Being in the centre of things is, on most occasions, an incredibly exciting place to be. Well, this time you are honored by a chance to be in the centre of England! How does that sound to you?!
The village Meriden
The village of Meriden lies in the area known as the ‘Meriden Gap’ separating two big industrial giants –the city of Birmingham and city of Coventry.
The first documents about any settlement in this area are pre-1066. The place was called Alspath (‘road to Al’s dwelling’) and was owned by Countess Godiva. So it was old enough to be mentioned in the famous Domesday survey in 1086.
Nowadays It has a population of around 2,700 people and the biggest boom in population happened during the 20th century, in 1931 there were just 912 people living in the village.
The centre of all England
The most famous thing about Meriden is that it was considered for more than 500 years (!!!) to be the centre of England. On the village green there is a medieval stone cross commemorating the fact. Locals call it ‘The Stocks’. It is a sandstone pillar which is grade II listed artefact.
Good question is – why it is not the centre of England anymore?!?! Answer to that is that it depends on what type of method you choose to determine the centre and if you include off shore islands as well or count without them.
Actual centre of the England was changed several times by Ordnance Survey. The survey from 2002 puts the geographical centre of England on part of Lindley Hall Farm in Leicestershire (MAP).
Also in the village green, there is a National Cyclists Memorial, commemorating cyclists who died in both world wars. It was erected in 1919 and Meriden was chosen because of the convenient central position!
Stone cross at the very centre of England
The Cache
By doing this cache, you will get a chance to have a look Meriden’s village green, where you will gather the necessary information and then have a nice walk to the GZ.
After completing the stage 1 please go to the trailhead waipoint which will guide you to the start of a footpath leading to the GZ.
Stage 1
At the starting co-ordinates, look at the plaque which tells you that Meriden is the traditional centre of England. Then look lower and you will see another (considerably smaller) plaque, which tells you the month and year when something happend.
Swap the month for its number in calendar, that is A and use the year as 19BC.
Final
The cache can be found at: N 52° 26.0(B+C)0 W 001° 39.0(2*A)(A)
Happy hunting!!!
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