Netherton Ponders

Netherton Ponders series

12 caches on a 4.2 mile circular walk.

Green Lane

This new series was published during the week, perfect for a Friday afternoon dog walk.  Parked in the layby and headed off to #1.  The sun came out not long after we set off and very soon we realised we were overdressed with the sudden rise in the temperature this week, it took us completely by surprise.  Between  #3 & #4 we recognised the bridge from when we did Bridge the Gap (SD2) back in July 2009, Poppy and Whisper had a lovely splash around in the stream here.    Great views of Bredon Hill.  Had to backtrack to #6 as a muggle dog walker stood right by it to take a phone call.... of all the places!!!

We'd contacted Jayvon, the cache owners, last night and asked them if they'd like us to replace the cache on #8 that had been accidentally pushed out of reach by a previous cacher so we went armed with a replacement and tried to re-hide as best we could, hopefully it will stay in place for the next finders.

Once again we were left thinking 'if it wasn't for geocaching we'd never have known about this' and it was at #11 the site of a Bombing Decoy (codenamed Q Site).  They were constructed during World War 2 to simulate the landing lights of an active operational airfield, in this case the nearby Pershore Airfield, this was to deceive the Luftwaffe into dropping bombs in open countryside rather than on the airfield.  A really interesting location.

All too soon the walk was over and we were back at the car, The paths were very wet underfoot, muddy but nothing too serious and generally very good, no dog proof stiles to report on the whole route and only 2 actual stiles that we can remember.  A fabulous walk that we completed in exactly 2 hours.

Netherton Ponders

A bike ride round Sandwell Valley Park

Last night Mark had asked me where I wanted to go caching today, my feet were feeling really sore so I suggested we do some cyclo-caching instead to give my feet a rest. A quick look at Memory Map and I spotted a series in Sandwell Valley Park which looked fairly bike-able, so this morning we headed off with the bikes on the back of the car to do the Valley Series.


20 caches + 10 extra on a 13 mile bike ride.

We parked in the car park near to Valley Series #12 - Hole In One, found that one first, quickly followed by Forge Mill Farm & Lake

Forge Mill Lake

Nice clean bike near the start

We then followed the track on the south side of the river doing the five caches down as far as Trunkoflage thinking there would be somewhere to cross over. There wasn't!
After a bit of a slog back along the river, we continued on the north side of the river round to Valley Series #13 and beyond

Choo Choo - but where is it?

Has someone lost an ear?

After finding #20 we made our way round to Bluebell and through the very fancy gate into Sot's Hole Nature Reserve

Very ornate gate

Carved bench - Sot's Hole Nature Reserve

Aww so cute

Ice House Pool, Priory Woods

Had to lift the bikes over the stile at #1, apart form that the series is pretty bike friendly...

My bike wasn't meant to do this sort of terrain!

... as long as you don't mind a bit of mud! :-)

Muddy at the end of the ride

Completed the 13 mile bike ride in 5 hours 39 mins and found 29 caches.

A great caching weekend with fantastic weather for January!

Sandwell Valley Park

Fringford

 The main reason for our trip to the area today was to do the Shelswell Loop.  A series of 17 caches plus 2 extra on a 6 mile circular walk around the village of Fringford, about 4 miles North East of Bicester.

St Michael and All Angels Church, Fringford

We were last in the area back in January 2009 to do the Larkrise to Candleford Green series so it was nice to be back walking in such lovely countryside.

A bit of a rainy start but the forecast was good so we were hopeful it would brighten up.  Some of the walk takes you through the impressive Shelswell Park Estate.

Warins Barn

To find Warin's Barn: Shelswell Loop you actually need to go inside the barn to find the cache, we were a little wary when we saw the sign but as all previous logs had reported finding the cache without injury we went in.  Interesting to note the 20 year old graffiti on the wall but it left us wondering what happened here and why it's been left derelict, further research hasn't given us the answer.  Interesting spot for a cache.

We love mud!

An enjoyable walk that is completely dog friendly, very muddy in places, mainly along the field edges and through a ploughed field but it's what is to be expected this time of year.  Completed the walk in 3 hours 45 minutes in glorious sunshine.  It really was like a spring afternoon, very uplifting to be walking in the sunshine after all the dark days, snow and rain.

Beautiful sunny afternoon

Shelswell Loop

Before leaving Fringford we stopped off for a short walk behind the church to find Deep in the Wood.  The previous log was a DNF but we thought we have a look anyway, also other finders had reported it as being a tricky to find cache.  After about 10 mins of searching I said 'that's it I give up' and went to head back to the car, Mark said 'OK I'll join you but shall I just sign the log book first' LOL!  I will have to try that method in future but sooner next time!

Stopped off in Hethe to do a couple of the Lark Rise to Candleford caches that have appeared since we did the series back in Jan 2009.

View from Hethe Bridge

Just time to do a short series along an old tarmaced road, which is now gated, looks like it was cut through when the A43 was built.  Very peaceful walk along the lane.

Gated Lane Nr Stoke Lyne

There were many fieldfares in the fields and flying overhead, a beautiful sight.

Fieldfares

 A 1.5 mile walk to the to of the lane and back.

Time to head home and on the way picked up a few more of the Just Northamptonshire caches, we've found 4 previously and #21, #20 and #28.....   7 down, 109 to go!

A few FTFs for January

Mark:

As mentioned in a previous blog, we try to find at least one FTF per month.

So far this month we'd failed miserably:
Sunday:  Missed out  on  Thomas the Tank Engine 9 - Edward by seconds
Monday afternoon: Another second place on Dark Lane
Monday evening: A pathetic third (in 20 minutes) on  60/2 Mile Post

So, when the notifications arrived for these new M6 Toll caches, there was no hesitation. I scribbled down the co-ords for Motorway Mayhem M6 Toll (Curdworth) and entered them into the Etrex on the way to  the car and headed up the M42, parked on the bridge and made an easy find.

I had only taken the co-ords for one cache as I hadn't expected to be first. A quick phone call to Donna and I had the co-ords for Motorway Mayhem M6 Toll (The Belfry)  whose location was suspiciously similar to the recently archived MotorwayMayhem M6 Toll - Toll View 3 !
 
The next one (Motorway Mayhem M6 Toll (Holly Lane)) was an easy find without co-ords as it was exactly where I thought it would be! No time for any more, back to work....

A Morning in Long Compton

Arranged to meet unowho67, [Monki], Blue Nora and Lime Candy at the village Hall in Long Compton to do the new series 'A Wander around Long Compton', 15 caches on a 4 mile circular walk.

St Peter and St Paul Church, Long Compton

Met up at the village hall in Long Compton at 9am and set off soon after.  All caches were easy to find and were a variety of sizes and hides.  A frosty start but we all soon warmed up as we got going.  A great morning to be out caching, the sun even came out briefly which was nice.

Wandering around Long Compton

We didn't have Poppy and Whisper with us today but the walk would've been ideal for them and is completely dog-friendly.  After reading some of the logs we were expecting a lot more mud but it wasn't too bad at all, only the final stretch through the ploughed field was really muddy.  All too soon we were back at the car, completing the walk in 2 hours and 20 mins.  Enjoyed a nice chat over snacks and coffee then we went our separate ways.

We headed off to Dark Lane in the hope of a FTF, we've found a cache every month for 30 consecutive months so are quite keen to keep up finding at least one FTF a month.... anyway it was not to be we were beaten to it by about an hour.  Never mind, we still have a bit of time before the end of January to find one.

An Afternoon in Allesley

Thomas the Tank Engine Series

12 caches plus 2 additional caches
Circular walk of 5.3 miles

On the way to Skarloey

Taxi duties to see to first this morning so a bit of a late start for us.  Set off at 11:30, starting at Thomas the Tank Engine 8 - Gordon.  All the caches were easy to find and spaced far enough apart so you can get a good stride up between them, just the thing for working off the Christmas excesses!

Thomas ;)

 
On our return to the car I checked my emails and noticed a new cache had been published a short walk from where we'd parked, it was Thomas the Tank Engine 9 - Edward a replacement cache for the one that had gone missing.  We weren't expecting to be first as the cache had been published a couple of hours before.  Mark went off by himself for this one as Poppy and Whisper were worn out so I stayed behind at the car.  On arrival at GZ Mark met Fanboy17 who had just that second replaced the cache!

We'd remembered to pick up the bonus details so once we'd worked out where it was off we went.  It was a short drive away to a rather busy location, so we had to wait for our moment to retrieve the cache.  An enjoyable series that reminded me of when our son very young and was mad about anything to do with Thomas the Tank Engine. We completed the walk in 3 hours and 10 mins.

An Afternoon Around Allesley at EveryTrail

Allesley Park

An hour to spare before having to resume our taxi duties so we headed off to Allesley Park to find Rupert and Friends.  An enjoyable walk around the park, it was very busy with dog walkers and families out for late afternoon stroll despite the freezing cold weather.  I think we looked a little out of place with walking gear, muddy boots and gaiters in an uban park, oh well.  Time to head off now and back home for a well earned Sausage Hotpot ....Yum!

Multi Trunked Tree

First Caching Trip of 2011

Monki, MrDelta68, Monty's Luck, Unowho67 & Blue Nora

We arranged to meet up at 10am with [Monki], Unowho67, Blue Nora & Monty's Luck to do the Madmajor's Major Meander a circular walk of 6.5 miles and 23 caches plus a bonus starting at the town of Burbage.

Left the dogs at home today as we'd read previous logs about many stiles, glad we did as there certainly were a lot of them but we don't think they were all dog proof ones. Bumped into roger-rabbit twice as he was going in the opposite direction and we caught up with Shank's Pony at #12 and continued the series with them. Really enjoyed the walk  in great company, a really enjoyable series with a variety of hides and good hints, just how we like it.  A fabulous start to the caching year!

Completed the series in  3½ hours.

On our way home we stopped off with [Monki] to do this one, Pinocchio's Predicament.  Read the log for full story!