This week, I set off with Neil (Thornicus) and Jules of the bedfords for a very long day…
Neil kindly offered to drive this week, and so picked Jules up first and then collected me at about 7am. Some new caches had been published the night before by Soapy Chickens and as the FTFs still appeared to be up for grabs, we decided to see if we could grab these, before heading up to Cheshire to do the three series (plus extras)that we had planned for the day.
OMG Series by Soapy Chickens
So, after a bit of logistical chat on the way, we pulled up as close as we could to one of the caches and started the hunt – after a few minute Jules found the cache…anxious moments as the log book was unfurled – Yes! First to Find on this one at 7.30am. Good to start the day well and it was my 200th FTF too! We got a second FTF on another cache, but then found that Andy of Catshill Clan had beaten us to another 3. We combined forces for the bonus which proved quite a challenge, but eventually Thornicus came up with the well hidden cache. 3 FTFs and it wasn’t even 8.30! This was a fun little series, one to be enjoyed by all the family and it was nice to get out and bag the caches of a local caching friend – well done Soapy Chickens – we enjoyed this.
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| 3 FTF's bagged, now off to Cheshire. |
Then it was back to the car and off up to Cheshire where we planned to hit 3 series which came highly recommended, as well as the well known Bomber Command and finally, ending with the Beeware nightcache. It was going to be a long day…
Bishop Bennet Way Series 2 by Zeus55
http://coord.info/GC2PNPR
23 smilies over 5.5 miles
We decided to do the second BBW series to start with – this being the first one we would get to. Nice easy parking close to the first cache, where we bumped into a big family group who were just about to start the same series. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then headed off at quite a pace. This was a very enjoyable series, with some innovative and interesting hides, even terrain and through some lovely countryside. The only downside was the amount of stiles, many of which are not dog friendly, although the cache owner does clearly point this out on the caches pages, so no grumbles from us here, but just something to be aware of.
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| Badger, Badger, Badger! |
It was Neil’s first big day out caching and he very quickly got the idea of what lay ahead on him…basically pretty fast pace and a LOT of larking around, but he entered into the spirit of things and seemed to be having fun.
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| A nice shot at the Bonus! |
We completed the series in about 3 hours and made a quick detour across the border into Wales to grab a cache that would colour in another county for us all. This was
Holt castle, and we parked up in a really nice little village and walked the 500 yards down the GZ. I quickly scrambled up the bank and grabbed the cache. The castle might have looked a bit more special in its day, but after several centuries of abandonment is now looking rather sorry for itself.
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| Holt Castle |
After a short break in the village (where Jules managed to get herself locked in the loo at a local teashop!) we got back in the car and headed off to do BBW3 series.
Bishops Bennet Way 3 by Zeus55
http://coord.info/GC3E27D
24 caches in total on this series.
We knew this was going to be a great series when the first cache was a really innovative hide, so raring to go we headed off. We weren’t at all disappointed as all of the caches were really well thought out and it was clear that the CO had clearly gone to a lot of thought and effort to plan and place this series. Many of the caches had a twist to them, some of them were nicely crafted and some of them were just very cheeky. We all especially liked one of the caches where the clue item had us convinced we were looking for a specific item whereas we were actually looking for something of the same name but which we had not even contemplated - I’ll say no more, but you’ll know which cache we mean if you do the series! Again, the terrain was quite even and the paths well marked, so we were able to maintain a pretty good pace, which got even quicker when we got caught in a rain storm (shame we had decided to leave the waterproofs in the car - doh!). It took us under 3 hours to complete the 5 miles. Many fave points awarded by us all for this series - very enjoyable and one that we would recommend.
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1 smiley cacher :)
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| Another smiley cacher! |
Sadly, time was running ourt on us and we made the decision that we would have to drop the final series of the day - a real shame, but if we wanted to do Bomber Command and Beeware, we needed to move on. Not before stopping for a few drive bys, a quick drink in a walker friendly pub and a pie and chips tea which we ate in Neil’s car and which he can still smell to this day!
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| A lovely spot |
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| Preparing for their punishment! |
Then it was off to Bomber Command, which I have already done, but which Jules and Neil hadn’t. This cache, owned by Bolas Heathens, is in a derelict airfield, where you can explore the old buildings. A bit spooky but really interesting. We had a good look around by torchlight (for extra spookiness!) and then went on to find the cache. Jules needed a bit of a boost to get it, but we flexed our muscles and she managed to grab it!
Then it was off to the Beeware night cache, another cache that I had already done, but one that I knew Jules and Neil would love.
It was well and truly dark by the time we parked up to start this one and we headed off into the woods very much looking forward to the task ahead of us. I must admit that we made plenty of wrong turns and wrong decisions and I think our long day was starting to take its toll on us. But, ever the troopers, we persevered, back tracked, tried again, and eventually found ourselves at stage one. A long search followed with much head scratching but eventually we located what we were looking for. Much amusement as we recovered the info we needed and then onto stage 2 where we did much of the same - wrong decisions, backtracking, going round in circles. After I made a PAF to the CO we realised we were literally a few yards away from the final stage which we made our way too with a mounting sense of accomplishment and relief!
Neil bravely recovered the required item and also opened the cache box...very impressive display indeed and very inventive. Log book was duly signed, photos taken and we then trudged back to the car, happy to have done this and happy to be heading home at the end of a very, very long day.
I got home at about 11pm, Jules at 11.25pm and poor old Neil - well, let’s just say it was almost Sunday by the time he got home!
Total smileys today = 58
