[ian hunt]

Hi Chaps

I think my idea above may work, with point AX (or maybe AX 1) being the starting point at Fumay on the southern stretch of the river where it loops round and comes back closest to itself in the reverse 'C' shape around the town.

I haven't measured the bearings but the distances seem pretty much correct from there to the bridges at the places described.

You can see this on the Daft Logic website which gives you a 'Google Maps Distance Calculator' from which you can find cumulative distances from point to point on the map.

1. Start by placing the first point on the bridge at Douzy (0 miles)
2. Put the next point as I've described above at Fumay (you can move it around to make the distance exact). The distance comes up at 27 miles!
3. Now put a third point on any one of the other bridges (Sedan, Mouzon, Remillly) and the new cumulative distance, less the initial 27, seems to give (near enough) the correct distances as per the list: 23, 27, 30 or 32 miles. Again you can move this third point from one bridge to another and see how the cumulative distance changes. Deduct 27 each time to see the distance from Fumay.

So my guess would be that the starting point AX or AX1 was the river feature at Fumay, from where the various target bridges were on the distances and bearings given.

I haven't measured the actual bearings but visually they look approx ok and the relative distances seem to tie-in.

Anyone agree with this theory?

Ian