#18: [12-Oct-24]

#17: [08-Aug-24]

#16: [23-Dec-15]

#15: [23-Apr-13]

#14: [21-Sep-09]

#13: [28-May-09]

#12: [28-May-09]

#11: [15-Feb-08]

#10: [17-Mar-07]

#9: [08-Jul-06]

#8: [24-Sep-05]

#6: [12-Jul-05]

#7: [12-Jun-05]

#4: [22-Nov-03]

#3: [08-Nov-03]

#2: [21-Oct-01]

#5: [08-Jul-04] (incomplete)

18-Feb-2001 -- At last a UK confluence with a touch of adventure. 53N4W is in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. The family and I took a couple of days holiday in Betws-y-Coed during the February half term. The location was chosen because of its proximity to 53N4W.

We drove 120 miles uneventful miles to park the car at Tanygrisiau which is half a mile southwest of the town of Bleanau Festiniog. The village itself has a station on the famous BF Steam Railway.

The weather the week before had been superb, we had been under the influence of a persistent area of high pressure that the weather forecasters said would start to move away during the following day. Not wanting to risk missing the opportunity while the weather was so good we set off as soon as we could. The confluence is about two miles from the road. The Ordanance Survey maps indicate a good set of paths leading to within 200 feet of the target. Points of interest along the way include several ruins notably from the old abandoned slate mining quarrys and a derelict Chapel, presumably for the spiritual well being of the miners on their way home from work. After an hour and half we strike off from the path and the GPS leads us to the exact point. Interestingly the OS map puts it on the other side of Lynnau Diffwys (a small lake) perhaps a 150 feet away but I'm not arguing with the instrument as we re-check the location and take it as correct.

I bag several photographs and we head back to the car. The completion of this confluence means that we now have a coast to coast conection in the UK as well as the US! (53N 0E through to 53N4W), progress indeed.

In the Snowdonia National Park.