2009-09-30 52 -2

Wed 30 Sep 2009 in 52,-2: 52.0357456, -2.4944536 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

A field in Aylton, near Hereford in Herefordshire.

Participants

• davidc

Expedition

I began the morning in Newport, south Wales, and headed directly to Cardiff to explore a bit, even though I'd been warned by some Liverpudlians in the pub the previous night that I'd definitely be beaten up there. Of course, I had to visit the Torchwood 3 Hub and take photos of myself standing at the space-time rift.

After leaving Cardiff in an excellent mood, I bombed down the M4 propelled by a CD of Kylie's 50 greatest 80s hits, waving a happy hello to every traffic camera and "average speed" camera along the way. I hope someone was watching and felt that we'd formed a special bond. A-road, B-roads and eventually country lanes led me to the hash.

I parked up in the "green" in Aylton, a tiny triangle of grass between the roads. The village turned out to be a mere hamlet, mostly converted to rental cottages. Walking down the road I found a nice public footpath leading across the hashfield itself. Freshly ploughed, the way around the edge was easy. As I approached the coordinates, a terrified hash-hare bounded out of the verge and pegged it into the distance. I was much bigger than him, you see, and far more determined to reach the hashpoint.

A few metres across the field and coordinates were easily reached. I left, consulting TomTom on the way to see whether I would be able to make it in time to meet the others at 2009-09-30 52 -0. TomTom said no, so I headed back to a nice-looking pub I'd passed in Little Marcle. A sketch graph of driving times revealed I'd probably only have time for one more hash before the early winter nightfall, so I headed on to the next and final hash of the day.

I later discovered, to my surprise, that nobody has hashed in this graticule before, so I win the Virgin Graticule ribbon!

This geohash was part of davidc's European tour in Autumn 2009:

England:

1. 2009-09-27 50 -1 - Eastleigh, Hampshire.
2. 2009-09-29 51 -0 - Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey (Failed: No Public Access)
3. 1978-11-27 51 -0 on 2009-09-29 - my Origin Geohash in Bramley, Surrey.
4. 2009-09-29 51 -1 - Ashmansworth. Speed racer!
5. 2009-09-30 52 -2 - Herefordshire. Virgin graticule!
6. 2009-09-30 52 -1 - Sibford Gower, Oxfordshire.
7. 2009-10-01 51 -0 - Reigate, Surrey (Failed Ambassador)

Portugal:

1. 2009-10-07 38 -9 - Cabo Espichel, Sesimbra

Photos

• 

  Torchwood, a.k.a. the Welsh Millenium Centre in Cardiff

• 

  Me in front of the Torchwood 3 Hub!

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  The Torchwood "main entrance" has become a shrine to Ianto Jones.

• 

  These are not hash-sheep, but that is the hash-field on the left.

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  The freshly ploughed hash-field.

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  Public footpaths rule.

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  Coordinates reached!

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  Silly grins.

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  Figuring out the best way to proceed.

Ribbons

davidc earned the Graticule Unlocked Achievement by being the first to reach any hashpoint in the (52, -2) graticule, here, on 2009-09-30.

davidc earned the Consecutive geohash achievement by reaching 2 consecutive hash points starting on 2009-09-29.

davidc achieved level 2 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement by visiting coordinates in 51,-1 and 2 of the surrounding graticules.