31-Jan-2004 -- This was not our first Confluence Point visit on this day. Earlier we had visited 52N 002W and after a drive west on the M50 into 'Wales' we were well on the way to achieving this, our second.

The weather now however, had seriously deteriorated with the wind howling a gale and lashing rain. (If anyone saw us in the middle of a field taking what would only be assumed as 'random' and 'pointless' photos in that weather, they would have thought that we were both quite mad!) But we had come this far and we were not going to give up!

The Confluence Point is on the outskirts of a tiny village called ' Michaelchurch Escley' on the edge of the 'Black Mountains' with 'Offas Dyke' just to the west and would be quite tricky to get to if you didn't have a map.

I parked the car as close as I could to the spot on a road leading out of the village to a place called 'Craswall' In the photo of Dawn standing by the muddy gates you can just see the area of the C.P. (It is very close to the prominent tree; not the one in the center of the photo but the one half cropped in the top left edge.) Getting to the the exact spot meant crossing a small stream which was bordered either side with a wire fence.

The reading my 'Garmin E-Trex' gave was that the exact spot was not by the tree trunk but 3 or 4 meters off. I guess that the exact point must alter slightly. We struggled against the almost horizontal rain to take the photos and again the 'all zeros' GPS photo turned out blurred so you will have to believe me that we took it and the accuracy was 13ft.

On the way there we saw the quaint petrol station that 'Gordon Spence' had mentioned. Fantastic. We also stopped at a farmhouse nearby advertising 'free-range eggs' and bought ourselves half a dozen. These were proper 'free range'; all different colours, textures and sizes and were delicious.

We had planned to camp the night and go Hill Walking on Sunday but because of the weather we stayed the night in 'Abergavenny' instead and visited a few pubs there. Lovely town!

Coordinator's Note: Unfortunately, only 4 of the 7 photos have been received.