Unraveling a Mysterious Hut: A Puzzling Discovery in the Wilderness

[matthyaouw]

I was out for a wander yesterday when I stumbled across a little run-down hut with 3 walls and no door. Inside was a table, 3 chairs, remnants of some candles and a pile of poppy seed heads. Written in pencil all over the table was some notation. It was mainly numbers set out in rows, arranged by dates a dew days apart, but not regularly spaced. Here's an example of a line of notation:

3 sept 07 9.6's 19.7's 12.8's 3.9's = 43 index 307 * less

The date is sometimes prefixed with RY, once by Rec. Yard. The final number is sometimes followed by "[number] buds less" or "[number] buds". Part way down between 2 entries are the words "site bulldozed"

The last entry reads "12 nov 07 Some. Too cold. No fun- film can full"

I also remember seeing the words "so long and thanks for all the fish" and the site was by a stream/drain, so it could be related to fishing.

Someone was recording something pretty rigourously, but it wasn't important enough to warrant bringing paper... It's all the same writing so no evidence of multiple people. The candles suggest at least part of the time they were here after dark. Does anyone have the slightest idea what any of this might mean? I wish I'd realized this was going to bug me so much- I'd have recorded it in more detail. Some photos to follow...

 

[matthyaouw]

writing: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/matthyaouw/Mum027.jpg
more: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/matthyaouw/DSCF4881.jpg
Same again: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/matthyaouw/DSCF4882.jpg
hut exterior: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/matthyaouw/DSCF4886.jpg
hut interior: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/matthyaouw/DSCF4888.jpg

 

[Evo]

I also remember seeing the words "so long and thanks for all the fish" and the site was by a stream/drain, so it could be related to fishing.

That's what the dolphins said in "Hitchhiker's guide to the Universe".

 

[matthyaouw]

That's what the dolphins said in "Hitchhiker's guide to the Universe".

I thought that was it. Its why (if at all) it's relevant that I'm wondering. I don't think the stream was big enough to support dolphins

 

[lisab]

One of the photos shows dates corresponding to "8 cod" and "3 cod", then further down, "End of season."

And the hut is next to a small creek...it's someone's fishing shelter, I bet.

 

[matthyaouw]

I had thought that, but they shouldn't be finding cod in there. I don't think they live in the estuary that the stream empties in to. Even if they did, the streams and drains are all blocked off at high tide to stop them letting water past the flood embankment. If saltwater fish are getting in, someone's not doing their job right.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Maybe they couldn't tell a cod from a dolphin.

 

[edward]

The exterior picture indicates that there had been a fourth wall or partial wall.

There is also a vent pipe extending up through the roof indicating that a plumbing fixture had once been present.

Is that a sign post on the left side of the exterior pic ?? The building may possibly have been used to study whether any fresh or salt water fish were making it back up into the drainage way.

You may be able to find out more about the property and the building through your local county assessors office. In my locality I can do that entirely online.

Around here homeless people would be living in it.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

3 sept 07 9.6's 19.7's 12.8's 3.9's = 43 index 307 * less

Note that just above the 9.6's is the number 54, the product of 9 and 6. Then, above the 19.7s is 187, the cumulative total of 54 plus 19 times 7. The final value 307 is incorrect, it should be 310. Other lines follow this pattern. For instance:

5.8's 4.9's (76) 4.10's (116) 3.11's (149) 1.13 (162) 1.15 = 18 index 177 + 5Bd

where 177 is correct. Also,

4.8's 3.9's (59) 7.10's (129) 6.11's (195) 4.12's = 24 index 143 + 4 Bds = 28

143 should be 243.
Index appears to be the sum divided by 10 and rounded. Add Bds to index to get the final number.

 

[D H]

I was out for a wander yesterday when I stumbled across a little run-down hut with ... a pile of poppy seed heads. ... The final number is sometimes followed by "[number] buds less" or "[number] buds". Part way down between 2 entries are the words "site bulldozed"

Whether those were poppy seed heads, or the seed from some other kind of "bud", I suspect something fishy was going on here, and it wasn't fishing.

 

[Gokul43201]

Note that just above the 9.6's is the number 54, the product of 9 and 6. Then, above the 19.7s is 187, the cumulative total of 54 plus 19 times 7. The final value 307 is incorrect, it should be 310. Other lines follow this pattern. For instance:

5.8's 4.9's (76) 4.10's (116) 3.11's (149) 1.13 (162) 1.15 = 18 index 177 + 5Bd

where 177 is correct. Also,

4.8's 3.9's (59) 7.10's (129) 6.11's (195) 4.12's = 24 index 143 + 4 Bds = 28

143 should be 243.
Index appears to be the sum divided by 10 and rounded. Add Bds to index to get the final number.

Bravo!

 

[Danger]

I agree with DH. Call me a hippie, but when I hear the term 'buds', it doesn't indicate the presence of fish. My bet is that it was a really inept accounting department for a grow-op.

 

[bassplayer142]

It is kind of exciting looking at some real life puzzle. What is that black stuff on the ground on the left of the interior picture. It looks like ash. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was smoking in there.

 

[Danger]

By the bye, Matt, it might be a good idea to alert the authorities, or a least stay away from the area. If DH and I are on the right track, it could be a very dangerous situation.

 

[CINA]

Wow this is awesome. I love finding things like I'm peering into someone's life.

 

[Moonbear]

I agree with DH. Call me a hippie, but when I hear the term 'buds', it doesn't indicate the presence of fish. My bet is that it was a really inept accounting department for a grow-op.

That's what it looks like to me too. Not sure if they were trying to record crop growth/yields or sales, but it really does sound like one of those.

As a more benign option, maybe some photographer had holed up in there and was developing a bit of cabin fever.

With the "site bulldozed" statement, I thought it could be something scribbled down as calculations by a demolition crew that didn't need to be saved once the job was done, but that date range is far too long for that to make sense.

 

[D H]

I took the "site bulldozed" statement as meaning that the DEA or state equivalent found the place.

I agree with Danger: Alert the authorities, and stay away. If this is (was) a drug cultivator's shack, you are risking your life by poking your head in it.

 

[matthyaouw]

Note that just above the 9.6's is the number 54, the product of 9 and 6. Then, above the 19.7s is 187, the cumulative total of 54 plus 19 times 7. The final value 307 is incorrect, it should be 310. Other lines follow this pattern. For instance:

5.8's 4.9's (76) 4.10's (116) 3.11's (149) 1.13 (162) 1.15 = 18 index 177 + 5Bd

where 177 is correct. Also,

4.8's 3.9's (59) 7.10's (129) 6.11's (195) 4.12's = 24 index 143 + 4 Bds = 28

143 should be 243.
Index appears to be the sum divided by 10 and rounded. Add Bds to index to get the final number.

Hey, nicely spotted!

I agree with DH. Call me a hippie, but when I hear the term 'buds', it doesn't indicate the presence of fish. My bet is that it was a really inept accounting department for a grow-op.

Interesting idea, but what could be growing? As far as I know, the obvious culprit needs to be warm with high light, but average temperatures for october/november (latest 2007 entries) are between 8 & 1.3 degrees C and frosts aren't uncommon. The hut faces on to a public footpath so growing anything in there for more than a day or so would be pretty impossible without getting noticed and there's nowhere else indoors that could be used.
Maybe it's mushrooms? I don't know much about where they grow...
Or opium (poppy heads!). I don't know how likely that is...

You can view the site on google maps here. The hut is the really indistinct brown smudge to the left of the ditch, roughly in the middle of the map. Just to the southeast there is a gravel pit which has since expanded into the field next to the forest. Perhaps this is the bulldozed site...

I will steer clear of the site for the time being I think...

 

[hypatia]

I wonder what the building was used for in the first place. Its all very interesting.

 

[Danger]

Matt, I didn't realize that you're in England until I zoomed the map out. That might be grounds for a re-think, since a lot of your terminology is different. Over here, 'buds' refers to the flowering part of a marijuana plant. It might be something totally innocuous in your area.