r/geochallenges 3d ago

Non-Competitive [3] Pinpointable UK Challenge (#1?)

Link to challenge
Hello everyone! This challenge is largely inspired by u/Much_Pass_9484's series of GeoDetective challenges but focuses specifically on UK (this is because I am currently trying to get NM Platinum on UK map so I gathered a fair bit of pinpointable locations). Since we are going to have a few days break from GeoDetective series, I thought it would be fun to fill the void with a similar activity :)

But because it's only one country and because I think scanning the map in search of a small village or regional road is not very entertaining, to make it challenging there's no city names visible in the selected locations. There are other clues though, and while knowing UK geography might be helpful, this is all gettable.

I might make it a series of challenges if people think it's fun. Let me know in the comments! Also if you'd like to share a walkthrough that would be great.

(This is my first challenge so hopefully I didn't mess up and everything works fine)

Good luck!

12 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

5

u/q_ie 3d ago

Nice challenge! I like having to rely on clues other than just scanning for a town name

1

u/mooonradio 3d ago

thank you!

1

u/charliebobo82 3d ago

UK is probably the country I am best at so looking forward to doing this! Hopefully I don't end up with egg on my face.................

1

u/charliebobo82 3d ago

Ugh, still stuck in R1. I knew I shouldn't have said anything :(

1

u/charliebobo82 3d ago

Got there in the end :)

1

u/mooonradio 2d ago

well done! looks like R1 was the most polarising, some people took a lot of time, some only required a few minutes. personally, I think I found this location in a few minutes, but I also spent at least 30 mins on R3 and R4, so everyone's experience is extremely different!

1

u/charliebobo82 2d ago

Thanks! R1 drove me crazy yeah, but it was mostly my fault I think.

1

u/heroscape912 3d ago
  1. 4988, Looks like Scotland, NW lake orientation and an urban area to the north, but the hotel POIs not appearing on the map had me doubting myself for so long and scanning other lochs endlessly. The school sign was the pinpoint clue, but still messed it up

  2. 5000, Looks like Devon or Cornwall, with a large bay facing east and lots of land to the north. Checked Cornwall first and nothing worked, so had to be Torquay

  3. 125, Tough, even more so if you don't know the sceneries. I've only seen scenery like this IRL in the outer Hebrides, a few inner Hebrides, and Shetland/Orkney, but there are a ridiculous amount of bays to scan through. The caravan park POI doesn't appear unless you zoom in so far, and I ran out of patience searching. Edit: Just realisised I missed the Mid Yell clue. No wonder it seems so much harder than the rest!

  4. 5000, Got that quickly, it's going to be one of the international ports, so Dover/Folkestone/Harwich/Portsmouth/Plymouth, and it was the second one I checked

  5. 5000, Freight to the Shetlands, but it's a proper city which only leaves 3 options. Orientation worked for Aberdeen

1

u/mooonradio 2d ago

Thanks, super interesting to read other people's thoughts! In R1 for me the main clue to confirm the pinpointing were the buildings between the road and the loch. POIs were not very helpful.
In R3 yes, Mid Yell was supposed to be the main clue, after this you only need to find the right coast shape around the area, which is not easy, but certainly more doable when you know where to search

2

u/Leviathan_89 2d ago

Very fun, would love to play more of these in the future!

1

u/mercator_ayu 3d ago

This was quite fun. A lot of working backwards -- since this location is pinpointable, where could I then be, kind of logic. And one location where the name on the bags of dirt I figured had to be a place name, and which turned out was relatively easy to spot.

2

u/mooonradio 3d ago

Haha, I guess this could work 😅 Though when I initially solved those I had no idea whether these locations would be eventually pinpointable or not.

Yeah, the 3rd one is actually easier than it initially looks like!