Commons Caching

I'd planned a trip down the A34 to a caching series in Wiltshire, but the day dawned grey and mizzly so I decided to give it a miss. Instead I slept in (nothing new there!), and awoke to discover a new Church Micro published; a Church I'd visited only a few days ago. With that cache in the bag I moved on for a short afternoon's stroll around Kempsey Common, which proved to be very enjoyable after I'd overcome my disappointment at not finding the first in the series.

Lincoln Lollygagging: Part Deux

Back to Southrey today to finish off the Woodhall - Bardney series. Passed by the Church Micro I bagged two days ago at the start of the route - this time, I was able to see the Church - more like a posh beach-hut :).

Church Micro 3483

Just the shorter Northern loop to do, 20-odd caches, with the chance to pick off a few more with a shortish diversion. Weather lovely, no wind, blue skies and sun shining down. This loop was very easy walking, a little country lane stroll then wide green track to take you towards Bardney, before turning down to the river  and the paved cyclepath. I was more successful on this mission, only 3 DNFs.

There was artwork to enjoy, as well:

Hunting for truffles?

With that enjoyable stroll completed in just a couple of hours, I hit the Skeg to Ness trail for some driveby's. With a couple of Church Micros thrown into the mix as well, I ended the day with 47 smileys.

Just a note to give you a flavour of what to expect on the Woodhall - Bardney Circuit; of the 80-odd caches, 20 just give a hint of "disguised nano", or a variant thereof. A further 27 say "none needed". Moniti estis.

Shaking it all about

What a difference a day makes. The sun is shining, the skies are blue, and all is well with the world. I headed to a new series near Cambridge, the Hauxton Hokey Cokey. A flat, easy walk, great paths, no livestock problems, and caches set to be easy to find - and there was a Church Micro to pick up along the way as well.

Church Micro Hauxton

There were apparently a number of cachers in the area for the weekend attending an event, but I only came across two on the trail, Aldeneywomble and Dora Explorer. They were walking it the 'right' way round, whereas I as usual was traversing it in a contrariwise fashion.

Look both ways

I whizzed - well, ambled - around the 6.6 mile circuit in 3hrs25, then went off to grab a few drivebys - including the worth-visiting Sewer Croc, especially if you have little ones - before a walk up to the Obelix, an interesting memorial.

The Obelisk

Just time to pick up a puzzle cache before darkness fell. This gave me particular pleasure, as its geochecker showed there were just 5 correct answers out of 270 attempts - although the solution is, of course, trivial once you know how :)

A game within a game

Today is Annual Church Micro Day, celebrating the publication of the first Church Micro in 2007. This series, the largest themed series known to the geocaching world, is truly a game within a game. I suspect the dedicated statistics page helps greatly with this; whilst the game is never supposed to be 'About the numbers', there is something about a league table that seems to gee people up to greater lengths. Many cachers will go seriously out of their way to bag a Church Micro.

Nottinghamshire Church Micros

I'd planned a route to take in upwards of 40 Church Micros today. In the end, I managed to visit 26 of them (they seemed much closer together on the map..), and actually found 23. And drove 170 miles.. - that's the penalty you pay for clearing out your local area of Church Micros at every opportunity. Fortunately more and more cachers are now placing them, hence the seemingly exponential rise in numbers in the last 18 months.

On last year's Church Micro day I found 17, so today was an improvement - and I managed to squeeze in a trigpoint as well.

Lab-ra-dawdle

Main mission for today was A Lab's Tranquility, a short series just to the South of Alcester. I'd read good things about it in previous logs, and I wasn't disappointed. An easy-walking, bovine-free trail and some nifty caches.

Tweet tweet!

This poor little birdie suffered a mishap when I was replacing it, involving a 30yd swim downstream before I was able to rescue it (the bird did the swimming, I ran alongside). I hope it dries out OK..

You'll pass by a small Church along the way, with great views from the Churchyard. Sadly it wasn't open.

St James, Weethley

Once I'd completed the main mission I went off and grabbed a nearby Church Micro, then some more Lab's caches (they seem to be permeating the whole area) along with the Kinwarton trigpoint. Finished off the afternoon with two delightfully constructed caches on the same theme, Stick It In and Stick It Out.

When organising today's caching I'd planned to do the Lab's Meander as well, but the days just keep getting shorter and shorter and I ran out of time. That wasn't a bad thing, as it will allow me to return to this area soon to do that trail, and others.

Some serious route-planning required tomorrow, as I prepare for Church Micro Day on Thursday.

Bowling by Barrowden

A new izaakwilson series was today's mission, Barrowden and Back. Had to sit in the car for 10 minutes after arriving at my chosen start point, to outwait a squally shower (I think I've mentioned before my dislike of starting a trail in the rain). Happily I was only caught out by one brief and insipid shower on the way round, though it was a very breezy walk. 52 finds, 3 not-finds.

Took my last 5mg steroid tablet this morning. I'm not convinced the treatment achieved its purpose, but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying. I suspect I'll be discussing anosmia with my GP again in the not too distant future.

The medical community certainly takes steroid use seriously; I am to ensure that anyone treating me for any ailment over the next 12 months is informed that I underwent a course of steroid tablets.

Norfolk Nibbles

My deferred trip to Norfolk today, with the A14 now running smoothly again. First order of the day was a combined jaunt around the Great Ellingham Gallop and Fiddlers Forage circuits, which join together to make a figure-of-eight trail of some 28 caches.

Waterlogged layby

A wet start to the walk but most of the route was fine, although I was rained on near the end. I had no problems with the Gallop caches but a few of the Forages evaded my meagre searching skills. I did learn a new Latin word, Afrecta.

I then moved on to the nearby small Family Toolbox series of 8 caches all on a theme, and all quickly found on an easy-walking route.

I'd planned a number of drive-by Church Micros to finish off with, but only managed two of them before night fell. I'm not too keen on Church Micros after dark, lurking around Churches/Churchyards shining your torch everywhere tends to lead to Questions Being Asked.

A long way to go for 35 smileys, but it was good quality caching.

Tomorrow should be a bigger numbers day.

Oop North

No caching yesterday, Landy was being pampered; new tyres all round. The last set survived for 35,000 miles, it will be interesting to see if I can squeeze a bit more out of this new set as I adopt a calmer, less hurried driving posture.

I'd planned to go Foraging and Galloping around Ellingham in Norfolk today, but the A14 westbound was blocked. Fortunately the weather for oop North was looking better this morning than was forecast yesterday evening, so a hurried change of plans took me onto the Cachephrase trail, a series of 70+ caches recently published. It proved to be a great walk, over 14 miles but all flat and easy-going. A good variety of caches, interesting listings to read on the way round thanks to the theme, and caches set to be easily found.

I did have one serious DNF episode, being unsuccessful in finding all the caches from #1 to #8, which I was doing towards the end of the day. I suspected sabotage as the caches were all found earlier by others, but it could just as well have been serial cache blindness on my part; we'll know soon enough when others hit the trail. Of course it is Halloween tonight...

Still managed 62 smileys and really enjoyed the walk, so a good day.

Strolling around Stevenage

Down the M1 to Stevenage today. First circuit was the On yer bike series, set along well-appointed cycle paths - more like cycle motorways - around the town. I parked up at St. Nicholas's and bagged the Church Micro there first.

St Nicholas

Interesting memorial stone to see on the way to that GZ.

I don't do biking so I had to walk it, but that was fine; the caches were close enough together to keep me from getting bored. Not normally keen on urban routes I wasn't sure how this one would turn out, but I needn't have worried.  It being half-term, the paths were mostly muggle-free, and much of the time the trail didn't feel particularly urban - perhaps more suburban :). Bumped into fellow cachers Shortmat a couple of times, always nice to meet others. I completed the 6.3 mile distance in 2hrs40, then it was on to the second circuit of the day.

A Wednesday Walk takes you out into the fields and woods to the NE of Stevenage. It was nice to get some grass under my feet after all the pavement-plodding. Managed to find all the caches, although a couple of the woodsy ones took a while.

Knocked off a few Pedal Power drive-bys as darkness fell, to build up a respectable day's tally of 58 finds.

Stepping out in Suffolk

Taking advantage of the extra hour, I took a drive down (across?) the A14 yesterday into Suffolk, to do the WWW.TRAIL. Only 25 caches, but it looked like a nice walk and I always enjoy visiting Suffolk, having lived there for some time. It did indeed prove to be a nice walk, with the weather remaining kind. Some of the hides proved to be a little troublesome for me to find, but I emerged with just one DNF.

Imaginative hint of the day: "Helix aspersa, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, (Called BRIAN)".

Dark at 5pm! I do wish this country would re-introduce double BST.

A slight hiccough on the return journey, a tyre blow-out at 80mph.

It did well to hold together

Luckily it was on the rear, so the Landy just kept going in a straight line. Still rather unsettling. I was near to an emergency pull-off layby, so was able to get the car there and change the wheel; a task I'd practised beforehand, to ensure I knew I could do it when I had to. Silver lining; the tyres were due to be changed anyway in the next couple of hundred miles.

Today marks the end of week one of my steroids treatment. Happily no more side effects. Not so happily, no sign of symptom ease yet.

Aynho where to go today..

The COYQ series is a trail of some 30-odd caches around the strangely named Aynho, over a distance of 7 miles. The caches were released in stages but it quickly became apparent that they were likely to form a circular route when all had been set, so I kept my patience. With that circle finally being closed it was time to come and explore.

I started the afternoon's caching off with a multi, which involved careful study of  a super roadside carving.

A lasting gift

The inscription is worth a read. I'm informed that the carving was originally topped by an owl, which has been cut down and stolen; mindless.

The wind was a little blowy today, but I understood the storm winds weren't due until tomorrow:

A week's work for a competent wall builder?

The route allowed me to bag a trig on the way round, TP6719:

Good views shame about the grey clouds

This was much more of a 'traditional' caching series than the hurly-burly of the poshrule/izaakwilson type of trail. Good separation between caches, a variety of containers, and one or two trickier hides in amongst the mix. It took me 3hrs35 to complete, with all caches found - although several required quite a struggle. A good trail to walk, only one bovine encounter - which passed by peacefully - and good views over the Northants. and Warks. countrysides.

View to the West, the field below the trig

With only 36 caches bagged it wasn't a high numbers day, but it was a very enjoyable, even lethargic, walk.

50 caches after lunch

The East Midlands cache setters' arms race continues, with the latest izaakwilson offering - Tinwell and Back - taking him to within 50 caches of overtaking poshrule.

I waited for the morning's rain to blow over, and set out after lunch.

I walked around! That's Ketton Cement Works in the distance

A muddy start to the trail from where I chose to join it, but it became much better. I was soon back in Easton on the Hill, a place I'd last visited just a few days ago. This time the route took me past the Priests House.

Priests House

An unremarkable building I thought, but it is a National Trust property so I must assume there is historic value.

The village sign at Tinwell, erected in 2000:

Tinwell Village sign

it has a small but interesting plaque, take a moment to read it. After Tinwell there was some inevitable road-walking, with the farmers busy in the adjacent field:

Root crop harvest (beet?), under attack by hungry seagulls

I didn't hit the trail until after 3pm, but still managed to complete it before full dark fell; 7.5 miles in 3hrs25, and 50 smileys claimed.

Shenanigans down South

I headed South today, across the scary QEII bridge into Kent (actually, it's not scary in my Landy; scary is when you cross it on a fully-laden Honda C70, with the wind alone deciding which lane you are going to use, as I did in the early 90's). The object of today's adventure was the 40-cache series Shorne Shenanigans, topped and tailed with a couple of early Church Micros.

Church Micro 71... Shorne

I cheated a little here; I was able to glean one set of numbers whilst still at home. That info, combined with the hint and a smidgeon of geocaching nous, allowed me to find the cache before I visited the Church. Having completed that mini-mission I set off on the trail proper.

Set out in a figure-of-eight, it's an uncomplicated caching series through a tame rural landscape. I like figures-of-eight, they allow for convenient re-supply half-way round so no need to lug the victuals all the way round.

The first loop is the longest, taking me 2hrs20 to complete, then it was back out of Shorne to complete the second half. Some good views down to the estuary along that section.

Estuary view, on the second loop - I know you can't see the water in
this little pic, but it is down there!

All the caches were found with ease. The listings mention there might be coord issues due to the tree cover, but I found them to be fine throughout. At a little over 4hrs, it's a decent stroll, with no livestock issues - just horses in adjacent fields - and an easy route to walk.

Mega-jams on the M25 on my return - how unusual - meant that TomTom diverted me off at the M11 to bring me back to the Midlands via the A14. The number of times I've driven that road in the last few years..

This was day four of the steroid regime, only 55mg. Side-effects have now faded; my heart-beat has returned to its usual dum-de-dum, and I am once more blessed with the sleep of the innocents.

Stamford on Steroids

Day two of my fourteen-day steroid treatment regime. Still on the max. dose of 60mg. That's twelve tablets to swallow, with breakfast. Luckily they are tiny; I don't do big tablets well, my gag reflex kicks in too quickly. Side effects so far: a heightened heart rate, insomnia. I don't think I'm experiencing any of the mental issues that can occur, but self-diagnosing mental issues is somewhat of a challenge!

A new series posted yesterday by izaakwilson, Stamford and Back. I didn't think I'd be able to get round it in the next few days given the wet forecast (I don't like caching in the rain). However when I arose - at the usual late hour, despite the insomnia - the forecast was offering a window of opportunity for the afternoon. Sorted out some admin then set off. The rain was still dribbling when I left the house so I plotted a few drive-by Church Micros before moving on to the main mission.

Intriguing Porch Angel at Church Micro 4334... Thorpe Malsor

 Timing was pretty good; I pitched up at Easton on the Hill just before 3pm, with the sun breaking through. It looked like it was going to turn into a nice afternoon, but unfortunately the skies darkened again and most of the walk was completed under a grey cloud blanket. Silver lining though, as I completed the trail just before the rains returned.

Stamford and Back is a series of 33 caches; walking it the 'wrong' way round (I usually choose to do this, as it provides better opportunities to bump into other cachers, without you then getting in each other's way), the route took me from Easton down through fields to the R. Welland and then on to Stamford, via a path under the A1.

Scurrying under the A1

From Stamford it was back under the A1, then track and field walking - past the still imposing, but now derelict - Wothorpe House before returning to Easton.

Wothorpe House, front and back

I had time for some more drive-by's before darkness fell, taking my day's total to 54 caches, with two DNFs.

No caching tomorrow; Landy is getting new brakes.

A quickie at Thornhaugh

The weather forecast wasn't too clever for today so I had nothing planned. There I was sitting indoors trying to get some work done, with the sun shining down and the promised deluges stubbornly refusing to materialise. I finally gave in, got my stuff together and headed out to North Cambs. and poshrule's Thornhaugh Trample. I'd originally planned to do this trail at the same time as the larger Thornhaugh and Back trail which adjoins it, but I ran out of both time and stamina.

The Trample is a short series of just 17 caches, taking you through some pleasant woodland paths around the back of Thornhaugh Hall. There is quite a long road section, but it's a quiet road with little traffic.

A neglected Daimler, one of the sadder sights along the route

By the time I'd arrived at my chosen start-point the skies had darkened, but I was able to make it all the way round before the rains finally arrived - late but violent. All caches found without too much effort, although a couple of the BOT micros played hard to get.

I had time for a quick drive-by Church Micro at Water Newton before hitting the water-logged A14 for the drive home.

Oundle Outing

I headed back to izaakwilson territory today, to walk the long Barnwell and Back trail, a series of 69 caches with others available en route, including four Church Micros (although I'd already visited two of those). The skies were grey and mizzly, but half-way through the sun broke through for a while. Very warm for October, still T-shirt weather.

Oundle's Most Holy Name of Jesus Church,
from outside the Museum

I started the trek in Stoke Doyle and walked the route the 'wrong' way round, so soon found myself in Oundle where I bagged a Church Micro that has been on my todo list for some time. Then it was out of Oundle past the impressive Oundle Mill.

Oundle Mill, a posh restaurant and B&B

The route was a little iffy after that, using what looked to me like private quarry roads; I'm not sure how viable that part of the circuit will remain. Onwards through Barnwell where I picked up my second Church Micro of the day. A nice place, but a very strange Church building. A gauntlet of cows to confront after Barnwell, but they let me pass without getting too antsy.

Lots of road walking took me to Pilton, then there were more fields - one a cowfield, thankfully empty - to get me back into Stoke Doyle. A trail of some 11 miles, completed in a surprisingly quick 5hrs. This was a good thing, as ten minutes into my journey home everything went very black, and the rain chucked it down.

With 76 finds, this was a good caching day.

Thornhaugh and Back

Out to North Cambs. today to tackle an izaakwilson trail. He's the UK's second most prolific cache setter, hot on the heels of his near neighbour poshrule. Between them, these two cachers make up more than 10% of my total cache finds. Their styles are quite similar; lots of caches set out in close proximity to each other on long rural walks, all designed to be easy to find. I like this kind of trail, although they are not everyone's cup of tea.

Today's offering, Thornhaugh and Back, is a 46-cache series set over 9 miles of North Cambridgeshire.

'Road not suitable' - no kidding!

It proved to be a pleasant, uncomplicated route, apart from the penultimate caches which had me getting lost in the quarry/wood area. All the caches were found without any drama. It would be possible to combine this trail with poshrule's Thornhaugh Trample to add another 19+ caches, but the 46 caches I found on the main trail were enough for me today so I'll save that trip for another time.

Somerset Saunters

It's finally stopped raining, and with the day promised fair I decided to make the most of it. A long drive down into Somerset to explore poshrule's out-of-his-usual-area offerings, starting with the Babcary Bounce. This kind of trail is poshrule's speciality; no complications, no 'clever' stuff, just lots of caches close together on a good walking route.

Ford at Babcary #3; not passable on foot!

This particular series has 35 caches, set over a distance of 5½ miles. A mainly flat route along bridleways and big wide fieldside paths, with a small amount of (very quiet) country lane walking. Given all the rain we've had recently it wasn't a surprise to find that much of the route was muddy and damp, but it was still mostly easy walking, with just a slightly harder section from #24 to #31. All the caches set to be easily found, and so they were. This first stroll was completed in 2hrs45. Then it was off down the road to Charlton, to tackle the Charlton Crusade - but not before stopping off for the odd Church Micro or two.

Church Micro 2877...Keinton Mandeville

The Crusade is a smaller route at just 3.8 miles, with 19 caches. Another typical poshrule effort, it proved to be a 'cleaner' trail than the first, much less in the way of mud and puddles. I sped around it, bagging all the caches on offer, in just 1hr35. This left me time to bag a couple more Church Micros.

Overhead entertainment on the Charlton trail

Ended the day with 60 caches, including 4 Church Micros, and no DNFs. With a good traffic-free journey home, I even made it back in time to watch the football; which I'm doing right now..

poshrule's OK

poshrule, the UK's most prolific cache hider (although he does have strong competition), has been busy of late setting out some new trails. This afternoon, with the weather not looking as damp as it had promised to be, I decided to check out the Elton Eclipse. At 5 miles this is shorter than most of poshrule's offerings, so provided a nice post-lunch stroll.

Stepping stones shortcut (you don't have to take it!)

It's a flat easy-going route, all off-road, with 24 easy to find caches. No cows today - which was nice. I completed it in a comfortable 2hrs15, bagging a Church Chapel Micro along the way.

Church Micro 4043... Nassington

To date poshrule has hidden 1680 caches; I've been lucky enough to find 1394 of them. I've discovered he is venturing into new territory; now planning a trip to tackle the Babcary Bounce and Charlton Crusade trails.. when the weather improves.

Jessica's Jaunt

Despite warnings from the forecaster of possibly dire weather conditions, yesterday I was lured up to Grantham by a newly published series of 70 caches, Jessica's Jaunt. The weather turned out to be far more benign than predicted; windy, but the sun broke through often, and the squally showers failed to dampen my enjoyment of this long trail (rain doesn't really bother me once I'm out on a walk, but I'm reluctant to start a walk in the rain).

First part of the trail is along a dismantled railway

The route is flat and very easy-going, with good paths throughout, but at nearly 14 miles it's not a short one. I treated it as a figure-of-eight. This meant walking the 'shortcut' section of caches twice, but it also meant I could return to the cachemobile halfway through for re-supply.

I had one mildly scary bovine encounter - my bête noir (sometimes literally), I'm always very nervous when I meet up with walking beef/milk - but I emerged unscathed. With eight FTFs and just one DNF, it was a very good day, topped off with a Church Micro multi on the way home.