Gentle day in Malvern

So another weekend and another Saturday. Jules was in charge of todays caching and after a stop off around Bromsgrove we would be heading to Malvern.
It always seems to be Jules who is driving lately and today was her turn again. I was picked up at 7am and after attempting and failing on a drive by we headed to a high muggle area to attempt a couple of caches.
Sugarbrook Rapids by SOAPY chickens....We had failed on North but it does turn out that it was not there at the time so we will have to go back for it, but we succeeded on South and had great fun in the process.... do go and check it out.

It was now time to go and hit some hills and where better locally than Malvern.

Colwall Circuit by Fane

http://coord.info/GC3GQNH

9 Caches on a walk of just over 3 miles with some quite steep sections but there is only a total ascent of around 600ft.
We actually parked up and started at number 9 and then did the route in normal order.
The first field did have cattle in and there was 1 bull but thankfully he only kept his beady eye on us and nothing more.

Weather was a tad miserable!

We then headed down the hill to #1 across a pretty waterlogged field before taking the steepest section of the walk up towards #2. It was all fields until we entered some lovely woods where #4 was hiding.

Taking a peep down the hill.

Most of the rest of the walk was along muddy paths with trees alongside. Although the weather wasn't the greatest due to constant drizzle, we thoroughly enjoyed the caches and the very nice walk.
We didn't have any problems finding the caches.

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We were back at the car where we had a quick coffee and a chocolate biccie apiece before heading off to start second series of the day - which was a little lower down in altitude.


Castlemorton Common's Cunning Caches by Oly 'n' Kate

http://coord.info/GC32M0X

This is a series of 9 caches placed around Castlemorton Common of Malvern, the walk is approximately 4 miles long. There was a lot of water underfoot so wellies or walking boots are required in the wetter season. The walk is dog friendly as no stiles but keep them under control as there are cows & sheep on the common.

There was some great hides on this walk and they were a little more testing but we did manage to find them all without help.

Cache #2 was the one that probably took us 10-15 minutes until Jules had a huge grin across her face and cache was ours, it was a sneaky hide even though we had guessed what we were looking for.
We enjoyed this walk as it was pretty much follow the arrow at times which is always nice not to have to worry about boundaries, stiles etc.

Another nice stroll and really enjoying a more laid back day today.

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Next up was a d4/t5 which we thought we would have a crack at as we were in the area. Skidmarks on my trousers by Dazzly, Andy, Kayleigh & Stephie We parked up at British camp and took short uphill stroll to this one, we then had to descend of the track around 100ft but it was a pretty steep bank but it all honesty today it was very easy. We then went back down towards carpark and picked up Curse of the F2F - Worcestershire #5 (L. Malvern) by Cagney37 which was down the road a little and in some lovely woods. It was then a hard slog back up the hill and down the footpath by the toilets to go and grab 2 other caches: More rooting around (Herefordshire) by Dobunnis which was the first one we came to, it was pretty easy to spot GZ and cache was soon found

I shrunk Jules here haha.

and Rooting around (Herefordshire) by Dobunnis which was set in a spectacular location, there was a blanket of Wild Garlic and a scattering of Bluebells....my camera doesn't do it justice.... simply great time of year to do this one.

Isn't geocaching great, look at that!

Hello down there :)

It was now back to the car again and Jules had one more cache up her sleeve to end our outing with.
EE14 - Variation XIV (Little Malvern) by Dobunnis I have to admit I am not usually a fan of multi's as if one stage goes missing then you cannot complete the cache...This one was brilliant!

Resting place of Composer Edward Elgar.

Stage 1 took us to the resting place of Worcester born Edward Elgar the composer of "Land of Hope & Glory" , there were a few questions to answer and then stage 2 (final GZ) took us up the fantastic Black hill.

Looking down from Black hill.

This was a stunning way to finish our day off and we even carried on up to the top of Black hill as it is simply a must. Thanks Jules for a brilliant day out, if only the weather could of been a little better.

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Total caches found today = 27

Little Britain

This has been bookmarked for far too long and we finally came up with a date in February hoping that the weather would be kind to us.
So at 6am this morning Jules and Dave (BaggieDave) met at my house and we set off in the cachemobile of Jules and headed north up the M6.
We grabbed a McD's muffin and coffee at Congleton (or Congletoon in Jules case ) and then bagged a couple of drive by's on route to our destination for the day.

Little Britain by khoomfay

http://coord.info/GC31AMH

A series of 50 caches set over 12 miles of lovely hills. Terrain is obviously not easy going  and the route we took was almost 15 miles as we had to bag one or two extra.

At the parking coords we met up with caching buddies Lou (The Horde) & Shan and geopup Tia (Griswalds n dogs), we all got booted up and set off on our way.

Shan finds the first cache of the series....yay!

The start of the walk was ascending slowly for quite a distance and we could all feel the difference from walking mainly flat terrain lately. The views to be fair were absolutely stunning as we could see for miles and also the landmarks such as a lovely viaduct.

One of the best containers on the walk :)

Lovely scenery that I won't forget in a hurry.

The walk kept going up and up until around cache 9 and then path found its way to road where there was a lovely stream at the side of the road. We had already done a couple of caches on route at this time but we also made a diversion and view below is what we saw.

We may be strange hunting plastic, but look what we get to see!

We started to ascend again after around 3 miles and at getting on for around 7 miles in we reached a pub, where it wouldve been rude not to stop for a swift one...

Time for a swift one!

A lovely pic of Shan & Jules.

It was nice to stop at pub as we were almost half way round and almost at top of 2nd biggest hill of walk but we did start feeling a bit nippy so it was good to get back on with it.
We only had to climb a bit higher and then we had 2 miles of descent which pleased Lou especially as she hadn't had any sleep last night due to coming straight from work..

They are definately spoilt for views round here.

As we got lower it was pretty waterlogged in places and lots of mud but thats what adds to this walk, we were flying through the caches now and even managed to do a night cache that can be done in daylight by enabling the chirp to gain the coords.
There was also a nice pub down by the nightcache but we resisted on stopping again as the walk was just too good to stop again.

There were 2 more hills but not as relentless as first 2 but the 1 was pretty hard going and we stopped for a couple of minutes at top to get breath back.

The last couple of miles were actually flat much to the relief of the ladies and as we finished off walking around the edge of the reservoir we also took in the fantastically large bonus cache.

Jules about to sign the logbook for us all :)

Shan & Dave with the cache!

What a truly fantastic day we all had, it was certainly one of my favourite walks, definately recommended but do not take series lightly.

Total smilies in the bag today = 69

Knock knock Warminster

So day 2 in the area arrives and we head off to the main attraction of the weekend but not until after we grab a breakfast at McD's first, oh and a few drive by's...cos Jules forced me to.
After a bit of a drive we arrived close to where we needed to be and then walked the last bit (about 0.1 of a mile).

'Knock Knock' by Digdug123 & Boo

http://coord.info/GC2R5T5

This is a puzzle cache near Westbury which Jules had solved a few weeks ago, I had initially heard about it but didn't solve it, however I did contribute by finding the hidden code.
There are lots of favourite points for this cache (currently 34 out of 43 finds have favourited it) so that was a deciding factor in going out the way to do this.

On with the final coords and it wasn't long before we got to GZ where we unearthed one of the best caches we have ever done.
I have pictures of this cache and a video but won't be posting them on this blog as I believe it will take the fun and element of surprise away.

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Littlecombe Ring by Ailec Nor

http://coord.info/GC1KKQG

This 5 mile circular trail has been set to start and finish in the Wylye Valley village of Sutton Veny. There are no clues or bonus to collect so you can enjoy the series of 21 caches in any order. There is a chance to take in some extra caches on route or with a slight diversion. Please note you will have a slight climb whichever way round you do the trail but don’t be put off, as once you are at the top the terrain is quite level and easy going.

We thought the ascent up the road was easy and were rewarded with this view!

There was a 10k run taking place and we walked past many of the runners but none posed any problems when looking for caches as they were obviously more interested in getting finished in a quick time.
Once we reached the top of the hill we were very warm in the sunshine which was a pleasant surprise due to all the rain we have had.

Loving the views in the sunshine.

Once we were so far round the circuit we combined the walk with another to make a nice big walk in a figure of 8.


Pertwood Bonanza by Warminster Wanderers

http://coord.info/GC208FN

A circular walk of 24 caches in approx. 4 miles on the downs south of Warminster.
This was really a lovely walk taking in some lovely woodland and restricted byways.

We combined this walk with Littlecomb Ring and it is definately one of the nicest walks we have done together.

I always love this kind of photo!

We could tell the difference in caching hides as a few of the Pertwood ones were micro's hanging in trees but all were put in nice areas and none were difficult to find.
We did find a nice spot to sit down and have a spot to eat half way round and all we could chat about was how nice this walk was, we would never have known about a gem like this if it wasn't for Geocaching.

A small church on the walk.

We were never far from a cache but they didn't feel like they were on top of each other either and some of the views and areas were great.

Another nice little area.

It didn't seem like long and we had completed the approx 9 mile walk and our time was up it was time to head back home.
We managed a couple of drive by's on way home to round off an amazing day and weekend, we will most definately be back but probably next year now.

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Total caches bagged today = 58

Left to our own Devizes

Swung by the Travelodge £10 room sale in February myself and caching buddy Jules had booked a couple of rooms to do some caching in and around Devizes.
So today Jules picked me up at 6.30am to spend this the first day caching close to the town centre.
We picked up a few drive by's on way and also pulled up to do a virtual Silbury Hill, Avebury (Wiltshire) by The Wombles.... Silbury Hill is the largest manmade hill in Europe. It was constructed 4600 years ago, used by the Romans as a marker to construct their road (now the A4) and then as a hillfort by the Saxons. It is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument within the World Heritage Area of Avebury.

The nice little hill!

After the short stop it was off to our first series of the day and of the weekend.

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A Series for Your Pleasure by stanthews

http://coord.info/GC296MG

A nice 4 mile walk with 24 caches in this series, there is chance to pick up a fair few more as there are many others close by.
We parked up by #24 and walked down a lovely little lane taking in #24 and #23 first before getting to #1.

On our way to #1 of the series.

From #1 it was time to hit some fields  and lovely countryside. It was nearly all fields and small paths from now on with the exception of a few short tracks.
The weather was holding up for us nicely, after all the rain we have been having lately it was such a relief.

There was a none series cache hidden here.

We didn't pass any cattle on the route today which is always nice. The caches and the walk as a whole were great and a perfect way to start our stay in Devizes.

Jules signing a log - for a change haha!

When back at the car we had a quick cup of coffee and a couple of chocolate biccies before heading off for the second series of the day.
On the way of course we had to do a couple of drive by's and one of those was in the town centre. Blind House - Devizes by Hellspaw  Blind houses are miniature lockups employed for the short term detention of miscreants.
We were giggling so much as we prepared to do this one as we both donned Hi Viz vests, but it had to be done just for laughs alone.

Hi Viz but nobody around haha.

Jules at the "Blind house"

So after the silliness it was back to business, we parked car at Travelodge and checked into our rooms and set straight off on foot to next series....

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Etchilhampton Hill by stanthews

http://coord.info/GC29M3K

A simple series of 29 caches over a 5 mile walk or ride as this whole series is suitable for push bikes, there are no stiles to climb but one or two of the caches may need a bit of a climb.
There is also a puzzle and multi that can be collected on the route, well the puzzle final is a slight diversion.

A white horse on the horizon.

This walk was really lovely and on byways mainly, there was one ascent of which was pretty easy and gradual. We also passed a pub before the climb but unfortunately we opted to give it a miss and to visit one at end of day instead.

Lovely greenery.

For trigpoint baggers there was one up there with a cache next to it and its also a YOSM so you can bag 2 caches for one.
As we descended we saw lots of cattle but fortunately we didn't have to walk past them.

A happy Jules with the Wiltshire backdrop.

I think we both enjoyed this series more than the first one but they were both great and some good caches too....none of them being difficult to find though.

We headed back to Travelodge and both allowed ourselves 45 mins to get changed and showered before meeting up to go get some food and bag a couple more smilies on the way.

A really nice end to a fantastic day in beautiful countryside.

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Total smilies in the bag today = 72 (A personal best for Jules, yay!!!)