Belgian buccaneers invade Rockall

A group of Belgian radio hams landed on the sacred islet of Rockall over the weekend, following an evidently rough crossing to the world's remotest outcrop. Two operators - Patrick (ON4HIL) and Rudi (ON7YT) - transmitted over Saturday night from atop the granite peak, dubbed EU189 in the Islands On The Air (IOTA) register. A …

[Naughtyhorse]

rockall

i thought that place was crawling with anthrax or some such - the cold war dontcherknow - when stockpiling WMD's was the pastime of the civilised nations, like us and the merkins, and not dangerous types (not us or merkins for eg)...

bloody hope im wrong!

[TonyG]

You're thinking of Gruinard island

Which was cleaned from anthrax in 1986.

[Arthur Jackson]

Mancunian and Cockerney Proof readers and compositors exonerated

And now it comes out, the Guardians legendary typos were the result of anthrax poisoning.

[dak]

No, that's Gruinard you are thinking of.

And it was decontaminated about 20 years ago.

[Jan 0]

You're thinking of Gruinard Island, which is only a modest paper glider flight from the Scottish mainland. Oh and it was during World War two that it was used for testing attack/defence (you choose) using spores of Bacillus anthracis. Incidentally, dying of anthrax is supposed to be the most painful death from 'natural causes'.

Where's the sign of the Petri dish and Roux bottles when you need it?

[Chris Miller]

You're probably thinking of Gruinard

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruinard_Island

A little nearer the mainland than Rockall, but still pretty inaccessible.

[Robert E A Harvey]

yer thinking of Gruinard - would not get any sheep to stay on Rockall!

[Pen-y-gors]

Gruinard?

[Colin Miller]

Gruinard Island?

You might be thinking of Gruinard Island, which was used to test Anthrax on sheep during WWII. However, it is only 1.1km off-shore, and about 15 km west (as the crow files) of Ullapool.

[Anonymous John]

You're wrong.

That was Gruinard, off the Scottish coast. Infected in WW2 and finally decontaminated about 20 years ago. Still uninhabited, but sheep graze there now.

[Gobhicks]

Re Anthrax

You're thinking of Gruinard Island, which is actually less than a mile offshore and was quarantined from WW2 until 1990.

[Anonymous Coward]

Can I be the first to say....

Are you thinking of Gruinard Island???

[Anonymous Coward]

El Reg didn't mention the presence of radio hammery at the time of the 2005 Rockall adventure - If we'd have known, I'm sure us El Reg readers would have given you a call!

[Anonymous Coward]

Logo swiping

So after Apple claim ownership on the "rectangle with rounded corners" is the Reg Rockall dept now claiming worldwide exclusive rights to "circles with a rockall shaped object in the middle"?

[Lester Haines]

Re: Logo swiping

Yes we are.

[Robert E A Harvey]

what happened to the Riockall Times web site? That wasn't you lot was it?

[Old_JP]

The WORLD's remotest outcrop???

Thats exagerating a tad.... I'm sure there's a few more "outcrops" which are a tad more remote... of course it's all relative to where you're standing at the time....

[TonyG]

If I remember correctly

There are outcrops that are more remote from a mainland but not from other islands.

Granted it's more likely poetic licence rather than accurate.

[Lester Haines]

Re: The WORLD's remotest outcrop???

I believe it actually is the remotest single outcrop. Bouvet Island is the remotest island, but it has a couple of islets offshore. Happy to be corrected.

[Old_JP]

Well that puts me in me places doesn't it :-)

Always happy to be corrected

[Tim Bergel]

there's a few more "outcrops" which are a tad more remote

for example the majestic Bergel rock - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergel_Rock

[Colin Miller]

Not as a single pinnacle

'Cept it's 1.6 miles from Quintana Island, which is 10km from the Betbeder Islands, the whole lot is part of the Wilhelm Archipelago, about another 16km off the Antarctic Peninsula. Remote from civilization, yes, but not remote from any other single rock.

[mudskipper]

!

Bravo les Belges !

[Jan 0]

or maybe

Goed gedaan je Belgen!

[Anonymous Coward]

The Rockall Times ...

... ought to have reported on this, don't you think? But http://www.therockalltimes.co.uk/ seems to have been "off air/dns" for some time now.

[itgorilla]

I read that Lester et al had a bit of a contretemps after their visit to Rockall resulting in the implosion of the Rockall Times. Great shame, although El Reg makes up for it.

[Andy 97]

Need to get out more...

[Captain Hogwash]

Gruinard Island?

Or Grauniad Island? Buckaneer or buccaneer?

[Jan 0]

Surely the Grauniad island was "Sans Serife"? (and Buccaneer is a Waddington's board game)

Anyway, do we have a gunboat left to go and shout at them?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Deja vu all over again

Filthy(*) foreigners invade worthless island that Daily Mail readers couldn't find on a map.

Unpopular Tory government looking for a boost in popularity.

BAe needing a sales boost

I bet Max Hastings is packing his Saville Row flak jacket.

* - Well they put mayonnaise on chips.

[Graham Bartlett]

@Naughtyhorse

That was Gruinard, although it's not impossible that other islands were used too. Gruinard was used because it could support wildlife. Rockall has lots of seabirds but is a bit short of anything else.

[Alan Firminger]

Shame

Pity the The Rockall Times is no longer present.