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!