

by Brady Haran

BBC News Online, East Midlands



The farm house is unassuming

It is like most other farms in Derbyshire, beautifully nestled among verdant fields and grand trees.

However Church Flatts farm is special.

The Ordnance Survey has calculated it is the furthest point from the sea in all the UK.

To be precise, the identified point is one mile south-east of the farm house occupied by Henry and Joyce Blackwell.

Mrs Blackwell said she had been informed of the farm's special status by the Ordnance Survey, but the only people who showed any interest in the site were occasional ramblers.

So, living so far away, does Mrs Blackwell visit the sea often?

"I don't think I have been to the sea since 1988," she said.

Sadly, that was to identify the body of her mother, who died while holidaying at Skegness.

Mrs Blackwell said she used to visit the beach in the 1970s when her two sons were younger.

"They have grown up now, so we don't have much reason to go to the beach."

Well, do the Blackwells ever eat fish?

Mrs Blackwell laughs: "No, I guess we are more meat eaters."

EXACT CO-ORDINATES Latitude: 52º 43.6'N

Longitude: 1º 37.2'W News Online's Brady Haran built a sand castle to mark the point (see video above)

For the record, the nearest section of coast to Church Flatts farm is the mean low water line at Fosdyke Wash, on the edge of The Wash, south of Boston, in Lincolnshire.

This is some 70 miles (113 kilometres) away.

However, to be highly technical, the nearest high tide point is on the River Trent, which is a tidal river.

Using this definition, the nearest point to Church Flatts Farm is at Cromwell Lock, north of Newark, in Nottinghamshire.

This is just 45 miles (72 kilometres) from the farm.