A Gate No More - GC2KJBP

I went for this one on my way home from doing some geocaching and birding in the Ladybridge and Deane area. I parked on the short road near the roundabout that led to some works and then made my way down the muddy footpath through several gates across the fields. Although every gate had a notice on requesting that it be shut properly because of the cattle, I didn't actually see one cow or sheep anywhere whilst I was out there.

From reading the title and description, I had a good idea of what I was looking for and it soon came into view. It took me longer to get the log out of the container than it did to find it. I had to use two spaces in the log to sign it because it was cold and windy that I couldn't write properly - sorry about that!

Photos to follow ...

Tom the Tank Engine - GC2GWAN

I found this cache whilst out doing some birding in the Ladybridge and Deane area. Having just seen some Waxwings near the Ladybridge Community Centre, I was given directions by a local out with his dog about how to get to the Middlebrook Trail. Using these directions I parked by Deane church and made my way down Deane Clough towards GZ.

Finding the cache was fairly straightforward using the clever hint. After doing the admin I carried on walking along the brook towards Ladybridge. I saw a Grey Heron, a male Teal and the bird I was looking actually looking for, a Dipper. It shot along the brook like a bullet in a straight lne just a foot above the water making its distinctive call. I didn't manage to see a Kingfisher though.

So two for the price of one of this trip - great place!

Photos to follow ...

The Old Warke - GC2KVRT

This was to be my third and last cache of the day before returning home to watch Man U play Crawley in the FA Cup. I took the advice mentioned in the description and walked up Mill Brow from the main road - it's been many years since I last came this way as a kid. I looked with envy at the fantastic white cottages on the left side of the lane all the way up to Worsley Woods.

Once in the Woods I reached GZ much more quickly than I had expected and the coordinates were pretty much spot on. As I approached I thought I had spotted a likely place but the GPSr suggested otherwise, and it was right.

The going was quite slippy and needed a stretch to get the container out of it's 'rotten' hiding place. WARNING: Don't be tempted to pickup any small blue or black bags anywhere near here - you know why!

After signing the log I had a look round the area, including walking up to Warke Dam where I met a fellow birdwatcher looking though his binoculars at the water. Like me he'd seen some Teal and Mallard, but he'd also seen a Cormorant which I'd missed. He told me that there were also lots of Nuthatches past the old house a little further into the Woods - I'll be coming back to look for those sometime soon.

After a nice chat we both went our separate ways to watch the match, where the score was 1-0 to Man Utd's second team. Come on you Reds!

The Green - GC2KXDT

This was to be my second find of the day and all the way to this cache I was wondering where I was going to park because it can be difficult to find a space around here. In the end I didn't have a problem, I just parked in a side road facing the green, so a load of fuss about nothing.



I walked across the Green and took some photos of the beautiful old black and white houses which give this area its distinctive character. I also hads a look at the brick fountain made from the base of a works chimney stack which used to be here in Victorian times.



The GPSr coordinates were pretty much spot on for me and took me mor or less straight to the cache location. However, as there were plenty of muggles about, I decided to take some pictures of the wonderful cobbled bridge and the Bridgewater Canal before descending on GZ.

When the coast was clear, I quickly did the admin and was on my way to Worsley Woods for my third and last cache of the day.

Gimme A Sign - GC2H5ZK

I found this one on a quick trip out of the house before Man Utd met the mighty Crawley in the FA Cup this afternoon. I love the Roe Green area and can remember coming here once or twice as a kid to play football, cricket or to fly kites on the green. A very clever hide - there should be more like this, although I did have to wait quite a while to return it due to passers-by.

I'm a "Lumber" Jack and I'm OK - GC2KXEF

This was to be the last cache of the day in a set of seven for Sarah and me - I say 'was to be' but it actually wasn't as we'd failed to find one of the previous caches and would have to go back for it on our way home - we can't bear DNF's!

Sarah knew Lumber Lane and so we got to GZ without using the GPSr, only turning it on for the final few metres. After reading the hint it was a fairly straightforward find. Although I'm actually a United Fan (don't mention Wolves today), I would have liked to have gone to see where Alan Ball used to live, but the cache we hadn't found earlier was calling us back for another look.

So we took the Loopline footpath back under the bridge which carries the East Lancs and headed back to the car.

Pictures to follow ...

A Small Series 6 - Boris' Place - GC2N7JX

So Sarah and I finally reached the last cache in the Small Series after a short but pleasant walk down the steps and through the trees which follow the old Tyldesley to Worsley Loopline.

We could see this structure which spans the water-filled gulley from quite a way off, and were very glad to read that we didn't need to cross it to find the cache.

Sarah spotted the general whereabouts of the cache location fairly quickly, but after a few minutes of searching, I couldn't find it. I knew it must be in there somewhere, but I retreated to let her have a look. She found it quickly and when I saw what it was, I explained why I thought it was called Boris. WHO knows, I might be wrong.

I took some pictures of Sarah as she sat outside Boris' place signing the log and then we set off to do one last cache at Lumber Lane which is not in this series, but which is close by.

Postscript:

We knew we still had to return to number 2 in this series and as it's a linear trail we'd be walking back past it to get back to the car. On our way back past this location we met fellow cacher Tech17 (Andy Evans) who was just about to look for Boris. We chatted for a while about caching, his Garmin Chirp devices and Ham Radio and then we asked him if he'd found number 2 in this series. He had, and he was more than happy to give us some useful hints about where it was - we knew then that we'd been looking at it but not seen it.

Leaving Andy to get on with finding Boris, we set off to visit number 2 again, and heard him squeal (with either horror or delight) when he found him! He later rejoined us at the location for number 2.

A Small Series 5 - Board Walk Fiend - GC2N7JM

And so into the latter part of this series. I've driven down the East Lancs Road for over 25 years and never knew that this footpath or boardwalk existed - but I guess that's true of so many of us who just go about our daily business without noticing the things on our own doorstep.

It took a few minutes to work out what the numbers in the hint meant, and we found could interpret them in two main ways. As it turns out, my first guess was right, but I didn't inspect the area carefully enough and so went off in another direction. When this yielded no result, we returned to my first suggestion and on closer inspection I realised where the cache was - another clever hide.

I let Sarah remove the cache container and do the admin (so kind of me) whilst I swanned off taking pictures and looking for birdies. I saw a Chaffinch. a Great Tit and a Blue Tit in the reedy swamp area which the boardwalk overlooks. A nice little place.

A Small Series 4 - Aslan Effigy - GC2N7JD

After two previous caching successes today, Sarah and I were starting to get on a roll. The path was becoming wider and a lot more interesting with bigger and more diverse trees and more birdlife - there was even a little pond to one side.

We reached GZ fairly quickly and had soon located the cache container in a nice little spot. I got it out of its hidey hole, Sarah signed the log and then we were off again.

A Small Series 3 - Spore - GC2N7HZ

After an initial DNF at the previous cache location (we did find it later), Sarah and I were determined to be successful at this one. Everything was pretty straightforward here with the hint making it fairly obvious where to look.

I started searching first, but when it required a little crawling under the trees I decided that Sarah was better equipped for the job. Through the conifer branches I could see a likely place, and so I directed Sarah to it and there indeed was the cache.

The container was quite unusual and wanted to roll down the slope every time Sarah put it down and we're not quite sure how it relates to the cache title. Eventually she adopted a very unusual position of steadying it with one knee as she signed the log. Of course I had to take some photographs of that!

The series continues ...

A Small Series 2 - Splinter - GC2N7HP

This should have been the second cache of the day but it turned out to be the last on our renewed exploits in geocaching today. Sarah and I don't like DNF's, they really spoil our trips and so after spending 15 minutes looking for this one the first time, we inevitably came back for a second look before going home.

Our first foray in this area had led to me getting scratched on the forehead by a very sharp hawthorne branch as well as becoming entangled in creeping brambles which I HATE!. This in turn led to foul tempers and so we moved on quickly to the next location.

A little before our return we met fellow cacher Tech17 (Andy) at another cache location - it seems that he'd been about 15 minutes behind us in doing this series today. He'd already found this one and so gave us some serious hints as to where it was - which was actually in a place we'd been looking earlier. If we'd read the description a little more carefully, I think we would have probably found it unaided - the title really says it all. It's an excellent hiding place - so sneaky I've made it one of my favourites.

Anyway, job done we chatted with Andy about geocaching, ham radio, Chirp and other things before returning home for a little brunch. Great series.

A Small Series 1 - Love your Streets - GC2N7HB

We've not been out geocaching together for about two months mainly because of the poor weather and family commitments, but today Sarah and I decided to resume our caching activities. The main reason for this was that this new series had appeared close to home and so we could bag a few caches without it taking up the whole day - and if we got wet we could get home quickly.

We parked in the road by the side of the Woodside restaurant and set off walking down the East Lancs Road. Our first dilemma was whether to go up a muddy footpath into what seemed to be a wooded trail running alongside the Lancs, or just to stay on the cyclepath next to the road. We decided on the latter as the description stated that the cache could reached from either side of the fence. This proved to be a wise decision later as many parts of the 'trail' path were flooded.

Soon we reached GZ and the title of the cache became clear. After a quick look round Sarah came up with the goods in a somewhat unique container. She did the admin whilst I took a few photos for my blog and then we were off again looking for the next one. A good start!