  yet  ?