2019 summary

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2019 summary

2019 was probably my busiest Geograph year. I reached 18th on personal points (I didn't aim to, I just went out most weeks), and went further in a day and back in Britain than I have in my whole life (although Brussels is the record). In fact it was because the Eurotunnel was on partial running through August as it was so hot and told passengers not to travel if possible I chose Yorkshire as an alternative. It was a good idea in principle, but I didn't allow long enough to get there as compared the A1 and routes through Lincs with motorways, but the A1 was jam packed until Peterborough , losing well over an hour, and was almost dark when I got to Filey . I aimed for Scarborough but Filey was almost the same for the map coverage and too late to go beyond once I got there. Crossing the Humber Bridge was a real highlight as well .

Half the trips were for pre-Worboys signs, few are posted here but can all be seen on my Flickr account Link in their own album. I don't want the wrong people to know where they are and remove them. It meant my first visit to the Malvern Hills , which I found even more scenic than mid-Wales where I went to get into square SN . Northants had a particularly rich set of old signs and I found more and more and went a few times . I even found one in Walberswick when I went for lunch and found one almost outside the shop. I then found one of the originally numerous bunch of unclaimed squares on the Dengie peninsula in Essex , which was then down to a single pair, included one which wasn't fenced off and only a quarter of a mile from the road. The only hurdle being waterlogged from the previous day, it took me ten minutes to reach, carrying my GPS waiting for the numbers to click over from TL9801 to 9800, and had double confirmation from the phone's geotag. As soon as I took the first photo I uploaded it to Geograph to guarantee it got there, and was actually registered as a first soon after I got back home .

So it went far better than I expected, a couple of punctures from laybys with potholes and an island without any signage sticking out into the road, the only other hurdle being three weekends of solid rain, when I chose lack of traffic over being dry. Apart from Yorkshire I managed to avoid any other serious holdups, and never mind getting lost as if I keep taking photos they all add new squares and the GPS gets me back on track eventually.

My previous 2018 blog has plans for 2019, which were completed early and extended for the rest of the year. 2020 has fewer left, a probable sign in Derby and Wiltshire, another first geograph, and if I really feel like it another myriad in SS which I have been near to but couldn't make a detour after driving to Exeter already. Otherwise I will just keep getting new squares and look for more signs.