Ilmington Jubilee Walk

ILmington Jubilee Walk, 3.5 miles, 11 caches, Ilmington, Warwickshire
The cache page links to this walk guide. 

Hello,

I knew that we'd be a little busier this weekend so I decided that a shorter series would be ideal. Clearly, we were very pleased to see this new series being published on Thursday, as it certainly fitted the bill. After a day of relentless rain, and more forecasted for later today, we decided to head out to complete the series in the morning as a sunny interval had been forecasted.

Arrived in Ilmington where we initially struggled somewhere to park. It was then along some pretty streets and past the idyllic church, which had its bells ringing for its Sunday service. We were soon on the footpath, which was flooded! The little stream running across the field had burst its banks so we had to dodge the water to get to the first cache, which was quickly spotted.

Before too long, we made an ascent up the northern face of the Cotswold Edge. We were rewarded with some spectacular views and we stopped to have a snack whilst we admired them for a little longer. There were plenty of other people up here today, from fellow walkers, to cyclists - great to see people enjoying the outdoors as well, and the sunshine whilst it's still here!

Looking back: some nice views

We spent ages searching for the fourth cache. The hint stated that it was in the bottom of a wall, which confused us as one of the cache placing guidelines says that caches should never be placed there. Knowing this, we widened out search but eventually, having almost given up, we spotted somewhere where the cache could be and I can confirm that there is no reason to move any stone associated with the wall whatsoever - I'll make a note of this in my log. How did we miss it to begin with?!

It was then across a couple of crop fields, and, with the recent rain, our boots were extremely muddy by the time we got to the other side. There wasn't really a path through the field either, so hopefully people will still be able to find their way across in the summer months once the crops are fully grown.

A nice lane with some great views

The next section of the walk led us down a quiet lane, where we enjoyed the great panoramic views ahead of us. It was surprising to see daffodils and snowdrops in flower, just goes to show that we really have had an unusually mild (and wet) winter.

It was very interesting to pass a healing well, which people used to heal their eyes in. It's a shame that a landowner diverted a stream into the pond in the eighteenth century which muddied the water! Unfortunately, we didn't finish the series soon enough as the rain caught us. Luckily, it didn't last for too long, and the sun was soon out again - talk about changeable weather!

The old healing pond

We were soon back at the car, having completed a good, pleasant walk in some lovely Cotswold countryside. The views were great and the caches were good, some were even a little challenging as they took longer to find than they should have. The route was quite muddy, though, but as you'll gather from my other recent posts - it's muddy everywhere! We really enjoyed the series.

Griff Grof

New Year's Day caching in the rain

Oversly Trail Two, 8.2 miles, 41 caches. Alcester, Worcestershire. 

Caching in the rain seems to be becoming something of a habit lately - the CacheWalker walk on Monday, and, again, today. What can you do? - I mean, this is Britain I'm caching in!
I've had my eyes on the [first incarnation] of this series since I started caching back in 2010, and had solved all the puzzles and planned it all for today as a back up option, were the weather to be playing up, resulting in cancelling the intended trip to the Brecon Beacon's. It was a bonus to see the series archived and re-listed with three times as many caches... and, after waking up to heavy rainfall, we set off kitted up to brave the elements in Worcestershire, rather than Brecon.

We actually waited in the car for an hour once we had arrived, hoping that the rain would ease off. And what do you know, it was worth the wait, as we kicked-off the series in dry - but windy - conditions. Understandably, all the caches on this series were bison tubes... a shame, as there were some spots which could have housed a much larger container. The walk was muddy right from the start, and we got our first DNF (since October!) at #2: couldn't spot it quickly enough, and we were right at the end of someone's garden, and so we wanted to move on quickly, in order to not look too suspicious. I enjoyed the first stretch, despite the road noise, with open countryside around us.

And then came the rain - heavier than ever coupled with the wind. We were drenched by #15, but this didn't dampen our spirits, as we continued; at this point we were pretty certain that we would call it a day after the first loop (the series is set in a figure of eight). The day was delivering pretty much what I wanted, though - a good walk just CACHING - it's been a while since we've done this! By the time we were nearly at the car, it was dry again... obviously, we decided to go for the second half of the series, we were there and having a good time, with promising weather.

So, off we marched; we soon bumped in to another cacher who was also a member of the West Midlands Regional Geocaching Forum, Team Airtomoreira. We decided to team up as a three for the rest of the series. I was really glad that we'd chosen to continue as we were now walking across some really lovely countryside, with some nice views.

Open Countryside: Nice views 

There was a rather odd looking white tower (house,) which must've been constructed prior to planning laws, as we couldn't believe that the council would allow it these days. We continued with more easy, but well hidden, caches in the dry whilst enjoying the surrounding countryside around us. Then, we decided to divert to attempt a Church Micro. There was a very rare early 18th century structure in the churchyard, of hurdle and gorse walls with a thatched roof. It was constructed for the mounts of visiting clergy from neighbouring parishes... we found this very interesting! It was just a shame that the three of us couldn't find the actual cache - the third, and final, DNF of the day for us.

Very rare 18th century structure, originally for visiting clergy, in the churchyard. 

The final stretch was particularly muddy. The route effectively takes you around Oversley Wood, a pity that the CO's couldn't get permission to place some caches inside it - I'm sure it's lovely in there, though, and I'm sure the now-archived Wherigo would have showcased  it well. We saw quite a humorous sign near to one of the caches - you can see the bridleway mentioned to the right... yes, it is that narrow muddy path:

Duh! Who would even consider taking their lorry up a muddy path which is just one foot wide?!

With three caches to go, the heavens opened once again, so we rushed to the car. Despite the changeable weather (thankfully it was dry most of the time,) this was a most enjoyable morning's caching! The caches were quick and easy to find, and the walk was very pleasant, with some lovely open stretches and good views - I can't think of anything negative to say, and that's because this series has been executed extremely well. A must-do, perhaps save it for a sunny day -  you could enjoy your surroundings a little bit more!

That's 45 caches found today, less than 24 hours in to 2014 - I doubt I'll keep this find rate up! Happy New Year to all, and thank you for continuing to follow my blog through 2013!

Griff Grof

Happy fifth birthday, CacheWalker!!

Hello,

Today was CacheWalker day - and my first event (with help from the rest of the CacheWalker group). Overall, I would say the day was a success, despite the horrendous weather! It was organised to celebrate our CacheWalker group turning five years old! Five years ago (next Sunday) the first group walk took place, and here we are five years later celebrating CacheWalker's success with cachers old and new, from near and far. The idea of holding an event to celebrate came about in February, and if we had gone with our original plan, today would have been very different. But I'm glad we decided to hold the event up on Dovers Hill instead, and I think it's fair to say that everyone would agree.

Arrived a little earlier to set everything up, to the most horrible rain - it was bitter, cold and windy. Set up the event GZ under a large chestnut tree, within a cluster of trees for shelter. Loads of cachers arrived throughout the two hours (yep, we cut the event short due to the weather) there must have been 35 people in total! I had thought most people wouldn't even turn up having seen the horrid weather when they woke up. I had fun talking to everyone, and collecting presents for the "Secret birthday presents" handing out at the end. I had made a wonderful A3 Birthday card for CacheWalker as the logbook, but by the end of the event it had sadly become soggy mush.

We had hidden five new caches over five icons (to celebrate five years) and so I set off with walktall to find some of them (that I didn't hide), by tarmacjohn. Fab caches in fab spots, I have to come back on a clearer day, but they were fab (though micro, which disappointed a bit!) Got back to the event to find nearly everyone had left, but Wrighty soon informed us that everyone had returned to the car park to have their picnics in the shelter of their cars, and to draw the raffle. We all made our way over there, drew the raffle, handed out the secret birthday presents and said our final farewells. We all also laughed at how this was the first CacheWalker event where it had rained, I guess these spells break after five years!

Overall, despite the worst weather in months, and the fact that we were all wet within 10 minutes, I still think the event was a huge success - nearly 40 people turned up, laughed, smiled and joined in the birthday fun and celebrations - just the fact that all those people still arrived shows how much people cared enough to come and give CacheWalker a happy fifth birthday!! I had a great day, and I think everyone else did too! Thank you all for coming - next up is Twixmas - back to the (dry) pub events with pre-event group walks, 30th December, location TBA.

Happy Fifth Birthday CacheWalker, and here's to the next five years! I'm honoured to have organised an event to celebrate this, and honoured to be a part of CacheWalker for the last two years!

 Griff Grof