A Bank Holiday expedition.

Today is Whit Bank Holiday and the weather this weekend has been typical British Holiday weather - cold, windy and very wet! Yesterday it rained so much that there was no chance of going letterboxing, which is very disappointing when you have visitors, but today promised to be just showers. Mini-Bug and I were determined to dodge the rain spots come what may! As it was so windy and cold, the temperature having dropped from 16ºC on Friday to 8ºC today, we decided to stay close to home and just visit a couple of the local letterboxes.

The first letterbox we were headed for is planted close to the Greenwich Meridian Line. Most people, when the Greenwich Meridian Line is mentioned, think of London and The Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The Greenwich Meridian Line however does run through a few other parts of England, and in fact the most northerly land on the Prime Meridian Line is close to my home town. The next landfall after that point is the North Pole (and it certainly felt like we were close to the North Pole today)!

When we arrived at the point were the Prime Meridian Line crossed the road, there was a big sign stating exactly where it was. Mini-Bug, like a true tourist, wanted a photograph taken astride the line, with one leg in the East and one leg in the West. If you cannot quite make out what Mini-Bug is doing (she is dangling just below the 0º) just click on the photograph to enlarge it.

After Mini-Bug climbed down from the sign we set off to find the letterbox. It was a short walk, and we found the box well hidden under a brick. Opening the container and stepping into the box she was able to get a good image in her logbook, and stamp in to the visitors book. It was whilst she was flicking through the visitors book that she noticed the day it had been planted — on a Clock Change Day! Very significant, as Greenwich Mean Time and the time zones of the world are all based on the Greenwich Meridian Line. Even more significant is that the Dartmoor Meets are always held on the two Clock Change Days of the year.

It was starting to spot with rain again, so we quickly returned to the car and set off for the next area hoping it would have cleared by the time we got there. We were wanting to plant a letterbox and this time we were headed for a dismantled railway. I had previously scouted out the area before I knew Mini-Bug would be visiting, so it was just a case of finding an ideal hidey hole for it.

There are two main dismantled railways near my home, both of which carried goods wagons and holiday makers out to the local seaside resorts about 15 miles away — before Beeching wrecked everything in the 1960s. Nevertheless these two old railway lines have now become good walking, and letterboxing, areas. The branch we were heading for today is now a permitted bridlepath all the way to the seaside, although we didn't have the energy to walk there today.

We began the walk near an old forgotten, and overgrown, level crossing gate. As we walked along we noticed many apple trees lining the route of the track. These are reputed to have grown from the seeds of apple cores day-trippers had thrown out of the train windows as the it slowed down at the level crossing. We found an excellent spot to plant the box and Mini-Bug became busy stamping up her logbook.

Finally, on the way back to the car Mini-Bug jumped up and sat, rather precariously, on the branch of a nearby apple tree to have her photograph taken. The trees behind Mini-Bug were rather pretty. Although the apple tree was not in bloom, the white and pink blossom on the hawthorn trees more than made up for it. Once again, if you cannot quite see Mini-Bug click on the photo to enlarge it and you will spot her near the front on the apple leaves.

So that was it for today, we headed home for the comforts of a nice warm house and to record the names of the letterboxes we had visited in Mini-Bugs logbook, — and to add a post to this blog!

My First Boxing Buddy Arrives

Tuesday 22nd May

My first Boxing Buddy was sent to me by Trouble Bug and came all the way from Idaho, USA. Her name is Mini-Bug and she loves flying kites and the colour red. She was extremely pleased to arrive in England and be out of the parcel she had been shipped in. She arrived just in time for International Plant a Letterbox Day too. We immediately rushed out into the garden to take some photographs. Mini-Bug made friends with an old gentleman down at the bottom of the garden who whispered that there might be a letterbox nearby. With that hint we easily found Hull Fair, not a real letterbox, but one listed as an Other Box. Mini-Bug was so excited to find her first English letterbox, it was a beautiful red - her most favourite colour in the whole world - and because of this she didn't mind that it was an Other Box. After all, Mini-Bug was listed as an Other too!

Thursday 24th May

International Plant a Letterbox Day arrived at last. There was a lot to do today as not only were we hoping to find several boxes, but we must find time to plant a box too. Mini-Bug is a lovely little wire and bead constructed person, so first of all we needed to find a container that would prevent her being squashed in my pocket during our travels. I found an old hard spectacle case which Mini-Bug was delighted with and off we set for the moors.
First we headed for an ancient track cut across the heather moorland which is now part of the Coast to Coast Walk. Mini-Bug spotted what looked like a dung beetle (though no doubt someone will correct me), and rather unkindly she kicked it over. I have to say that we had to admire the beautiful iridescent blue of it's undercarriage before it managed to right itself. The first letterbox we were heading for had been planted way back in May 1992, so we were rather uncertain that it would even be there. The old signpost to a local shooting lodge, which was the start of the clue, had unfortunately been replaced with a new wooden post indicating that the bridlepath is part of the Coast to Coast long distance path. It is such a shame when the old signs are taken down, especially when the shooting lodge is still in existence. At least the rest of the clue went smoothly and we easily found the box we were looking for. The box was in a reasonable condition, although the interior of the box and the visitors book was damp. The stamp itself had survived and we were able to obtain some good images from it for Mini-Bugs own Logbook.
After replacing the visitors book with a nice new one we packed everything up and went in search of the next box. This one was rather more difficult, and the sky was starting to look rather black. In spite of this we plodded onwards, ever hopeful, but the surroundings did not seem to fit with the clue. We sat down to study the map, and when we looked up there was a small group of rocks tucked under a boulder. Not really expecting to find the box there, we nevertheless gave it a poke and out tumbled a letterbox! Hurrah we had found it. Moving away from the spot we found a nice soft mossy area to sit down on. When we opened the box we realised straight away that it was not the one we were seeking. Instead this one was of a spaceship and had been planted to celebrate 25 years since man first walked on the moon, and also the day the largest bit of a comet hit Jupiter. This time Mini-Bug wanted to have her photograph taken with her nice red carrying case, so we stood it against an ancient boundary stone and she stepped into it.
So, we were still left searching for the elusive letterbox. That black sky was looking much worse and we decided that we must head back. Returning down the track again we suddenly spied what looked like two gullies. Two gullies just what we were looking for! Was there an inverted triangle boulder? Yes, hurrah we had found it, another one for Mini-Bugs logbook! We were doing well, although Mini-Bug was not used to tramping across heather and bilberry, and was finding it hard on her delicate wire frame. Thank goodness for that comfy red case. Now it was time to go planting. We moved onward to a new area. Fortunately the sky had cleared without raining on us and we headed off to a likely looking spot. Once again this meant striding across moorland and in doing so came to a dry stone wall with a gate in it. Mini-Bug helped to open the gate, and after passing through, we found an excellent place to hide our International Plant a Letterbox Day stamp.