Witton Weaver Way: The Beamers Trail and Hoghton Secions
On Saturday Isaac and myself decided to try the Beamers Trail as it looked the shortest of the ones left to do and we did not want to be late home as we need to pack for our trip to NY tomorrow.
We've never been to this part of Blackburn before, but thankfully Isaac's navigating (using Memory Map) was spot on and we were soon parking up at Witton Country Park.
We took a few moments to get our gear together before setting off to do the trail in one go. The first cache was just by the visitors centre and a quick and easy find. We then headed off anti-clockwise (this is becoming a habit as we've done this on all three sections of the series we've done so far).
Just around the corner was one of the chess themed caches that are in the park, so we stopped off to find this as we were passing. We had intended to do the rest of this series after doing the Beamers Trail but time was short so we will have to return to find the rest of them some other day.
Next, we headed up the hill and into the woods for the next section of the trail. On the way we passed a wood sculptor, demonstrating his skills to a family who were passing. Really interesting to watch - I'd love to be able to do that kind of thing.
Several easy finds later and we were at the high point of the walk and the flagship cache of the series. There were great views all around from here, so after finding the cache, we stopped to sit down at the top and have our soup and sandwiches, whilst admiring the views. We had great fun pointing out interesting things to each other and trying to guess what they were.
We then headed off down the hill, finding each cache as they came up. Nothing too taxing here, which was a nice change as we were thoroughly enjoying the walk and did not want to have to stop too long to look at each stage as it would detract from the great walk.
As we approached the part where the Hoghton Section (why do I keep wanting to spell that Houghton?) joined the trail, we were passed by a pack of cubs, with Arkela, all carrying provisions up to the camp site nearby. Looks like a great spot for a camp-out, with lots of rope swings etc etc.
The return leg of the loop passed much quicker as the terrain was flatter and the lack of woods made for even easier finds. On the way, part of the PF was closed, but we'd read about it on the forums and knew it was passable with care. It was and a short diversion into the side of a field got us on our way.
Just after we'd done the last cache in the series and were heading back to the Jeep, we bumped into Dave Mars who had just finished the nearby chess series. Great to meet you again Dave. We had a nice geo-chat as we returned to our cars.
Isaac and myself then drove round to try and finish the Hoghton Section before it got dark. We started off with two easy drive-by's at the northern end of the section, before setting off on foot for the rest. The area was very familiar as we'd walked through a lot of it ages ago, doing the Pixellation series.
As we were re-positioning the Jeep for the last few caches, Isaac spotted a house which had not one, but two helicopters outside! Some people can have too much of a good thing ;-).
We enjoyed the flagship cache of this section, which was on a nice section of the River Darwin and was also a neat hide.
Just as it was going dark, we set off for home and our packing for tomorrow's trip.
Another excellent day out with a great set of caches on a lovely walk. Very much recommended.
