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the Degree Confluence Project
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Netherlands

1.9 km (1.2 miles) N of Langezwaag, Friesland, Netherlands
Approx. altitude: 0 m (0 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 53°S 174°W

Accuracy: 4 m (13 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: Looking North #3: Looking East #4: Looking South #5: Looking West #6: GoogleEarth and GPS #7: Fryslân (Friesland), lakes, channels and boats #8: Frisian landmarks #9: Plants in the ditches around the CP

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  53°N 6°E (visit #6)  

#1: The confluence of 53° North and 6° East, a bit trampled

(visited by Henk Pouwels)

05-Aug-2010 -- This morning I loaded my car with my camping equipment and left the West of the Netherlands for a round trip through the northern provinces. I found a beautiful small camping at a farm some km east of Gorredijk at 6 km from the CP (52.99365°N 6.08771°E).

Gorredijk is a small village in the province of Friesland, The Netherlands. This province is famous for the lakes and canals. Good map reading is a must because several roads end at the border of a lake or canal. And in summertime the numerous holiday boats generate many open bridges. In wintertime, at the first touch of frost, people start talking about the “Elfstedentocht”. This is a 200-km long skating tour over the natural ice of canals and lakes, connecting eleven cities in the province. There is a limit of 16000 skaters. The Frisians have their own language that is difficult to understand if you don’t speak it; but they speak also Dutch.

After raising my tent I mounted my bike. It took me just 65 minutes and 10 km’s (inclusive 1 km detour) to reach Klidze Rjocht. This is the Frisian name of the street about 1 km North of the CP. The owner of the land from here to the CP lives in the farm, at house number 4. I met his wife and asked permission to enter their land. The lady knew about “the point” which saved me from a complete explanation.

A tractor trail alongside a field with corn could be biked up to within 150 m of the CP. Two fields with grass, separated by a ditch, were in front of me. Choose the right-hand field, walk along the border of the ditch and find the CP about 10 m inside the field at the faint bend in the ditch. No Minutes - No Seconds was achieved in a short time at an EPE of 4 m. My 49th visit to an unique CP was a fact.

The CP is covered with grass. The field is not a meadow where the cows can walk around and consume the grass but an acre where grass is cultivated to be harvested. The cows live in a large stable. The North), East, South and West views show the agricultural use of the area. Behind the trees in the West view is the motorway A7.

Almost all farmhouses are decorated with a wooden sculpture on top called in Dutch “uilenbord” (board with owls). Normally there is a hole in the board to enable owls to enter the barn and catch mice. In this area the side figures are swans. In a lot of gardens there is a flagpole with a pennant with the Frisian logo: red coloured leaves of the yellow pond-lily on blue and white.

Plants of the ditches ; from left to right, from top to bottom)

DutchLatinEnglish
EgelskopSparganium emersumBur-reed
WaterweegbreeAlisma lanceolatumWater Plantain
BeekpungeVeronica beccabungaBrooklime
ValeriaanValeriana officinalisValerian
Blaasjeskruid & KikkerbeetUtricularia vulgaris & Hydrocharis morsus-ranaeBladderwort (yellow) & Frogbit (white)
PijlkruidSagittaria sagittifoliaArrowhead

Valerian is a medical plant: it reduces nervousness. Bladderwort, the yellow flower in the centre of the bottom row, feeds on tiny water beasts that are caught in bladders. Almost all plants require good quality fresh water.


 All pictures
#1: The confluence of 53° North and 6° East, a bit trampled
#2: Looking North
#3: Looking East
#4: Looking South
#5: Looking West
#6: GoogleEarth and GPS
#7: Fryslân (Friesland), lakes, channels and boats
#8: Frisian landmarks
#9: Plants in the ditches around the CP
ALL: All pictures on one page