Gone With The Wind - GC1BPM4

This was to be the final cache of the day for Grandad Bob, Sarah and me. We'd just come down the road from the cache at Rufford Sluice and an interesting conversation with the farmer there and now the light was starting to fade quite rapidly.

We parked on the corner of the bend and headed down the public footpath across the fields, which crossed two small bridges on the way to GZ. By now it was very windy but there was a beautiful sunset in the sky and wonderful sound of rustling leaves in the trees.

In the distance we could see the TV mast lit up on Winter Hill and Ashurst Beacon which, together with the very moody grey and white clouds, made for a very dramatic backdrop to the large bales of hay in the fields.

I took a picture of Grandad Bob doing his 'Moses' impression towards the angry-looking heavens as Sarah got on with finding the cache. We had to resort to using the clue though, as it still hadn't been located after five or more minutes.

In the end it Grandad Bob who suggested looking under a large stone and 'hey presto', there it was. A great end to a fairly successful day with 4 out 5 caches under our belt. We trampled happily back across the fields to the car and then off home and Shepherd's Pie for tea.

Sarah and Martyn complete with 'sticky bobs' on shoulder

Rufford Sluice - GCIXV0Y

After a walk round the Mere Sands Wood nature reserve and seeing no birds except for the 'usual suspects', Grandad Bob, Sarah and I carried on to do this cache. The light was starting to fade and it was quite breezy after the calmness of walking in the woods. We parked at the bridge and set about finding the cache. Soon Sarah came up with the goods and the little quiz inside, for which we wrote one entry as required.

Just as we were finishing off a farmer in the nearby field drove over to us in his big tractor to find out what we were doing lurking about in the bushes. I decided to 'come clean' and explain about geocaching to put his mind as ease that were not drug dealers or criminals up to no good. He seemed happy with my explanation (and even said we didn't look like criminals) but I'm not sure he thought we were all 'full shillings' so to speak.

Anyway he soon drove off to carry on muck spreading in the field and we headed off for the final cache of the day a little further down the road.

Sluice Post - GC2EJMX

This was the second find of the day for Grandad Bob, Sarah and me. From the previous cache location we continued to walk along the public footpath by the side of the stream until it came out at a small road.  A little backtracking revealed the cache and we let Grandad again have the honour of opening it.

We were very pleased to find this one after not finding any turtles a little further down the stream.  Then we returned to the car via the footpath but taking a shortcut past an old farm with wooden greenhouses and some rather nice houses.

Burscough to Tarleton Canal Walk - Causeway Pump - GC1CAXQ

This was the first cache of the day whilst Sarah and I were out showing Grandad Bob the geocaching 'ropes' in Lancashire. We parked in a nearby housing estate to avoid leaving the car on the main road and walked back across the small swing bridge over the canal to the cache location.

It was very windy but it's a great location along the canal although the slope down the canal bank was a little slippery. We'll have to come back to do some more caches on another birdwatching visit to Mere Sands Wood which is just round the corner.

Showing Grandad Bob the Geocaching Ropes

Today we went out to Lancashire to for a spot of geoacaching with some birding thrown in at Mere Sands Wood.  The details will follow shortly but for now here is a list of the caches we found:

• Burscough to Tarleton Canal Walk - Causeway Pump
• Sluice Post
• Rufford Sluice
• Gone With The Wind

We did have one DNF at Do They Have Turtles Here Abouts? - the first in ages :(

Pictures to follow too ...

River Croal - The Lost Arches - GC1YNRN

Bridge over the River Croal

After doing the previous cache in Queen's Park, I crossed the brightly coloured bridge over the River Croal and headed on down past the Driving Test Centre towards this location. On the way I passed some gas storage containers which looked strangely beautiful in the morning mist, especially with the trees in front wearing their autumn colours.

Gasometers in the Mist

As I was walking I got a phone call from my son Robert who told me he'd finished his Theory Test with great news - he had PASSED. As I was so close I decided to pop back and meet him outside the Test Centre before we both continued on to this cache.

Robert with his Theory Test Pass Certificate outside the Test Centre

We walked down a leafy back alley between some buildings towards the river and soon saw the road bridge over it. Staring through the railings I had my first glimpse of the Lost Arches, but I realised there would be a better view on the other side.

Autumn Leaves

After a quick feel around I located the tiny magnetic nano cache almost immediately - I'm getting used to finding these now! But I'd made the classic cacher's mistake of not bring anything to write with and a nano is too small to contain a pen or pencil. So I couldn't sign the log and had to make do with standing on the wall and taking a photograph of the cache location - I'll need to come back to sign the log another time.

The Lost Arches

A good little place - I wouldn't have seen these without this cache being here.

A Red Rowan Leaf

P.S. I wanted to go into Bolton and celebrate Robert's success with a hot chocolate and some breakfast, but all he wanted to do was go back to bed - he doesn't generally see daylight much before 1pm in the holidays, having to get up at 6am every morning to get the college bus. Perhaps he also realised that I wanted to do some more caches in Bolton Town Centre too - "It's so unfair" (Kevin).

GoldenPie - GC12W1F

Autumn Glory

I had to take my son Robert for his Driving Test Theory exam in Bolton at 8am today, so knowing I would have a hour or so to kill I decided to do some caching. It was still dark when we set off but we got there in 25 minutes from Tyldesley and found the Test Centre without any problem.

Queen's Park, Bolton

After dropping him I off I used my PDA to find the nearest cache and this was it. I entered the coordinates into my GPSr and set off to find the closest place to park to it which was on Chorley Old Road, more or less in front of some small entrance gates to Queen's Park.

The 'Pie Crust'

There was a lot of activity with men, machinery and vehicles near the gates I used and I thought it might be difficult to find the cache without being stared at. I saw the 'pie crust' very soon after walking into the park and then headed off away from it towards GZ. The items mentioned in the hint soon became evident and then it was only a matter of finding which one - it didn't take me too long and thankfully no-one was watching.

GoldenPie Cache

Once the admin was done I took some photos of a New Zealand Travel Bug called Jule's Quartz that was in the cache. A note asked for it not to be taken because the owner was coming to pick it up, but when I checked the logs that was in August and the TB was still here - maybe they've forgotten. I noted the TB tracking number so that I could log it anyway, but I missed the geocoin in the cache.  Ah well, I might return for it later.

Artistic or What?

I spent another 15 minutes in the park having a look round and taking some artistic pictures - well I think they're artistic, check out my blog and see what you think! It's a great place - the trees were wearing their autumn colours and the birds were singing like mad. As well the usual Magpies, Woodpigeons, Blackbirds and Carrion Crows I spotted some Long-tailed Tits and a Robin. I also think I might have heard the 'shrike' of a Jay, but I didn't actually see it.

Bridging the Gap

Then I headed off across the bridge for the second cache on my list: River Croal -  The Lost Arches. It was quite a surprise for me when I ended up walking past the Driving Test Centre, as I'd done a full circle without realising it. "Well, it will be easy to come back to pick Robert up" I thought.

River Croal in October

Blackleach Country Park - 3 - GC2FZ0W

This was to be the fifth and final cache of the day.  By now there was quite a contrast between the sunny and shaded sides of the reservoir as can be seen from these two pictures.

As I walked away from the reservoir a small wall apeared with a bench on one side. After I've completed this cache , I'll sit and log my FTF's there using my phone there I thought.  But when I sat down on it was covered in frost and freezing cold, so I got up sharpish.

The cache was a cunning hide and could be easily missed - in fact I did at first and I only found it on my second inspection.  I knew it had to be there I just couldn't see it at first.

Blackleach Country Park really is a great place and one I've never been to before, so thanks for making me get up on frosty but sunny Monday morning and seeing it in all it's autumnal glory - I could have stayed in bed as I'm on holiday, but I'm so glad I didn't.

Mission accomplished with five caches under my belt including two FTF's, I skipped happily back to the car and breakfast.

Blackleach Country Park - 1 - GC2FZ0A

After the previous three successful finds I decided to pick up the remaining two caches here which I'd missed being released over the last couple of days. As I walked round the south-eastern corner of the reservoir a series of fishing platforms came in to close view.

Today the water was very serene as I looked out from the platforms, but I can imagine in the height of summer it gets very busy with families and children.  And perhaps even the buzz of model boats being whizzed over the water by some men in their later years - this type of activity seems to have died out with the screenagers of today who seem to want instant gratification without any effort. 

The sign at the end of the platform made me think of my dad who sadly died much too early in June 2008. He would have liked it here because he used to build radio-controlled boats and gliders. When he resurrected an old model he'd built of the German warship Scharnhorst about ten years ago, we looked around for somewhere to sail it and ended up going to Moses Gate a little further up the road in Bolton. I can't imagine that he didn't know about this place but maybe it wasn't set up for boating then.

This cache was well hidden and it took me a couple of goes to find even using the hint. I took the wonderful 10-10-10 geocoin (I just couldn't resist) but sorry, I had nothing to leave today.  It's going to be hard to part with this but I think I'll put it in one my own Birdwatch caches sometime soon.

With just one more cache to go I set off on a leisurely stroll back along the eastern bank of the reservoir, taking photos on the way and generally enjoying the peace and quiet.

Blackleach Country Park - 2 - GCFZ0G

After the previous two new finds I decided to pick up the remaining three caches here which I'd missed being released over the last couple of days.  It was quite light by now as I walked down the path to the reservoir.

The reservoir came into view as I walked up the bank from the path - it was stunning.  There was a mist over the water and a slight haze blurred the church in the distance - it could have been a watercolour painting.  The ducks, geese and swans added to the effect making a scene that would have graced any Christmas card.

I just stood for a while and took it all in - it looks like it could be a good place to come to for birdwatching, but that's another hobby and blog.  As I walked along the bank I could soon see somewhere which looked interesting form a caching point of view, and sure enough, that's where the GPSr was pointing. After a quick look at the hint I went down the steps and had the cache in hand shortly afterwards.

Blackleach Country Park really is a great place and one I've never been to before, so thanks for making me get up on frosty but sunny Monday morning and seeing it in all it's autumnal glory - I could have stayed in bed as I'm on holiday, but I'm so glad I didn't.

Blackleach Country Park - 5 - GCFZ15

Having been FTF at the previous cache, I walked optimistically to this one as if I knew where I was going. Obviously I didn't and after a good start along the main footpath I took a minor footpath (it was signposted) into a vegetated area. This made hard work of getting to GZ because of the wet, muddy ground and tree branches.

When I eventually did surface again I noticed that the original path I'd been on had turned a corner and would have been much easier to follow than the one I chose.  It had got much lighter by now but it was still cold - however that didn't seem to deter the frequent joggers and dog walkers who were starting to appear quite frequently on the path in front of the cache location.

Using the hint I found the cache quite easily (in between the muggles passing by) and I was very happy to see that it was another FTF for me today.  I signed the log and took a little plastic Stegasuarus dinosaur souvenir - I don't know why but I've started to collect dinosaurs from caches, so when there's one present in a cache I just have to take it.

After doing the admin I took a few photos and then headed off for the reservoir.  Things were looking good.

The cache was originally logged on www.geocaching.com with this message from my phone whilst out in the field.

'Yay - My 2nd FTF of the day.
Checkout my blog for more details later.'

Blackleach Country Park - 4 - GCFZ11

Having been beaten to the First to Find crown on the 'Blackleach Country Park 1' cache, I got up early this morning to attempt two further FTF's that had been activated yesterday. An additional two caches had also been placed this week making a nice total of five to aim at for a morning's geocaching.

I set off in the dark at about 7am and the almost full moon was still burning brightly in the sky when I got to this location.  It was -1.5 degrees C and the ground was crisp with frost as I found the public footpath that lead to cache.  When I saw where the GPSr was pointing my heart sank as I wondered how on earth I would find in the darkness.

With my thoughts also wondering if anyone had beaten me to it, I launched myself in amongst the trees and started looking for an item mentioned in the hint - there were lots of them.  I tried using my 'phone for light, but it wasn't much good, so I just had to resort to feeling my way through the branches.

And then, success! I can't believe how I found it in the dark. There were no other signatures in the log so it was a FTF - the first I've had for ages.  I did my best to sign the log, but I couldn't really see what I was doing and my fingers were freezing cold.  Sorry for the muddy, scruffy writing!

After I returned the cache to its home, I checked the GPSr for the next FTF on my planned route and set off with a spring in my step as the dawn was starting to break.  The path led alongside the M61 motorway which was now starting to buzz and hum with noise of the traffic starting the working day. There was a wonderful orange glow in the sky and some manmade objects created beautiful silhouettes against it.

The cache was originally logged on www.geocaching.com with this message from my phone whilst out in the field.

'Yay - FTF !!!  and my first cache of the day.
Checkout my blog for more details later.'