Alkington Nature Reserve and assorted South Manchester caches

We decided to try the Alkington Nature Reserve caches near Middleton and then move on down the M60 towards the Romiley and Poynton areas today. Lots of potential caches to hit and areas we'd been to before so no problems finding our way around.

We parked up in the road opposite the Nature Reserve and set off on our bikes. We'd checked with the cache owner during the week just in case bikes were not allowed in the reserve - they were :-).

There were something like 20 caches hidden in the reserve, on a (sort of) circular route. Most were micros but some were smalls. All were very easy finds with absolutely no problems at all. The hardest part of the series was finding our way round the caches using the many paths and tracks within the reserve.

After we'd finished, we did a quick and easy drive-by on the way into Middleton. Next was the St Leonards cache not far from the center of town. We drove up the very old (and very rickety - is that a word?) road to the top of the hill where the church was. The cache was a quick find, right in the middle of the graveyard.

Isaac was joking that the church could easily be part of a Greater Manchester Church Gems series (a play on the Shropshire Church Gems series) as it was a really beautiful building. The views from GZ were fab too and pretty much panoramic. The light today was really good and we could literally see for miles.

Next, we re-positioned down the M60 to Romiley to tackle the Romiley Stroll series. We always like coming back to this area as it's so close to Stockport but yet a total world apart. Great scenery and tons of history - that's apart from the fact that there is the River Goyt nearby so there is wild garlic around everywhere this time of year!

A nice walk round the caches and no trouble with the finds. We also did the Grandma's House cache that was nearby and was one we'd been meaning to find for ages.

After we got back to the Jeep, we had our soup and sandwiches before heading off to Poynton to tackle some of the newer caches there. On the way we stopped at Pete Numbers' Scotland or England? caches, which was an easy one.

Poynton caused us quite a bit of trouble as the caches were all set by new(ish) cachers and the placement of some of them was not great:

• One was a micro in an ivy covered post right by the roadside. To make matters worse, the traffic waiting for the traffic lights to change was sat night by GZ. Searching was near on impossible as we started to get some very funny looks.
• One was in an ivy covered tree at the fenceline behind what looked like some elderly people's bungalows. Our searching could so easily have been interpreted as snooping on the old people so we knocked it on the head and moved on.

We've logged DNF's on the suspect ones with a few well meant comments about them. The cache owners have thankfully taken this as it was intended and the first one has been moved to a more suitable area and the second one now has a *much* better hint. Result!

We then re-positioned again to Hale Barns to do a new set of caches that had come out in areas I used to play as a child and later, go listening to loud rock music with my mates. Lots of nostalgia on these ones - I was keeping Isaac entertained with running tales of my exploits at each location.

Just time now to nip into the centre of Altrincham and clear up a DNF on what should be a very easy find outside a pub I used to drink in as a (late-ish) teenager.

39 finds so far so to make it up to 40, we drove out to Dunham to do a quick Sparrow Boys cache. Usually their caches are anything but quick as they have the sneakiest and best-crafted caches of any hider we know.

The first one was a small so we were confident in an easy find and sure enough Isaac spotted it immediately. What a fabulous hide too - I can't say any more here as I'd spoil it, but if you are in the area, make sure you try it - it's well worth it.

There was another one 0.35 along the old railway line, so we could not resist. A short walk later and we were struggling to find this one (a sneaky nano). We eventually got it though and what a great hide again.

Now, we really must get going home as we're both getting hungry. 41 finds for the day and a very satisfying day out once again.