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the Degree Confluence Project
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United Kingdom : England

1.1 km (0.7 miles) W of Barkway, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Approx. altitude: 142 m (465 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 52°S 180°

Accuracy: 5 m (16 ft)
Quality: good

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

#2: North #3: East #4: South #5: West #6: GPS, with "west zero" #7: GPS, with "east zero" #8: groundcover at the edge of the field

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  52°N 0° (visit #24)  

#1: Rapeseed crop at the confluence

(visited by Dave Patton and Gordon Spence)

15-Jul-2008 -- After visiting 54°N 2°W Gordon drove to the Travelodge Wellingborough Rushden Hotel, where he had been able to get me a good rate. I checked in, and then we went for a pub meal, after which Gordon dropped me at the Travelodge before heading for his nearby home.

The next morning Gordon picked me up for the drive to what would be my first confluence on the Prime Meridian. This confluence also happens to be one of the most visited confluences in the world (as of early August 2008, both 37°N 122°W and 52°N 0 had 22 visits each).

We parked just over 1 kilometre from the confluence. As we approached the field containing the confluence, we saw a crop sprayer working, but it never came close enough for us to contact the operator.

The confluence lies in a field that was planted with rapeseed.

Being at the Prime Meridian for the first time, I had to see if my GPS receiver would display the same behaviour that Gordon had noticed on prior visits to the Prime Meridian, where the longitude switched back and forth from "west zero" to "east zero". As can be seen from the GPS photos, my GPS receiver did the same thing. While these would appear to be 'the same place', there is a subtle difference when waypoints that contain these coordinates are transferred from the GPS receiver to software such as OziExplorer, where "west zero" shows up as 'negative zero', and "east zero" shows up as 'just plain old zero'.

The next confluence on this trip was 51°N 0.


 All pictures
#1: Rapeseed crop at the confluence
#2: North
#3: East
#4: South
#5: West
#6: GPS, with "west zero"
#7: GPS, with "east zero"
#8: groundcover at the edge of the field
ALL: All pictures on one page