When my premium membership ran out several months ago, I wasn't caching as much as I wanted to, and so I decided to wait before renewing it. As a result, I missed a lot of local cache notifications, and so it wasn't until I was browsing the Geocaching map searching for a quick cache to do near Shipston-On-Stour that I noticed this series. I've found most of the gnome-ads' caches and they're renowned to be good - so this series moved to top of the To Do list, and, after finding the two existing caches in Honington on Friday, it was back to this picturesque village to set off to complete the series today.
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| Honey-coloured stone cottages dot the unspoilt village of Honington. |
Honington is a beautiful village, idyllic and unspoilt. At the same time, however, you get that feeling that you're being watched. Nevertheless this wasn't a problem, and, when we couldn't find the footpath (which was actually what what appeared to be a private drive) the locals we asked [for directions] were friendly, and so it just goes to show not to judge a pretty place by its cover!
Fizz, the puppy, was joining us again today; we soon found the first cache but decided to go around the field via the road, rather than through it, to the next cache, as we were concerned by the warning of cattle - especially after the tragic story in the papers recently: better safe than sorry. The first leg of the walk reminded me of the parkland in Stanway, (the footpath where you'll find #12 and #13 of my Snowshill Scramble series.) There were nice views emerging behind us, and we could already tell this series was going to be a good one - the sun was even trying to break through... unfortunately, with little success. Not far from the kissing gate into this field, there was a sheep skull on show, Fizz was obviously scared of it as she started barking like crazy! :-D
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| Sheep's skull |
Before too long, we were already half way round - not many notable views yet, but some very nice caches, well hidden but at the same time quick to find - just how I like it! I was a little worried as we arrived at #8, the Multi, as I had read that there was a puzzle to solve. And when we found stage one and took the puzzle out we were stumped... but we needed the solution in order to find the final cache. After ten minutes trying to deduce it, we moved on. Luckily, we bumped in to some familiar faces moments later, who were doing the series in reverse, as stunning views emerged around us. It was Mr and Mrs Tarmacjohn! Fizz was over the moon to meet their dog, Maggie. We told them about the puzzle, and handed what we had done, and they had a go at completing it. They were successful, and so backtracked with us as we continued, to find the cache. The walk was becoming truly superb at this point, with stunning, often panoramic, scenic views around us. We found and signed the cache together, even though it was a little hard to open, and parted ways.
The last few caches enjoyed a backdrop of even more beautiful views; you really have to be there to enjoy them fully, you simply can't capture them on camera in the same way, as always.
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| Cracking views all round |
We descended back in to Honington, a couple of caches later, after breathing in more brilliant panoramic views; this really is a lovely area, which we'd probably never have walked in if it weren't for Geocaching.
We found all the caches, including the Bonus, and had a thoroughly enjoyable late morning/early afternoon walk. This gnome-ads series did not disappoint, and we'd recommend this superb walk to all.
Griff Grof
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