Smelly Cows - GC1GC8Q
This was the last cache we had a chance to find today - light was fading fast and we didn't think we'd safely negotiate fields and paths we'd never been to before in the dark.
The cache info warned about cows in the field, but these were nowhere in sight today. The cache was hidden about 10 yards after the stile into the field, against the right-hand fence, and it was hidden in a fake plastic cow pat! A fantastic box to find to end our day of hunting.
Saturday 12 September 2009
A sign of the times
Sign Up @ Astwood Locks - GC1GC8M
This cache is part of both the Pipershill and the Worcester-Birmingham Canal series, because it's a magnetic nano on the Astwood Locks sign just at the side of the towpath.
This cache is part of both the Pipershill and the Worcester-Birmingham Canal series, because it's a magnetic nano on the Astwood Locks sign just at the side of the towpath.
Under the bridge
Bridge the Gap - GC1GC7X
This was really easy - there was a metal bridge at ground zero, and a large plastic container was soon located underneath it.
This was really easy - there was a metal bridge at ground zero, and a large plastic container was soon located underneath it.
Electric...
Avenue - GC1GC7A
Because we'd deviated from the main Pipershill route for the previous find, it took a bit of working out with regard to where to go to get to a footpath that would lead to this cache. In the end, we probably took a slightly longer route than we should have, but were soon entering National Trust land, where we found the tree-lined avenue easily enough.
We also found the tree stump containing the cache easily, but the cache itself was very well hidden and took a lot of searching - in fact, this is probably where we lost the time that would mean this series would not be completed today.
Because we'd deviated from the main Pipershill route for the previous find, it took a bit of working out with regard to where to go to get to a footpath that would lead to this cache. In the end, we probably took a slightly longer route than we should have, but were soon entering National Trust land, where we found the tree-lined avenue easily enough.
We also found the tree stump containing the cache easily, but the cache itself was very well hidden and took a lot of searching - in fact, this is probably where we lost the time that would mean this series would not be completed today.
Mushroom, mushroom!
Badger Hill - GC4A62
There were muggles on the benches at Hanbury Churchyard, so we had to be a little stealthy and stay on the main footpath until we dropped down the hill and out of sight of them. The field you have to go through is very deep in bramble and thistle, so it's just as well neither of us were wearing shorts.
After a short search we found the cache, at the foot of a large tree. We took a Geocaching Logo tag and left a rubber surfer tag.
There were muggles on the benches at Hanbury Churchyard, so we had to be a little stealthy and stay on the main footpath until we dropped down the hill and out of sight of them. The field you have to go through is very deep in bramble and thistle, so it's just as well neither of us were wearing shorts.
After a short search we found the cache, at the foot of a large tree. We took a Geocaching Logo tag and left a rubber surfer tag.
There were bells on the hill
Hanbury Church - GC1GC6W
Working out exactly which way to walk from the car park through the woods was tricky, but some inspired guesswork lead us to the correct path. This was a simple find by a gate that separated the farm access road from a field with a public footpath in it, and it's also a waypoint on the "Badger Tree" cache route. Although this cache isn't part of the Pipershill series, it's en-route so we decided to hunt for it next.
Working out exactly which way to walk from the car park through the woods was tricky, but some inspired guesswork lead us to the correct path. This was a simple find by a gate that separated the farm access road from a field with a public footpath in it, and it's also a waypoint on the "Badger Tree" cache route. Although this cache isn't part of the Pipershill series, it's en-route so we decided to hunt for it next.
Who pays the Pipershill?
After a morning and afternoon of serious decorating, we decided to do some box hunting. We chose a five-mile circuit called the Pipershill Series, but should have perhaps realised that we'd struggle to do the whole thing in one go because it was 5:30pm before we started!
No Gratuities - GC1GC6M
We drove to the car park mentioned in the cache info, and were intrigued to note that the first cache was at pretty much the exact same location. In fact, it was a magnetic nano clamped to to bottom of the metal car park information board, and the largest sign on said board was "NO TIPPING", hence the cache name.
No Gratuities - GC1GC6M
We drove to the car park mentioned in the cache info, and were intrigued to note that the first cache was at pretty much the exact same location. In fact, it was a magnetic nano clamped to to bottom of the metal car park information board, and the largest sign on said board was "NO TIPPING", hence the cache name.
Thursday 10 September 2009
Up hill, down hill, up hill...
Rednal Hill - GCRDMN
What happens when your GPSr plays silly beggers? You get to walk up a steep hill, walk straight past ground zero, walk down a steep hill, then turn 'round and walk back up it again - and then you find the cache and have to walk back down the hill to get to your car!
That's what happened here. No knowing where to park, we drove into Eachway Lane and spotted a layby on the left with a path leading up the hill away from it. The path seemed to be leading towards where the GPSr was indicating, so off we went.
After climbing the hill, we were walking along a path when we spotted a man and a young girl ahead of us. Suddenly, we heard a rustling in the undergrowth to our left, and a dog emerged! It then decided that it wanted to walk back the way we'd just come, which would have been fine if it hadn't belonged to the bloke who was up the path ahead of us! He turned around, and I noticed that he had a blue GPSr hanging 'round his neck. Was he a fellow box hunter?
We carried on for about a third of a mile, and our GPSr couldn't make up its mind where to send us. Evenutally, we went down a very steep hill, until we could see the Old Birmingham Road to our left and Lickey Hills Golf Club to our right. A quick look at the map and we could see were were in completely the wrong place! Dr Cath reprogrammed the GPSr, and it changed its mind again and pointed back in the direction of the car along another path - a path that steadily climbed the same hill we'd just walked down.
At the top of this part of the hill, we realised that we were at the point at which the bloke and girl had been when they realised that their dog was going the wrong way. Following the GPSr, we ended up retracing our own steps, until it pointed us away from the main track... straight towards the holly bush that we'd earlier seen the dog emerge from. And there, underneath the bush, was the cache - and yes, it had been found by someone else that day.
We were right, we'd kind-of met our second fellow hunter - Novalew. Hello there!
What happens when your GPSr plays silly beggers? You get to walk up a steep hill, walk straight past ground zero, walk down a steep hill, then turn 'round and walk back up it again - and then you find the cache and have to walk back down the hill to get to your car!
That's what happened here. No knowing where to park, we drove into Eachway Lane and spotted a layby on the left with a path leading up the hill away from it. The path seemed to be leading towards where the GPSr was indicating, so off we went.
After climbing the hill, we were walking along a path when we spotted a man and a young girl ahead of us. Suddenly, we heard a rustling in the undergrowth to our left, and a dog emerged! It then decided that it wanted to walk back the way we'd just come, which would have been fine if it hadn't belonged to the bloke who was up the path ahead of us! He turned around, and I noticed that he had a blue GPSr hanging 'round his neck. Was he a fellow box hunter?
We carried on for about a third of a mile, and our GPSr couldn't make up its mind where to send us. Evenutally, we went down a very steep hill, until we could see the Old Birmingham Road to our left and Lickey Hills Golf Club to our right. A quick look at the map and we could see were were in completely the wrong place! Dr Cath reprogrammed the GPSr, and it changed its mind again and pointed back in the direction of the car along another path - a path that steadily climbed the same hill we'd just walked down.
At the top of this part of the hill, we realised that we were at the point at which the bloke and girl had been when they realised that their dog was going the wrong way. Following the GPSr, we ended up retracing our own steps, until it pointed us away from the main track... straight towards the holly bush that we'd earlier seen the dog emerge from. And there, underneath the bush, was the cache - and yes, it had been found by someone else that day.
We were right, we'd kind-of met our second fellow hunter - Novalew. Hello there!
We're not stumped just yet
Bluebell Woods - GC19EBT
A short car ride took us to the Lickey Hills Visitor Centre car park, and a very short walk from there took us to the cache. On the way, we spotted a tree which looked a little like it had been used as a maypole, with bunting connecting it to 12 other trees that surrounded it. A closer look told us that the "maypole" decoration on the centre tree was, in actuality, a collection of "free Tibet"-related goodwill messages, and these were repeated on the bunting flags. Nice, but a bloomin' odd thing to find at the back of Longbridge (or maybe not, considering the remainder of the car plant is now owned by the Chinese).
This cache was hidden in the hollow at the rear of a tree stump, partly obscured by a rock. This stump is right by one of the main paths, so muggle spotting was the order of the day. After retreiving the box, we had to pretend that we were looking at the large number of brightly-painted bird boxes that were attached to the trees in this part of the woods!
To better hide the cache, considering how near muggles regularly pass it, we covered the box with the rock and a clump of fern leaves.
A short car ride took us to the Lickey Hills Visitor Centre car park, and a very short walk from there took us to the cache. On the way, we spotted a tree which looked a little like it had been used as a maypole, with bunting connecting it to 12 other trees that surrounded it. A closer look told us that the "maypole" decoration on the centre tree was, in actuality, a collection of "free Tibet"-related goodwill messages, and these were repeated on the bunting flags. Nice, but a bloomin' odd thing to find at the back of Longbridge (or maybe not, considering the remainder of the car plant is now owned by the Chinese).
This cache was hidden in the hollow at the rear of a tree stump, partly obscured by a rock. This stump is right by one of the main paths, so muggle spotting was the order of the day. After retreiving the box, we had to pretend that we were looking at the large number of brightly-painted bird boxes that were attached to the trees in this part of the woods!
To better hide the cache, considering how near muggles regularly pass it, we covered the box with the rock and a clump of fern leaves.
Monumental
Momentous Moments - GC4CFF
The great thing about box hunting is that you get to see stuff you never knew existed - and this bloody huge monument is just such a thing. I've driven along the Old Birmingham Road from Bromsgrove to Cofton Hackett many times, but I never knew this existed until today.
We drove to the junction of Monument Lane and Old Birmingham Road, parked up at the roadside and headed towards the monument. The hint suggested facing the plaque and finding the cache in the trees to our left, but when we looked at the plaque on the monument, our GPSr suggested that the cache was to our right instead. We had a quick look in the trees on our left, but our GPSr was insisting that we were in the wrong place.
When we checked the trees on the other side of the monument, we soon found the cache, hidden in the roots of a partly-fallen tree. It turns out that there is another, separate plaque on the other side of the monument, and the hint was referring to this.
The great thing about box hunting is that you get to see stuff you never knew existed - and this bloody huge monument is just such a thing. I've driven along the Old Birmingham Road from Bromsgrove to Cofton Hackett many times, but I never knew this existed until today.
We drove to the junction of Monument Lane and Old Birmingham Road, parked up at the roadside and headed towards the monument. The hint suggested facing the plaque and finding the cache in the trees to our left, but when we looked at the plaque on the monument, our GPSr suggested that the cache was to our right instead. We had a quick look in the trees on our left, but our GPSr was insisting that we were in the wrong place.
When we checked the trees on the other side of the monument, we soon found the cache, hidden in the roots of a partly-fallen tree. It turns out that there is another, separate plaque on the other side of the monument, and the hint was referring to this.
Like a bridge
Risky Bridge - GC1Q8P9
This one was a short walk from our pervious cache, and was a nice quick find, hidden in the roots of a fallen tree that had become a bridge over the stream.
This one was a short walk from our pervious cache, and was a nice quick find, hidden in the roots of a fallen tree that had become a bridge over the stream.
A Lickey end
A lovely Thursday afternoon and evening of box hunting - this time around the Lickey Hills near Bromsgrove.
BrumWorc Panorama - GCP356
We'd bumped into RuberyBlue whilst doing the Hagley Loop a few weeks ago, so we thought it was only right and proper to do a couple of his hides today, starting with this one - a puzzle-type multi.
Parking was easily found on the frankly huge car park mentioned in the cache description, and we were soon in the "castle" on Beacon Hill waiting for the muggles to shift so we could peruse the toposcope and solve the first part of the puzzle. The first thing I learned today was that Beacon Hill was given to the people of Birmingham by the Cadbury brothers - which was very kind of them, even though they'd probably have been happy with a couple of blocks of Dairy Milk each instead.
Toposcope perused, and we soon were examining a plate mounted on a trig point. With the cache coordinates in hand, of we pootled.
We soon found ground zero, and I spotted an out-of-place stump in the middle of a tree - a stump that wasn't fixed to anything, and had a bolt-on wooden section on the bottom of it, which at least explained why the cache hint suggested we take a spanner! We were slightly surprised by the close-passing dog walker, until we realised that we'd passed through most of the wooded bit and were very close to a second path.
We took the Knights Templar Geocoin.
BrumWorc Panorama - GCP356
We'd bumped into RuberyBlue whilst doing the Hagley Loop a few weeks ago, so we thought it was only right and proper to do a couple of his hides today, starting with this one - a puzzle-type multi.
Parking was easily found on the frankly huge car park mentioned in the cache description, and we were soon in the "castle" on Beacon Hill waiting for the muggles to shift so we could peruse the toposcope and solve the first part of the puzzle. The first thing I learned today was that Beacon Hill was given to the people of Birmingham by the Cadbury brothers - which was very kind of them, even though they'd probably have been happy with a couple of blocks of Dairy Milk each instead.
Toposcope perused, and we soon were examining a plate mounted on a trig point. With the cache coordinates in hand, of we pootled.
We soon found ground zero, and I spotted an out-of-place stump in the middle of a tree - a stump that wasn't fixed to anything, and had a bolt-on wooden section on the bottom of it, which at least explained why the cache hint suggested we take a spanner! We were slightly surprised by the close-passing dog walker, until we realised that we'd passed through most of the wooded bit and were very close to a second path.
We took the Knights Templar Geocoin.
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