BIWOTA Sat 29/08/26

What a great day :)

So we’re all packed up after our BIWOTA (British Inland Waterways On The Air) station up on the River Wyre. The aim of BIWOTA is to bring together Radio Amateurs who regularly use the waterways, riverbanks or towpaths to celebrate their hobby and raise awareness of the UK waterways. The site we chose on the banks of the River Wyre is Wyre Estuary Country Park it’s located in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. Established in 1991 and covering 0.79 acres it is situated on the western banks of the 28-mile (45 km) long River Wyre, near its mouth at the Irish Sea at Fleetwood.

The Wyre estuary forms part of the southern boundary of Morecambe Bay. Slightly up river from our location is Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club a sailing and powerboating club, based at Skippool. They have dinghy and keelboat racing fleets at Skippool, as well as an active cruising contingent who venture further afield. They were out on the water today which was really nice to see.

From the park's car park, Fleetwood can be viewed to the north, and there are also vistas across the river to South Lakeland to the northeast, Over Wyre to the east and, beyond, the Bowland Fells.

The park has received a Green Flag Award and a Visit England Award. It is a starting point on the Wyre Way.

Cockle Hall, the former site of a cottage occupied by a family of thirteen, is located a short distance along the path. The ferryman who took people to and brought people from Wardleys Creek, on the opposite side of the river, also lived there.

Equipment used: Icom 7300 / Yaesu FTX1 - Linked dipole at 12m on a PU12 Mast. 2m White stick which it’s fair to say had a few issues.

44 QSO’s in the Log - 30 on FT8, 13 SSB, 1 FM

Conditions were to be fair awful, the CF didn’t get over 6MHz which somewhat hampered proceedings but FT8 saved the day.

We didn’t let the weather put us off, a really good turn out and those that couldn’t make it in person supported us on the air.