2019-03-15 52 -0
| Fri 15 Mar 2019 in Northampton, UK: 52.2058521, -0.0059238 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
In a field, just off a footpath between Hardwick and Caldecote.
Participants
Expedition
Today's hashpoint was in an easily accessible field just west of Hardwick village -- and more interestingly, just west of the prime meridian. This and the neighbouring 52,0 hashpoint were therefore very close together, and it was a good opportunity to attempt to beat my hash-to-hash records of 12 minutes 40 seconds by car, and 17 minutes on foot. See 2019-03-15 52 0 for the first part of the expedition.
Having started a stopwatch at the 52,0 hashpoint, I legged it down the road. A couple of hundred metres south of the hashpoint, a bridleway turned off the road and went along the side of fields to Caldecote. I reached it and turned onto it -- and met the wind! A ferocious blast (courtesy of Storm Gareth) made my eyes water and almost blew me backwards. This wouldn't be a nice gentle stroll from hashpoint to hashpoint, then!
A new house construction site had taken over the first part of the bridleway, turning it into an access road instead, but they had considerately laid a new bridleway alongside, with a packed gravel surface that was actually a lot better than the dirt-and-mud surface of the old bridleway! Once I passed the construction (nothing much happening today) I was back on the mud and having to skirt the puddles. Fortunately it wasn't raining now.
About halfway to the hashpoint I came to a wide track which joined the two fields together -- the one the bridleway was on, and the one the hashpoint was in. There were no notices, fences or other restrictions, so I crossed from one field to the other and continued walking along the grass at the side of this new field. After slogging through the wind for another 400 metres or so I was finally square on to the hashpoint, and simply had to walk out into the field to reach it. There were small, grassy plants in the field (probably wheat), but enough open soil that I wasn't going to cause damage by walking a few metres out into the field, so I did. At the hashpoint, I danced around a little to get the coordinates exactly right, then quickly took a photo of the GPS. The stopwatch read 8 minutes and 15 seconds -- easily beating my previous quickest time. Lovely! I took a quick few photos showing the view from the hashpoint, and then retreated to the edge of the field.
There were a few geocaches nearby, so I diverted a little on my way back to the car to find them. The closest was about 150 metres from the hashpoint, with a line of sight to it, which would earn me the hash collision achievement had I not already earned it.
A fun outing today.
