20-Mar-2009 -- This is the fifth out of six confluence points that I visited this beautiful sunny Friday in the eve of spring. The story starts from 53°N 10°E.
Coming from 52°N 8°E it took me two and a half hours to reach this confluence, which is 68.7 km beeline to the East. This is an average speed of only 27.5 km – not much for travelling by car. But consider that it was Friday afternoon and the first sunny day after a long winter. Everybody seemed to be on the road. The actual driving distance was 96 km via the highway 33 – which is currently under construction and therefore still a bottleneck. I ended up going through the city of Bielefeld, followed by the towns Lage and Lemgo. Finally I reached the village Hagendonop, where I parked the car at a distance of 370 m.
Walking along the direct path to the confluence meant to pass through the village steep upwards, cross a beech grove forest with a pump station in its centre, cross a paddock and then find the confluence on a cornfield with young sprouts. In order to avoid destroying the crops I did not enter the field and documented the confluence point from a distance of 16 m.
140 m south to the confluence, at the nearest track and at the edge of a little forest is a confluence monument that consists of an erratic block with a metal plate. On the plate is the engraved text: “Hinweis. Einzigartig in Lippe befindet sich an diesem Ort ein geographischer Schnittpunkt 9° Östl. Länge 52° Nördl. Breite” – which means „Notice. Uniquely in [the rural district] Lippe is at this location the intersection of 9° East Longitude 52° North Latitude”.
I walked the same way back to the car and continued to 52°N 10°E. Considering the time of the day (4:52 pm) I was not sure, if I could reach this point before it would get dark. But anyway I had to pass by on my way to Göttingen and gave it a try.
CP visit details:
- Beeline distance from starting point: 68.7 km
- Driving distance from starting point: 96.0 km
- Departure time: 2:06 pm
- Distance and time of parking: 369 m (4:26 pm)
- Time at the CP: 4:36 pm
- Minimal distance to the CP: 16 m
- Position accuracy at the CP: 6 m
- Measured height: 205 m
- Vegetation: young grain sprouts. Hedges and a row of alder trees nearby.
- Distance to a road: 300 m
- Distance to a track: 120 m
- Distance to houses: 300 m
- Topography: hilly
- Weather: sunny, 10° C (felt temperature)
- Description of the CP: Located in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, district Lippe, township Blomberg, Donrop village. In an agricultural dominated area.
- Given Name: The Traffic Holdup Confluence
Story continues at 52°N 10°E.