Rhombicuboctahedron

We had our most productive day bagging the 9 postboxes outside of London and had a lot of fun doing it.  Total mileage is now 1966 miles so an average of 76 miles for the 26 postboxes we have visited.

26 - St Pauls Square, Bedford - Etienne Stott

Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie won the Men's Canoe Double Slalom in a time of 106.41.  Their team mates Richard Hounslow and David Florence took second place.  This was Great Britain's 4th Gold of London 2012.

We didn't spot the postbox immediately and we had a choice.  Up the main street or around the church... we chose the church and the box was behind it in a scenic corner next the the town hall and the tourist information office.  Even then it was hard to spot but we're professionals and even managed to park right in front.  From what we saw, Bedford is a lovely place but we moved on without getting a really good look.

25 - Brook Street, Stotfold - Victoria Pendleton

Victoria Pendleton claimed Great Britain's 8th Gold of London 2012 with a stunning triumph in the Keirin.

Postbox sat on the corner of a quiet street in an older type estate.  You know, one where there a grass verges next to the pavement and each solidly built house has a low wall in front of it.  Unspectacular... unlike Victoria !

24 - Robin Hood Road, Elsenham - Ben Maher

The Showjumping Team of Ben Maher, Peter Charles, Scott Brash and Nick Skelton won a thrilling jump-off against the Netherlands to claim Great Britain's 17th Gold of London 2012.

 

A quiet corner outside a couple of shops would have started my review but a dog had fouled the pavement in front of the box.  First impressions count and this was like a scene from thirty years ago.  Sort it out Elsenham !!

23 - Post Office Road, Harlow - Laura Trott

After Laura Trott won Gold in the Women's Team Pursuit, Royal Mail painted a postbox in Harlow because they thought it was Laura's hometown.  But after she tweeted that it was actually Cheshunt, the firm said they would paint one there also.  This was a strange location, they had put it by the delivery/sorting entrance to the post office, which was hidden round the back of the pedestrian shopping area.  Not easy to find and we may have wasted a lot of time looking for it but luck was on our side and thankfully parking was straightforward.

22 - Cadmore Lane, Cheshunt - Laura Trott

Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell won the Women's Team Pursuit with a blistering sixth consecutive world record time of 3:14.05 to take Great Britain's 14th Gold of London 2012.

A suburban postbox... there's really nothing else to add.  Except, of course, that it's golden and awesome !!

 

21 - Newham Parade, Cheshunt - Laura Trott

Laura Trott was two points behind Sarah Hammer entering the final discipline of the Women's Omnium, the 500m time-trial, but claimed her third win from six disciplines to overhaul the deficit and win by a point and claim Great Britain's 22nd Gold of London 2012.

You can see that this postbox was in a small shopping area with handy parking.  A couple were taking photos so we exchanged flags... it's great when other people understand what you're doing and are getting involved.

 



20 - Southbury Road, Enfield - Charlotte Dujardin

History was made in the Team Dressage when Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer rode away with Great Britain's 20th Gold of London 2012.  It was our first ever Dressage success, beating Germany who had been Olympic champions since 1976.

We have found that the friendliness of people has been inversely proportional to the size of the town.  Especially those places around London which obviously think that they're much more important than they actually are !  Still, a great postbox even if everyone was ignoring it and giving us funny looks.

19 - High Street, Watford - Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua took victory in the Super Heavy Weight final, making up a three-point deficit in the final round against Italy's reigning champion Roberto Cammarelle to clinch the title on countback.  This was Great Britain's 29th Gold of London 2012.

A very nice, quiet street on a bank holiday but pedestrians were coming in all the time.  We thought all the shops would be shut.  The roads had the Satnav foxed and we were sent around the ring road twice before deciding to head off on our own otherwise we never would have got out !! 
We parked opposite a strip club called "Beavers"... no comment.

18 - Silbury Boulevard, Milton Keynes - Greg Rutherford

Greg Rutherford lead the world rankings in the Long Jump this year but had largely slipped under the radar before delighting the crowd inside the Olympic Stadium with a 8.31m jump to take top spot.  This was Great Britain's 12th Gold of London 2012.

Milton Keynes is a soulless place.  A pointless grid system and everywhere looks the same.  And so many traffic islands !  As you can see I couldn't even be bothered to get out of the car.  Sorry Greg.  There were two yoofs sitting nearby swigging from a bottle in a brown paper bag.  And it was still quite early in the morning.  So we got the photos and moved on sharpish... to Watford !! 

Just Seventeen

That's 17 postboxes over a distance of 1712 miles.  So, average now 101 miles. 

17 - The Ave, Sark - Carl Hester

History was made in the Team Dressage when Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin rode away with Great Britain's 20th Gold of London 2012.  It was our first ever Dressage success, beating Germany who had been Olympic champions since 1976.

Lubs:  Sark was a long day..... up at 3.15am trying not to awake Steve as I stumble around the hotel room to get dressed and washed. Catch the 5am ferry from Poole (not sure why I had to be there at 4am though). After a 3hr 45 min journey arrived at Guernsey. At 10am on another ferry to Sark... is Carl Hester worth all this? Of course he is, he won an Olympic gold!
Sark is inaccesible for Steve, as is the tug boat ferry. The great thing about Sark is there are no cars, lots of horses and horse drawn carriges. I hired a mountain bike and within 2 minutes had located the golden postbox, some passers-by were kind enough to take a pic and enquire what I was doing. As I explained a broad Yorkshire accent said "when are you going to do Yorkshire.....if we were a country we would have finished 10th", and if being bigheaded were an event you'd have won another gold in that!
Anyway cycled all around the 2 square miles that is Sark (about 10 times over) before getting the 5pm ferry back to Guernsey.  Sark is a lovely place, very quiet and very welcoming where the pace of life is nice and slow, I'd recommend a visit here, lots of great little restaurants/bars to eat at.
Ferry docked at Poole Harbour at 12.45am then drove home on virtually dead roads getting back to Bulkington, Warwickshire at 4am. A long day but worth it, as this was one of the postboxes that to bag it shows commitment......roll on Lossiemouth next week!!!  



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16 - Pandora Inn, Restronguet - Ben Ainslie

Ben Ainslie overcame a tough start in the Finn to win a fourth successive Gold medal, which saw him replace Denmark's legendary Paul Elvstrom as the Games' most decorated sailor ever.  This was Great Britain's 16th Gold of London 2012.



Nicely painted postbox mounted in the wall of the Pandora Inn.  And what a fantastic view across the little harbour.  A perfect setting.... but what a journey !!  Restronguet did not appear on our Satnav so we entered the name of a nearby village but still nearly missed the important turning.  Luckily, I spotted the brown sign directing us to the Pandora Inn (if you're coming make sure you remember the name).  After what seems like far too long (surely we should be going downhill?) you might see one more sign and just after you think you should have turned round, there it is.  And it's quite a sight.  Now, how far to Poole?

15 - Quay Street, Penzance - Helen Glover

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning made a blistering start to the Women's Pair final and had sprinted into a clear water lead over the Kiwis by the 500m time-check, an advantage they held through to the half-way mark.

When they hit the wall of sound generated by 26,000 fans in the grandstands, Glover and Stanning extended their lead to two lengths, crossing the line in an Olympic Record time of 6:57.29.  This was Great Britain's 1st Gold of London 2012.

Lubs thought Penzance was too touristy but I thought it was pitched just right.  I'd love to go and spend more time there.  There were lots of pirate referencees as you would expect and the usual seaside stuff.  The postbox wasn't on the main street but down by the sea which was very fitting.  The sea views from the higher ground outside of town were stunning.  Good enough for the very model of a modern Major-General.

14 - Cheap Street, Sherborne - Peter Wilson

World record holder Peter Wilson was three points ahead going into the final of the Double Trap after three qualifying rounds.  And in a tense final shoot-out he missed five shots, including a double as he closed in on victory, but his opponents could not take advantage and Peter eventually finished two clear with a total score of 188 out of 200 shots fired.  This was Great Britain's 3rd Gold of London 2012.

Cheap Street reminded me of Diagon Alley.  We had a pleasant walk down to the postbox and, as in all the smaller towns, chatted to the friendly people around the golden shrine.  A man walking by asked who's postbox this was and I jumped in and said yes... then totally forgot Peter's name !  We had a quick lunch in the supermarket car park before whizzing off to our next rendezvous.

13 - The Shambles, Bradford on Avon - Ed McKeever

Ed McKeever stormed to Gold in the Men's Kayak Single 200m sprint.  The 28-year-old led from the start as he powered to victory ahead of Spaniard Saul Craviotto Rivero.  He punched the air as he crossed the line, splashing water at the side of his boat after winning Great Britain's 28th Gold of London 2012.


What a truly beautiful town !  And we chatted to lots of very friendly people who were delighted to see us honouring their local hero.  A florist had placed a bouquet on the postbox and there was a banner hanging over the top.  It made a great impression on us both - there were even canoeists on the river.  Such a shame we had to leave so quickly.

12 - Lymington - Ben Ainslie

This postbox currently does not appear on goldpostboxes.com as it was painted illegally.  A local man took exception to Royal Mail choosing Restronguet as the site of the official postbox honouring Ben Ainslie.  We included it as it was near to our route and we hadn't really decided how to deal with these extra ones.  It has a truly awful paintjob and we were both underwhelmed by the experience, as you can see from the photos.

11 - High Street, Hamble - Dani King

Dani King, Joanna Rowsell and Laura Trott won the Women's Team Pursuit with a blistering sixth consecutive world record time of 3:14.05 to take Great Britain's 14th Gold of London 2012. 



A little town by the sea.  Possibly our hardest postbox to find.  We drove past it and then spent a frantic few minutes driving around.  That notice board obscured it from one angle and the pink bushes tricked our eyes !

10 - Paper Mill Lane, Alton - Peter Charles

The Showjumping Team of Peter Charles, Ben Maher, Scott Brash and Nick Skelton won a thrilling jump-off against the Netherlands to claim Great Britain's 17th Gold of London 2012.



A very quiet street overlooked by a smart apartment block.  This was another first stop of the day that gets you into the swing of things without being too taxing.  Important when you have Cornwall and Sark to come.

Nine Lives

After 2 expeditions and 9 postboxes we have covered 640 miles.  That's 71 miles per box, kids !!  We could reduce the mileage considerably if we didn't have to come home after every trip !  Now let's see what a tour of Cornwall does to it...

09 - Church Street, Flint - Jade Jones

Jade Jones won Great Britain's first ever Taekwondo Gold medal with her stunning victory over World Champion Yuzhou Hou 6-4  in the Womens -57kg final.  This was our 25th Gold of London 2012.

Our last stop of the day, we saw Flint as a ordinary working-class town.  The people we spoke to were very friendly and proud of Jade's success.  There were plenty of banners and flags.  Oddly, our favourite things were the 'placebo' speed bumps - all the markings but no bump.  We still slowed down for every one of them !

08 - Town Hill, Wrexham - Tom James

The Men's Four of Alex Gregory, Pete Reed, Tom James and Andy Triggs led from start to finish to claim Great Britain's 9th Gold of London 2012.  This was our fourth successive victory in the event.

A flying visit to a typical clone town - not much to else to say.  I'm sure Wrexham has a lot to offer but we can't spare the time.  Satnav took us right to the postbox assuring us that our destination was just around the corner - and it was !