31-May-2004 -- A bright sunny day and a quick visit to my local confluence 52N 2W seemed in order. The previous visits had little trouble and so I was confident of a good result. I jumped on my bike, with suitable supplies for the 20-odd mile ride and set off. The confluence lies along a fence dividing two fields just north of Alderton.

Previous visits had located the confluence in the southern field, but my GPS put it exactly on the fenceline between the two fields. From the rough track from the village I spotted a local walking her dog down a narrow path just north of the fenceline, so I assumed it was OK to follow. The confluence is about 100M East of the track, and the hedgerow has grown considerably since previous vists - it's now about 3 meters wide, and consists of bindweed and nettles. Forsaking common sense, I plunged in, wearing just lycra cycling shorts and a T-shirt and danced around until I got the 'all zeros' reading. I took the obligatory cardinal photo shots and wheeled my bike back down the narrow path to the track.

On leaving Alderton I discovered that the bindweed had clogged up the rear gears - but this was soon sorted and I enjoyed a trouble-free ride home, for a total distance of 38 miles and a legful of nettle stings.