As I worked my way to this, the third cache in my tour for today, I realised that my local sparrowhawk – who lives up a tree behind my house in Sutton – seemed to be following me. I’d
seen him atop a couple of telegraph poles earlier on and I’d heard him screech a few times, and when I looked up I saw that he was still above me. Perhaps he’d decided to come on this
expedition too?
One of the things that I love most about this series is the diversity of quirky and unusual cache containers, of which this was no exception. I was also pleased to find a fresh, clean
log sheet, and added my name as the first on the list. TFTC, and FP for the
surprise!
Deer were prancing around the fields as I came through, and I realised that the hiding place for this cache must be near a place I’d thought about once as a possible hiding place
myself, when I first moved to the area and took a walk this way (before I’d looked at the local caches!). While retrieving the cache a dog walker came the other way and, seeing a
cyclist on a not-entirely-cycle-friendly path, probing around looking for something, asked about my activity. He’d never heard of geocaching, but he’d heard of hide-and-seek and he’d
heard of orienteering, and seemed happy enough to accept that it was some combination of these two.
Came out for a cycle tour today to complete the loop: I covered the first half – with the exception of a DNF at #9 – last month, and I was itching to get out and complete the second half. (Having gotten home
after this second expedition I see that #9 has been repaired/improved, so I’ll fly by and give that another go sometime soon!)
I was glad to have brought my bike lights: even though it’s a while until sunset it was helpful to find my way in the wooded area that surrounds this cache. Great hiding place for this
one: the only cache I’ve come across of a remotely similar design was my own GC7R0HB (which sadly got muggled one too many times and had to be archived a few years ago).
Visited to check on this new cache: especially as the container is a new design I wanted to do an early checkin to ensure it’s bedded in nicely. Glad to say all is well! Also dropped
off Paul The Sea Horse, a Travel Bug I found up in Derbyshire who’s still got a
couple of years exploring left in him before he completes his ten year mission! Please help him move along if you can.
Dropped by to check in on this new cache (always worth checking that a new cache is settling in alright!) and to dip a TB. All is well. Also discovered that
through the kissing gate on the opposite side of the road there’s a crop of the plumpest and brightest sloes I’ve seen in years. So if you’re in the vicinity and fancy a lip-curling
snack (or you’ve plans to adulterate some gin!) take a look!
If I get out early, before I start work, I (Dan Q) might be able to make it to the hashpoint by bike before
about 9am. Most of the fields round here have already been harvested and so nobody’s likely to object if I step into this one for a couple of minutes (it looks like there’s a promising
looking gate at N 51°43.2′, W 1°29.722′).
Expedition
I was out and about anwyay, dropping my kids off at rehearsals for a play they’re in later this week, so I figured it’d do no harm to swing by Cote – the settlement nearest the hashpoint – this morning. Cote turns out to be a delightful and quaint little
hamlet, and when I passed through everybody and their dog seemed to be out on a morning constitutional and I got a few odd looks from the locals who are, on account of their hamlet’s
location, probably unused to “through” traffic and so may well have been wondering who exactly I was visiting!
Round here most of the farms grow wheat, and it’s harvest season. I had to pull aside on one of the narrow roads that criss-cross this part of Oxfordshire to allow a combine harvester –
fully the width of the entire road! – to pass in the opposite direction. It was followed closely by a line of impatient drivers crawling along behind the enormous mechanical beast, and
I was glad to be going the other way! When I first saw that the hashpoint appeared to be in a field I was optimistic that it might be one that had been recently harvested, like all the
ones near my house, or else left fallow, and I’d be able to get close to the hashpoint without causing any disruption.
Unfortunately, the field with the hashpoint was very-much still growing, full of corn for harvesting later in the season, so my expedition ended abruptly at the gate. I took a sad-face
photo and attached a “The Internet Was Here” sign to the gate, for good measure (and perhaps as an explanation to the locals who looked at me curiously as I passed!), then continued my
journey home.
When I first placed this cache I failed to accommodate for how high the river might get during summer floods. I’d chained it to the bridge to help stop it from disappearing, but that
instead introduced a new problem: after a flood it’d be left hanging in a highly-visible spot and attract muggle vandalism. The net result is I’ve had to retire this cache.
Visited to check on this container and can confirm that it’s completely seized and unopenable. The end cap that used to provide it with cover (and a hiding place for a pencil) is gone,
too, and this (combined with the fact that I no longer live around the corner) feels like a sign that this one needs archiving.
Following a run of DNFs I drove over here to check on this cache but it is indeed missing. As this location is no longer in walking
distance of my home I’m retiring it to free up what is a pretty convenient hook for some other cacher!
One final visit to retrieve the container from this increasingly inaccessible multi. Braved copious nettle stings to get there and back the “short way”, then
began a quick tour of Kidlington to retrieve any surviving clue stages. Sad to see this one go, but the epic container will live on in a future cache, someday!
Nice easy find for fleeblewidget and I while on the way to pick up our kids from my mother’s house and take them home to Oxfordshire. A
beautiful day for an explore around the dunes but sadly we can’t stop, we’ve places to be! Nice to see the lake, though. TFTC.
Coming back down from our walk, this was fleeblewidget and I’s last cache of the morning. The shadow of the hill disrupted my GNSS signals and threw us off by a few metres, but fleeblewidget soon spotted the right hiding place and we had the cache in
hand. TFTC.
A very easy find (with spot-on coordinates fed good sky views to ensure a solid lock) for fleeblewidget and I late this morning, after a hot
hit satisfying ascent up the Big End. TFTC.
