Access to the site on the right side of the river was by a footpath down the side of a local dairy. This was OK as long as the gate man to the dairy let you park in the visitors spaces. The path ran down the side of the buildings to the river bank. That’s when it hit you. Butyric Acid is a natural effluent from a dairy (at least it was then , Environmental rules now forbid it), and it was dumped along with the rest of the water from the processes. This stuff stinks to high heaven its the same as sour milk or sweaty armpits, not nice at all. It was thus take a deep breath time and run a hundred yards in double quick time, without breathing again. But this stuff follows you, in your clothes, even in your skin oils, Horrible it is, and then it was being washed downstream with us towards the transmitter.

Others found where the rail track crossed a local minor road, and tried following it in from there, only to be told off and chucked off the land by a local she farmer (the worst kind).

There was a shorter way in but this meant swimming the River Dee, complete with effluents. One competitor did just that, and could be smelt coming over 100 yards downwind for the rest of the afternoon. (and he went into the water on his first out of three transmitters, AND had to return through the ‘water’ back to his car)

The embankment, when you got there was thick, hawthorn, bramble and the DF nightmare, Blackthorn. So after tearing your way through this thicket for 100 yards, you almost fell over the transmitter crew, who were still in stitches over the guy who swam the ‘river’ both ways. To be fair the water itself was quite clear, obviously the guy had no sense of smell, at least after his swim.