2022-12-09 52 0

Fri 9 Dec 2022 in 52,0: 52.4689474, 0.2931653 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

Near a sewage works North of Littleport

Participants

• PeterRoder

Plans

Trains to Littleport arrive at 4 past the hour, and trains from Littleport leave at 8 past the hour. Google maps said the walk from the station to the hash was 32 minutes, so I decided to try to get to the hash and back in an hour, rather than spending most of an hour waiting around. Because of this time constraint, I chose to use the quickest route recommended by google maps: mostly walking along the side of the A10.

Expedition

My train was running slightly late, and reached Littleport station at 12:06. Of course, the A10 had no footpath alongside, so most of my journey was walking on long and wet grass. As I approached the turn-off to the hash, I checked my GPS to find that it was out of battery. I didn't have spare batteries with me, and I also didn't have internet access, so I had to rely completely on memory from this point onwards.

I reached the vicinity of the hash at 12:32. I knew the hash was very close to the ditch separating a track from a farmer's field. In the ditch was a small creek, which looked frozen, but I wasn't going to risk trying to walk on it. Instead, I walked along both sides of the ditch, and took pictures at my best guess of the hash's location.

I knew for sure that the hash was visible in this picture

My guess as to the hash's location, viewed from the track opposite

Me, sitting on the edge of the ditch with my feet at my best guess of the hash's location

I left the area at 12:42, meaning that to be back in time for the 13:08 train I had to be no slower than I was on the outbound journey. My determination to not spend an additional hour in Littleport gave me the energy needed to reach the station at 13:04. Thankfully, the wet grass had mostly cleaned the mud off my shoes before I got on the train.

Once on the train, I had internet and checked the actual hash location. It was significantly further North than I thought; the closest I actually came to it was probably about 100m away.

This expedition cost me £5.60 (for the train).

Achievements

Peter earned the Blinded by Science Consolation Prize by failing to reach the (52, 0) geohash on 2022-12-09 because his GPS ran out of battery.