Time for something very different: Caching in the Cotswolds

We could not decide on where to go caching on Saturday. The weather did not look too great all over the UK but seemed it might be better the further south you were.

We'd seen a new series of 40 or so caches on a nice looking circular walk in the Cotswold's come out a week or two ago so this sounded like it might be for us today. It's quite a bit further than we usually go, but after checking the approximate walking time with someone who had already done the caches it looked like it was eminently possible.

We did not arrive at the starting point until 11am as it did indeed take quite a while to get there, not helped being stuck behind a really slow car towing a caravan for most of the journey from the motorway. The road was too windy to get past them safely so we were stuck.

We parked up by the bonus cache dummy co-ords in the middle of the village and got our waterproofs on as it was raining lightly. The series is split into two loops, one to each end of the village. We decided to tackle the northern loop in the morning as it looked slightly longer, return to the Jeep for our sandwiches and then do the southern loop later on. Each cache has a clue in which then gives you the co-ords for the bonus cache.

As we approached the first cache, we realised it was the one you were supposed to do after you had finished the series and on the walk back to the car. Doh - looks like we'll be doing the series backwards, which we often seem to do.

After this cache, there was something like a 0.7 mile gap until the next cache (which was the last cache in the main series). We were chatting on the way and suspected the bonus cache was somewhere along this stretch as we could see no other reason not to have at least one other cache here. As we walked along, we spotted a really nice spot for a cache and Isaac saw a likely looking cache tree. A quick pop round the back of the said tree and we could see some camo bag sticking out of a hole :-). Bingo - we'd found the bonus cache!

We then carried on round the rest of the caches in the loop as intended. It was still drizzling but we had out waterproofs on and were nice and snug. All the caches were incredibly easy finds. We found this when we did the UK Mega series and wondered if all caches down south are this easy or just the ones on the bigger circular walks. Either way, we appreciated it as the last thing you want is a long search while on a long walk.

All too soon we arrived back at the Jeep for dinner. The rain had just about stopped and there were small glimpses of blue sky. We had our sandwiches, stocked up with more drinks for the next part of the walk and off we set.

The final loop had slightly more terrain to it as the bottom end of the walk was by some lovely woodland overlooking the whole area. When I say slightly more terrain, it was only a gentle slope and nothing much. Several more easy finds later and we were back at the Jeep.

It was about 4pm now so we decided to start heading home as it would take a few hours to get back, but not before a quick Sidetracked cache not far from where we parked.

Isaac then guided us back to Stow in the Wold and the main road north to the M40 by Warwick. He took us via a couple of quick drive-by's in Stow and then another Sidetracked in Moreton in the Marsh. We loved the towns in the area with their gorgeous yellow tinted stone buildings. Moreton was especially nice.

Just before we got to the M40, Isaac took us round the airfield at Wellesbourne to a quick cache. I was telling how I'd landed at Wellesbourne a few times now and that they had an old Vulcan bomber on the airfield which I think people are trying to restore. The road by the side of the airfield gave us a great view of the Vulcan, which we both enjoyed :-).

One final cache just by the M40 junction saw the total for the day at 47 finds. We'd have loved to find another 3 to get a round 50 finds for the day but we were too hungry and just wanted to get home now.

A very different than normal day out in an area we've never cached in before. We'll have to come this way more often as there are tons of caches to find.

A FTF I was not expecting

I'll quote from our log on the cache, which says it all:

We'd just arrived at the Tibberton School Halloween Bingo and my iPhone pinged with a new cache notification. I could not believe it as it was only about a mile away. I left Mrs Bolas Heathens doing my bingo cards while I popped out to see if I could get FTF on the cache.

I only had my iPhone on me and getting a decent data signal was awful but eventually I managed to get the co-ords of the cache. The GPS on it was insisting I was in the middle of Warrington and would not budge so I was wondering how the heck I'd find the cache.

I pulled up around the area I thought the cache would be and had a rummage in the glove compartment. Luck was with me as our old 60CSx was at the bottom - the only problem was the rechargeable batteries in it were dead. I spotted some spare alkaline ones near to the GPS so soon had it up and running and getting a fix. I put the co-ords in and was delighted to find my guessing was right and I was 35ft from the cache :-).

At this point another car came down the lane and stopped short of me by about 100ft in the middle of the lane. They flashed their headlights in the way I've heard certain canine loving people do it ;-). Oh no, and there's me just wanting to find a tupperware box in peace. I've no idea what the signal for "go away" is so just turned off all my lights and hoped for the best. It must have worked as they moved on down the lane, but not before a very slow pass of the Jeep.

Once the coast was clear I jumped out, walked the short distance to GZ and had a very quick find of the nicely hidden cache.

Not long after I was back at the bingo in time for half time refreshments. No prizes were won, but I'd got a FTF on this cache so was happy enough. I decided the leave the other cache for the daytime as I was not exactly wearing boots fit for walking down a bridleway in the dark safely.

Caching A Plenty Around Redditch

On Saturday we fancied a return visit to the Redditch area just south of Birmingham as there seems to be an explosion of new caches around there at the moment. I thought I'd found a lot in the area last weekend but a quick check of Memory Map revealed a ton more to do.

Isaac has finished school for half term so was free on Saturday, the weather was looking perfect and there were tons of caches to find. Perfect!

We aimed to start off with the Hagley Loop series, a set of 9 new caches along with a stand alone cache along the way, forming a nice circular walk. We parked up by the first one and off we set. We kept bumping into dog walkers on every part of the walk so had to wait them out before diving in for each cache. Nothing too taxing here and we were soon back at the Jeep and ready so set off for the short drive to the next caches for the day.

We parked up by the lovely church in the village of Belbroughton for the Belbroughton Bimble series. This is another circular walk of 10 caches, with an extra stand alone cache on the way round. This turned into another excellent walk in great countryside with a nice variety of hides and cache sizes to keep things interesting.

The only matter of note was a slight mishap we had on #10 in the series. We could not decide which side of the hedge this one would be on so as usual, when faced with a choice of two things, we picked the wrong one - doh!

Isaac then crawled under the hedge to the other side for an easy find. He then had the brainwave of throwing the cache over the hedge to me on the other side. A nice idea but he threw too low and the cache popped into the top of the hedge. We peered into the hedge for ages, shaking it with my walking pole and could not spot the cache anywhere.

We logged a Needs Maintenance log on the iPhone immediately just in case any other cacher's were doing the series and have email you about the mishap. We're gutted about losing the cacge and can only offer our sincere apologies as the cache will almost certainly need replacing. The cache owner has been very nice about it and is hoping to go out and replace the cache in the next few days - phew!

After we got back to the Jeep, it was a short drive to the three new caches in Catshill near Bromsgrove. All nice easy ones and we were soon on the M42 heading east to the new Morton Meander series to the east of Redditch.

We parked up by #1 and ate our sandwiches before setting off for the circuit of the 16 caches in the series. Another fabby walk with lots to see and do on the way. Things of note were:

• a sneaky hide on #6 that thankfully we'd seen before otherwise we might have missed it.
• loads of friendly cows right by #11. They must have thought we were the farmer as they all trotted over as we approached the field they were in. Not a bother though and we soon had the cache found and were on our way.
• a cache hung on a fence that Isaac initially thought was a padlock for some reason (I'm not giving anything away by saying this). He mentioned it and I said "why would someone hang a padlock on a random fence". He then twigged and had the logbook in hand in seconds.

With this series finished, we were on 40 finds for the day and we still had a bit of time left. A quick look at the caches on Memory Map and we decided to head for Redditch itself and some urban caching to see how we go. This would also leave us with a quick exit to the M42 and northwards to home.

We grabbed a quick one by a bus-stop on the way into town and then another quick one not too far from the road in some woods. The third cache has the most bizarre swap we've ever seen in it: a cast of someone's teeth. Why the heck would anyone leave this as a swap as I can't imagine who would want to swap anything for it.

The rest of the caches were all near supermarkets and near railway stations and nothing much to report on. Just as it had gone dark we bagged out 50th find of the day, so decided to call it a day and head home for some tea.

Another fab day out with some great walks in lovely areas. Can't beat this kind of caching.

A quick trip into Stafford and a quick cache!

I had to pop into Stafford this afternoon to pay some cheques in at the bank and this cache was on the way into town - how handy.

I did the cheques first and then spotted the entrance to the church car park as I drove up the road on the way home. After parking up I crossed the road and walked up into the beautiful churchyard.

The co-ords were bang on and lead me straight to GZ for a very easy find. After I'd put the cache back, I had a mooch around the churchyard and took a few photos of the lovely church in the sun.

That's Stafford cleared of caches again, for now ;-).

Canal caching near home

Over the last few weeks (and days!) several new caches have come out along the Shropshire Union Canal not too far from home. First there was the Wheaton Aston Extension series and then the Canal Walk series near Goldstone came out on Friday night.

I had a few hours spare on Sunday afternoon so set off armed with my bike to try and find them all.

I parked up by the canal bridge near Little Soudley and off I set. I wish I'd picked a different day than a Sunday for these caches though as the local angling club were holding a competition and there were fishermen every 20ft or so along the towpath. Trying to ride along it was like doing the hurdles, with all their long fishing poles blocking the path.

I could not spot the first cache quickly so decided to move on and look for it on the way back. The next cache was a nigthtmare as it was a micro in a random hedge. To make matters worse there was lots of ivy involved and a fisherman about 10ft from GZ. I soon gave up and moved on, muttering to myself about the cache.

Thankfully the third one was a nice easy find in a location I'd scouted out for our Mission Improbable - Cache Chase cache ages ago.

I returned to where I'd parked and quickly found the cache there. I'd initially discarded it as it was in a black plastic bag and looked like rubbish. It was only when I poked it with a stick that I heard the tell-tale thud sound of tupperware!

The last cache on this section was on a section of towpath that was officially closed as the bank had partially collapsed. It looked safe enough to me and nobody was around this part of the canal so I nipped in for a quick find.

A longish drive down lots of narrow country lanes later and I was parking up at the northern end of the Wheaton Aston canal series. I had decided to tackle these 7 caches in one go from here, even though some were very spread out and I could have saved a lot of time moving the Jeep along every so often. I'm glad I did as it was a lovely afternoon and I really enjoyed the bike ride :-).

The first one was a tricky find but I got there in the end. The remaining 6 were all easy enough but were fun hides with some hanging in trees etc etc.

After I'd ridden back to the Jeep I decided to go and pick off a new multi in Priorslee on the outskirts of Telford. A nice quick find of the urban nano here with some very unusual cannonballs along the edge of the road (the cache was called Magic 8 Ball - I bet you can guess where the cache was hidden).

By this time, I was due to pick Freya up from her friends house but I could not resist going back to look for the hedge micro as I was hoping all the fishermen had packed up and gone home by now. They had and the cache was a really quick find. Just goes to show how hard muggles make a cache to find.

That's all the new caches close to home found now so I'm off home for a lovely roast dinner :-).

Two Great Circular Walks Near Redditch

Isaac was at school on Saturday so I decided to go out and do the kind of caching I really like - good walking in great countryside.

A series of puzzle caches near Redditch that form a circular walk, followed by another circular walk of traditional caches by the same cache owner looked perfect.

I headed down the M6 and M5 and was soon parking up by the first cache which was an easy drive-by. Next I moved the Jeep a bit further along the lane and set off on foot for the puzzle series.

I can't really say too much about these as I obviously don't want to give the cache locations away. Some of the more interesting parts of the walk were:

• A good variety of cache container sizes, with quite a few of them being bigger boxes.
• Varied terrain with only a few ploughed fields to cross.
• A cache with some absolutely fabulous views over towards the Malvern hills.
• A field of curious cows who thankfully kept their distance.
• Nice quick finds with great hints if you need them.
• Some lovely woodland on two of the caches.

All too soon I'd completed the series, so moved the Jeep round to the start of the next circular walk. This set were traditional caches, with three puzzle caches thrown in for good measure. One of the puzzles was easy, the other I needed Freya's help and the third is found by finding the first two puzzles.

I soon realised I was following graham1876 round the series but suspected he had done them a lot earlier in the day. I stopped for my sandwiches at a cache with another great view of the Malverns and then pressed on with the rest of the caches.

All of the series were nice and easy finds, lots of variety and beautiful countryside to walk through. This is exactly the kind of caching I enjoy.

After I'd finished the second series and found the three puzzle caches, I spotted a nearby drive-by Joy-Jar cache so off I went in the Jeep to find it. Another really quick find here.

Next, I aimed for a cache by a windmill we'd missed out ages ago when in the area doing Cakemaker's nearby canal series. Try as I might I could not spot the nano, even with the very precise hint. It's got to be missing. I logged a DNF on it and not long after the cache was archived as it's gone missing in the past too so time for it to be put to bed.

Time was getting on a bit by now but just enough time to go and find a group of 4 caches on the edge of Bromsgrove that we'd missed out on our last visit to the area. On the walk down to the first one, I passed what must be the biggest ariel I've ever seen. It was right by a small house and not official looking at all. I don't know what the person from the house needs such a huge ariel for (it was on top of a mobile crane!).

I managed to find 3 of the 4 caches in this group. I had to give up on the last one as two female dog walkers came over the nearby field towards where I was and spotted me. They stopped and started to look very uncomfortable at me loitering around. The last thing I want to do is scare dog-walkers so I moved on.

I really must be getting home now, but I could just squeeze in a couple more caches couldn't it? Of course it could! A quick one on a canal towpath was followed by another one on a towpath. Then I did a quick Sidetracked cache followed by the last cache of the day at the Services area on the M42.

41 finds for the day, some excellent walking and I've hardly seen a soul all day long. Great stuff :-).

Our Caching Stats As Of 9 October 2009

We have not run any caching stats for ages so thought it might be fun to see the current status. It's a bit rough and ready as the milestones need adjusting as it seems to take them in the order you log them so some are not correct.

I see it also says we're one of the top finders of our own caches. That's because we adopted all MarcB's caches a while ago and had previously found them. We obviously don't log finds on caches we have hidden ourselves as that would be pointless.

A quick trip to Birmingham

I had to pop to the Apple Store in the Bullring in Birmingham as one of our wireless routers in the house packed up suddenly last night. As I was driving down the M6 I was thinking there are no city centre caches left for us to do. I then realised that the Cole Challenge cache we could not find on Sunday was no more than 2 miles from the Bullring (or thereabouts) so took the 'scenic' route via the cache.

I parked up close to the cache and walked the 0.15 to GZ. I'd had a hint on the cache after our DNF so this narrowed down our search area. It still took an age to find the cache and when I finally did find it, I kicked myself as it was on the only tree in the whole wooded area we'd not already checked.

I was thinking I better get to the Apple Store and then back home as I'm supposed to be working today but could not resist bagging the other loose end from Sunday's caching - the Ward End Park Bonus cache.

A short drive later and I was parking up for the bonus cache. I did not have a GPSr with me but did have my iPhone. The only problem being I only have the co-ords for the bonus cache on a scrap of paper in my pocket and I don't know how you can input co-ords into the iPhone. I thus checked the approximate direction and distance of the cache off TomTom before I jumped out of the Jeep and set off for a quick bit of naked caching.

I need not have worried as it was a really easy find in the obvious place and I did not need the GPS at all.

Now, to try and work out how to get from here to the Bullring using minimal TomTom as it's more fun that way. I set off in what I imagined was the direction of the city centre and was not far wrong as I was soon parking up by the lovely Selfridges building and heading off on foot.

On a final note, I did not have a pen with me for either cache and as they did not have pens in themselves, I had to sign both logs with a smudge of mud and add photos of this to my logs to prove my find.

Cole Challenge Series, Ward End Park and Bescot

We'd switched our normal day out caching to Sunday and were looking forward to trying the Cole Challenge, a new set of 16 caches along the banks of the River Cole in E/NE Birmingham. They looked to have lots of sneaky hides and something a bit more of a challenge - just the kind of thing we enjoy.

We set off and had intended to come off the M6 to the north of the caches near The Fort but as we drove along the M6 it was clear that the motorway exit we thought was here did not seem to exist. We ended up having to carry on to the M42 and then coming off by the NEC. Quite a bit of a detour but it was still early and the roads were quiet, so not a great problem.

We parked up not far from #4 in the series and got the bikes out of the Jeep. We had intended to do the series in sections, moving the Jeep round as we go and picking off caches near to where we park before moving on to the next section. As it turned out, it was easier to just do the whole series plus a few others in one go by bike.

The first cache was a quick find, although you'd struggle to get it if you were short. The next one we could not find so decided to have another look on the way back. We had just found the third cache when someone cycled up and said hello. It was Luke, who caches as m3vvb and whom I'd been chatting to on Facebook last night trying to work out the best way of tackling the series. We joined forces and did the rest of the caches with Luke, even though he'd already found some of them so just stood back to watch us search.

When we returned to the one we had just DNF'd, Isaac spotted it after a short search. A really nice hide which blends in perfectly. The rest of the series was uneventful apart from one DNF (at cache #8) and quite a few sneaky hides, which I won't go into detail about here as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has not done the series.

At the end of the series, we did three other caches that were by the River and were on the way anyway. One, Bridge over the River Cole, we'd DNF'd the last time we were in the area (it had been muggled at the time I think) but was a quick find today.

We then made the long ride back to #8 for another look. After quite a long search (well, 10-15 minutes anyway) we still could not spot it. A micro in the woods with a hint that meant it could be anywhere is never going to be easy. It's a shame we could not get this one as it would have meant we'd finished the series, but never mind, that's life sometimes.

We said our goodbye's to Luke and headed off to the Jeep for our sandwiches. After this, we decided to go to the Ward End Park series - a set of 5 caches plus a bonus cache around a nice looking park not too far from the M6. We set off on our bikes and soon had all 5 caches bagged. We did a double take when we plotted the co-ords of the bonus cache as it was about a mile away and nowhere near the park. Hmmm, we're not going that way so that one will have to wait for a future visit.

We'd planned to finish the day with the new set of caches near Bescot - that's just by the RAC Building where the M6 and M5 meet, if you don't know the area. Isaac planned a route over to there, via a few quick and easy caches.

Two quick Sidetracked caches followed, then one called A Piece Of Cake, which was anything but the cache name and totally eluded us. We gave up after a short search as we did not like all the rubbish at GZ. We also had another DNF on a micro behind one of those horrible metal fences with bars everywhere. The cache could have been literally anywhere and as is usual with this kind of hide, we got bored and moved on. Not sure we'll be back to be honest as we don't like this kind of hide at all as it's not fun to look for.

Next on the list was one in the Grub Grab series. We'd seen this mentioned on one of the forums (or was it Facebook?) when the series came out and did not have high hopes for it but were pleasantly surprised. The cache was quite near a McDonalnds admittedly, but it was in a nice looking park just out of sight of McDonalnds and was a Regular sized box with some decent swaps in. Not bad at all for an urban cache and certainly much better than the usual nano you get in these situations.

We had yet another DNF at Sidetracked Tame Bridge - the cache was nowhere to be seen in the guard rail it was supposed to be in. It turns out someone must have muggled the cache and thrown it over a nearby fence as another cacher had spotted it there.

Finally it was time for the 4 caches along the wildlife area at the side of the Bescot railway depot. The first was a quick find, then we spotted a group of 20+lads racing motorbikes around the circular area where the remaining three caches were. There seemed to be quite a few bushes to hide the cache finding from them so we pressed on to see if it was possible to get the caches undetected. It was and all were nice quick finds.

Just time for a few more caches before we get back on the M6 northbound for home. A nano by a Kebab shop (why is there a cache here?), followed by another Grub Grab cache, this time outside a Pizza Hut. We then went off to find a quick drive-by near where one of the Walsall Cacher Meets had taken place.

We can squeeze one final cache in, just about, so headed off for an interesting one which was on top of what is probably the highest point in this part of Birmingham. The cache was clearly by the side of a church but all the church helpers were shutting up for the day and stood outside chatting before going some. Luckily there were some information boards nearby so we stopped to read these while we waited out the muggles. This made it worse as they then came over to tell us all about the history of the area and even popped into the church to get us some leaflets about it! All we wanted to do was find the cache, but we're glad they did stop to tell us about things as it was really interesting and really added to the cache and why we had been brought here.

38 finds for the day. We'd have loved to get 2 more to make it a round 40 but our Sunday Roast was going to be on the table by the time we got home and it was just too tempting.

Crewe and Nantwich Circular and a few other caches

On Saturday, Isaac was at school so we'd planned our main day out caching for Sunday instead. It looked like it was going to be a nice day on Saturday so I decided to head off and try and complete the Crewe and Nantwich Circular series as some of it was on our closest to home Not Found page.

I dropped Isaac off at school and headed off towards the first cache, which was the southernmost one in the series. I parked up at the end of a dead end road and walked down the track and over the fields to GZ. A quick scout around soon revealed the cache in a nice spot by a small stream.

Next I headed off to clear up a DNF from a few weeks ago. It was a micro in ivy in an area covered in ivy. Thankfully I'd had a small pointer from the cache owner so was able to narrow down my search to a smaller area and soon spotted the cache. How the heck I'd missed it last time I don't know, but I seem to be in good company with the DNF as several other high finders have failed on it too.

The next few caches were up the west side of Nantwich and were all nice and easy with some decent length walks to get to them. The last of these was down as a multi cache but had a logbook in each stage. I could not decide if it should really be two separate Traditional caches, but I guess it does not really matter.

Another previous DNF was next on the list and sure enough I soon had the cache in hand. I'd been looking on the other side of the bridge last time as that was where the GPSr was trying to take me. I then set off over the fields for the next cache in this circular walk but the farmer had recently trimmed the hedge and the cache was nowhere to be seen. The wind was whipping a gale over the flat, open fields and I was not enjoying myself so decided to leave the rest of this walk for a nicer day and move on to a new area.

I could not resist popping up to Shakerley Mere, just north of Holmes Chapel as we'd totally missed two new caches there the last time we were in the area. We'd literally driven right past the woods they are in on the way to other caches, blissfully un-aware that they were there. Two nice quick finds were had - what a lovely spot for a cache too. I had a lovely walk around the Mere in between the two caches.

More DNF clearup's followed with a trip into Holmes Chapel for one we did not have time for last time and then the final three Cheshire Railings caches that we'd not done last time - or rather we'd DNF'd the first two and totally missed going for the third.

By this time I'd done a grand circle round the Holmes Chapel area and was back in Sandbach. Lots of new caches in this area so what a bit of fortuitous planning, even if I do say so myself ;-).

A quick one on the Wheelock Rail Trail (an old railway line that is now a lovely cycleway) was followed by a DNF at Sandbach Station. The cache was in a laurel bush at the side of some playing fields in a park. As I arrived, the coast was clear so off I went to look through the bushes. As I was searching some young lads arrived to play football right by the laurel bush I was behind. Hmmmm - only a matter of time before I start getting strange looks as a lone male in some bushes appearing to be watching young lads. Time for a hasty exit methinks... (I'm pretty sure the cache was not there anyway).

I opted to get out of the urban areas now and head off for the nearby Missing Pieces series. Not much to report here apart from lots of easy finds, a quick rainshower and then a DNF at the last one. The hint said "leave no stone unturned" and I didn't leave any stones unturned. I also did not find the cache and can't think where it is, unless it's missing.

Time was getting on by now and I still had the 5 Crewe and Nantwich Circular caches down the east side of Crewe to do so off I headed.

The first was a lovely walk through a field of HUGE maize which was great fun. I nearly missed the cache as I was expecting it to be magnetic given where it was hidden, but it was just lying on the ground under the item at GZ.

I then walked down the PF on the other side of the road from this cache and onward to the Little End and Big End caches. I think the cache owner had intended Little End to be the last one in the series but then decided to put out a bigger cache for the final cache. You have to find Little End to get the co-ords for Big End, which is then a short walk away. Highlight of the walk was catching a glimpse of the lovely Haslingden Hall - a fantastic timber framed building.

Just two more for the series now. The first was a longer walk along the edge of a railway line, first through woodland and then on a boardwalk over some lovely wetlands. The cache was a nano (not sure why it's not a much bigger container in such a rural location, but hey, it's a smiley).

The final cache of the day was a DNF from last time as the cache was missing (or was it - read on!). The hint mentioned a Beech tree so I'd swatted up on my leaves so I knew which trees to look at in the woods. Little did I know virtually every tree there was a beech - doh! A systematic search around GZ soon paid dividends though and I had the cache in hand. The odd thing was I think it must have been the original cache as the logbook was signed by all sorts of people. The cache owner had checked the old cache was missing and placed a temporary micro for now in it's place. The cache I found was a small and not a micro so I suspect there is now two caches in the woods.

That's the Crewe and Nantwich Circular series finished now and it's just about teatime so I'll head off home to get set up for the day out with Isaac tomorrow.

24 finds in total and some great walking.