Working trip to Greece

7th to 14th November
I had to travel to Thessaloniki for an annual meeting for our research project and so we decided to extend the trip and take a few days holiday.
After collecting the hire car which had been delivered to the wrong house, we left for Gatwick at 3am. We arrived at the airport at 6:30 and there were no delays at the airport. We left England in the cold and wet and arrived in Greece in 21 degree sunshine.
We were staying in the centre of the city and so our exploring was mainly just walking around the streets and shops and walking around in the sunshine and along the harbour walls. We were amazed at the number of coffee bars in the city, for a country in economic strife everyone seemed very happy to sit around all day drinking coffee.
There was some very interesting archeology around the city and we enjoyed watching the archeologists on the dig beneath our hotel window.
Even though 3 days were spent working the rest of the time was very enjoyable.
Our overall opinion of the part of Greece that we visited was very noisy;cars hooting their horns at every opportunity and all times of the day and night, mopeds whizzing up and down the pavements. There was also an incredible number of churches - mostly byzantine, and alcoves for burning candles and prayer all over the city - unfortunately we didn't have opportunity to go inside the churches but I suspect they would have been impressive. Finally we had some difficulty finding places to eat. The city was filled with the Greek equivalent of Greggs - OK for lunch but an evening meal was more difficult to find. When we did find a restaurant we generally had it to ourselves as the Greeks do not tend to eat until about 9 or 10 o'clock, but the service was fantastic, with extra drinks and deserts being provided without being ordered.





Oh -they had some fantastic cake shops as well!

Brailsford, Derbyshire

Sunday, October 17, 2010
Another beautiful day, although frosty when we got up. We thought we couldn't waste it and so rather tan sitting and getting stiff after yesterdays walk we set out for another walk – but a bit shorter this time.
We drove to Brailsford in Derbyshire and parked near Hazlehurst. There were several large dogs caged in the house opposite where we parked the car and so as we were getting ready and putting our boots on we had to put up with barking dogs disturbing the peace.
We headed down towards Kings Grove where we stopped to find a cache and then walked across the fields towards Commonside. We had to walk down a narrow lane and passed a small Market garden shop which had a lovely display of Autumn vegetables.


Then back up the field at Commonside but as the path was not marked we were at the wrong place to exit onto the A52. After a short diversion we found the way out and after a short walk down the main road and through a short bit of woodland we headed towards Brailsford Green. We left the footpath by going through a primary school playground and then headed across fields to a lane. We again had problems finding the footpath but got there in the end. More unmarked footpaths followed but we managed to stay on route and later passed through a field where sheep dog trials were being carried out.
We exited on a lane and again couldn't find the footpath but I finally noticed the footpath sign, covered by ivy on a post next to a tied up gate.
We went through the gate and struggled through a field of sugar beet, eventually reaching the other side of the field and our way onto the road where the car was parked. We had done a mere 8.75 km today but despite the difficulty finding footpaths was a pleasant walk.

Eastwood, Nottingham

Saturday, October 16, 2010
It seemed like the first weekend we had had for ages when we hadn't had things to do, and as it was forecast to be fine we took advantage to go for a walk. We headed to Eastwood in Nottinghamshire and after a bit of a navigation problem around the town we manged to find a carpark next to an old coal mine.
We walked along the road and then headed along a footpath beside Moorgreen Reservoir. Eastwood was the home of D H Lawrence and there were notice boards along the way telling us about the area and his life.


When we reached the end of the reservoir we followed the edge of Morning Springs woods heading towards the M1. As we passed under the motorway we stopped to hunt for a cache called “Whistle for it”. We started whistling in the underpass and soon the cache replyed to us by beeping – a very clever cache. Having passed under the motorway we headed into a forest along some wide tracks. We diverted into the pine trees to find a cache and then continued along the track. As we sat on a concrete block having a cup of coffee the gamekeeper came along and told us we were on private property and politely pointed us to the footpath. As we left we noticed the sign saying “Forestry Commission land” - open to all! However, as they were apparently shooting today we decided to head back towards the footpath. This took us on quite a long detour and we ended up near to Hucknall. We finally found a bridleway pointing back towards our planned route, but were surprised to see notices proclaiming that there were guard dogs, security cameras and toxic herbicide and chemicals, right next to the bridleway sign! Very welcoming landowners in these parts.
We followed the footpath around Wythburn House farm where we stopped to find a cache. We were a bit wary about hunting around some farm equipment and when I saw we were being watched we decided to abandon the hunt. However, as we left the man said “You're very close”. It turned out to be the farmer and he knew about the cache so we were free to continue our hunt.
Our next part of the walk took us over Misk hills, across the motorway again and then back into Morning Springs woods. The walk was pleasant until the bridleway disappeared again and the path was blocked off. We managed to divert and head back to the path we had walked on at the beginning of the walk, but as we got to the path we realised it was fenced off. We managed to clamber through the fence and retrace our steps back beside the reservoir.
It had been a walk of many diversions and blocked paths but had been a very pleasant Autumn walk. Our planned walk had been 13km but we ended up having walked 19.5km!

Thank You Judith and Derek

They are lovely.

Jervaulx Abbey - Yorkshire September 11th to 19th

We have been promising dad a return visit to Jervaulx abbey but as he was ill last year we had to postpone it. We are staying in the caravan at Jervaulx and dad is staying up the road at the Coverbridge Inn.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
We left the caravan at about 10.30 and met dad outside the Coverbridge. We parked the car and set off along the River Cover. It was warm and sunny but threatened heavy showers. We had forgotten to pack raincoats so were hoping the rain held off.
It was nice walking along the river, there were lots of fallen trees so we had to keep climbing over them. We passed some stepping stones but did not cross the river at this point, but we did walk on to Hullo bridge. We went a little wrong here but soon corrected our mistake and headed up to the road to Middleham. We walked along the footpath beside the road passing Low Middleham Moor where race horses are trained. Apparently there are 850 inhabitants in Middleham and 500 racehorses.
We down beside Middleham castle, childhood home to Richard 111, and stopped in the town square for a drink and a bag of crisps and decided that we did not want to exhaust our selves on the first day so instead of doing the second half of the planned figure of 8 walk we would only do one bit. After a wander around the town, checking out the pubs and restaurants we walked back up beside the castle and headed over William's Hill, a mote and bailey, across the fields and back to the stepping stones.


We crossed them this time and walked along the other side of the river bank and back to the Cover Bridge Inn, where it would have been rude not to stop for a pint of Old Peculiar. We had walked 8.79km.
Monday,September 13, 2010
The weather was a bit grotty today so we decided on a trip to Ripon. We had a wander around the town and a look around the cathedral which had a very impressive choir stall and organ, including some carved miserichords in the choir stalls which were said to have inspired Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland.
After lunch in the cafe at Masham we decided the weather was not as bad as expected so we drove to the Druid's temple. John and I had visited this place two years ago when we first started geocaching and we wanted to show dad. It was still a bit drizzly but we had a short walk around the forest and found a new cache that had been placed. Dad was quite amazed at the temple which although looking as though it had been there for thousands of years was actually built by the Victorians.


We headed back to the car and I navigated us on a scenic route back to Jervaulx. As we drove down a steep hill we spotted a heron standing by the side of the road. He took off and flew down the road in front of us. We realised there was a cache to find and parked near a duck pond where we were mobbed by a few ducks as we got out of the car. The cache was found after a short hunt.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
We started off at the Coverbridge picking up dad.
As we drove through Middleham we followed a pack of race horses through the town and back to their stables. We drove to West Witton,parked and then followed the path across fields to an avenue of sycamore trees. We walked down the lane with wonderful views towards Bolton Hall. We crossed the road and walked past the gate house and down to Lord's Bridge where we turned left along a footpath and crossed fields until we came to a small beck where the path led down to the river Ure. After the rain that we had had last night the river was flowing very fast, and it was a very pleasant walk, although a little windy.

We continued beside the river for about a mile and a half and then after passing Batt Island we crossed a ladder stile and walked across a very lumpy area of field which was probably the spoil from the Keld head lead mines. We crossed another stile and followed down through some woods to reach Redmire Force. The falls were flowing very fast today and it was pleasant sitting beside the falls eating our lunch.
After a break we retraced our steps through the woods and then walked along a cart track, to the footpath. The field had a large new sign on it stating “Beware of the Bull”. I nervously looked in but there was no sign of any cattle so we walked beside New Wood to the gate in the corner and then followed a dry stone wall and lane back towards West Witton. It had been a very nice walk and although we had worn wet weather gear it had actually been dry and sunny, although very windy in places. We decided to reward ourselves so drove back to High Jervaulx where we stopped for an icecream. John and dad had ginger and I had praline pecan delight. We went back to the caravan for a cup of tea and then dad decided to walk back along the river to the Coverbridge while we got tea ready. He hadn't been gone long when it started to rain – and he hadn't got his wet gear on! Oh dear.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
It was very windy and rainy again. We were treated to a wonderful display of swallows swooping over the caravan and landing on the skylight this morning. Dad arrived at 10.30 and we decided to go towards Fountains Abbey. We parked in the NT car park and then walked to the road and down towards the Monk's wall. We followed the footpath, stopping to find a cache hidden in the wall, then headed towards Hill house farm. Last time we had walked here we had not been able to get through the farm because the cows were blocking the way, but today they were in the fields and although it was very mucky we were able to follow the path. We stopped at a ruined gatehouse where we could see several stags in the deer park. We then carried on through the woods startling pheasants as we went – they seemed to be everywhere today. As we emerged from the woods we followed a steep and muddy lane down to a ford across the river, although there was no water in the river at all. We entered Studley Royal park and followed the Seven bridges way. We kept crossing fords or bridges but the water seemed to have been diverted as there was no water in the river. We sat on a tree stump for a while to eat our lunch and then went on a hunt for a geocache. It involved climbing a steep bank up to the look out tower. Getting up was OK but down was a bit more tricky, but we made it safely. We had left dad at the bottom watching the deer while we went up the top. We finally got to the lakes at Studley Royal and then walked up to the church for a look round.

The church was Victorian gothic and very impressive to look around. The guide pointed out the parrots, birds, butterflies, mouse and snails that had been incorporated into the decoration. We returned to the car and back to the caravan before going out to dinner at the Coverbridge Inn.
Thursday 16 September 2010
We drove to Aysgarth and had a nice walk down to look at the middle and lower falls. Dad took lots of photos and then we walked through Freeholders woods towards Carperby.

The woods were dotted with lots of small nest boxes which had been placed there for the dormice that had been re-introduced. We crossed the meadows, enjoying the views of the hills and then entered Carperby. We hunted around for some clues for a geocache which had been placed by the National Park Authority. There was plenty of history in the village including the start of the Wensleyan church and the Quaker church. Having found the clues we headed up a track to a viewpoint where the cache was hidden. We retraced our steps through the meadows and the woods and then to the Upper Falls. Dad took lots more photos and then we went tot the Mill Race for a cup of tea.
Friday 17 September 2010
We drove to Leyburn, only to find it was market day so we couldn't park. We managed to find a spot on a side street and then set off through the back streets to the path leading to the Shawl. We walked up onto the top and walked along the ridge for a while. The views across Wenslydale were wonderful. We found a cache – John scrambled down to get it, and then walked a bit further before coming down off the Shawl and walking through Gilmoor wood. We found a nice clearing to sit and eat our lunch. The area is actually quite industrial and housed the engine house, chimney and smelt flues (where we were sitting) for the Keld Head smelt mine. They had mined for lead and silver in the past. We walked down the track and realised we had gone wrong. A farmer stopped and pointed us back to the correct path which led across freshly manured meadows (pooh) and then started to climb back up to the Shawl again. We followed the path back to Leyburn where we stopped for a pot of tea in the Post House tea rooms.
After returning to the car we went and filled up with diesel and then drove to Harmby. We parked by the road and followed the path to a waterfall which was much higher than the falls we had seen before but less powerful. This was another spot we would not have found if it had not been for geocaching.
Saturday 18 September 2010
We met everyone at the Coverbridge Inn today. Emily and Mike ahd come over to visit us so we set off along the banks of the river Cover following the same route that we walked on Sunday. We stopped for pictures at the stepping stones and then walked to the Hullo bridge.

We crossed the bridge and walked on the other side of the river for a short distance before heading up into the fields towards East Witton lodge. It was lovely just walking and chatting with Emily and Mike and dad. We finally arrived in East Witton where we sat for a while to eat a bun (Emily, Mike and dad had had enormous breakfasts at the Coverbridge) and then we walked beside the church into a field with two horses. They ignored us but a short distance further on we could see a farmer trying to round up his sheep. We realised the footpath went through the field he was working in so we stopped and waited for a while. He told us we could go through and pointed us to the stile. He said trying to round up lambs with no yows (ewes) was murder as they just went round in circles. We crossed a few more fields with sheep in and then found ourselves back at the pub. (7.66km) We all went in for a pint and then decided to head up to High Jervaulx for an icecream.

PirateMania 4th September

Our first weekend at home for a while so we decided to go for a decent walk.
We headed to Ashbourne and to the UKGeocachers shop located in a caravan park, where we bought a few items and they kindly allowed us to leave the car in the shop car-park while we went for our walk. We had some problem finding the beginning of the walk as the footpath was not marked correctly on the map, but eventually we found our way out of the caravan park and across the field to a bridge. This walk had been set up during a Geocaching camping event, Piratemania, in the summer and so contained lots of geocaches.
We found the first one under a bridge and then followed the Bonnie Prince Charlie walk and the Centenary way towards Osmaston. One cache was found in a military type air-raid shelter, the woods that we walked in seemed to have several of these war-time buildings.

When we got to Osmaston we walked across the cricket field and continued along the footpath which passed though a field of 8ft tall maize. As we crossed into the next field I realised that it was full of young bullocks. As always happens they decided we were fun and decided to surround us, luckily the stile was close and I managed to hop over before we were cut off.


We passed through a short stretch of woodland and out onto the road before heading into another field. The cows in this field were happy to ignore us and then as we passed beside Osmaston lake a very large herd of cows decided to follow a couple going in the opposite direction to us. We waited by the side of the path as they all passed us by and then we walked on and through a natural wetland that had been provided with walkways to rise us above the boggy areas nd out to the road.
Shirley was a pretty village with several thatched cottages. The track through Shirley park led down to a water mill, and we realised that we had walked in this area some years ago, but from the opposite direction. (See April 4th 2007). Just past the mill we realised we had a cache to find. It was obviously hidden at a large tree but there was a family playing near it. We waited until they moved off and then went to find the cache, we realised that the cache was not hidden in a hole in the tree but was actually up in the branches. John nobly decided to climb up and found the cache after a short search – I don't think he had climbed a tree for donkeys years.


This was a figure of eight walk and so we passed back through Osmaston and then headed off through fields and woodland back towards Ashbourne and the end of the walk. We had walked 15.5 km and found 28 caches which I think was a record for us.

Apologies and an evening walk

I have to apologise that I haven't written on the blog since March. A new job, harvest of experimental crops have meant that I have not had the time to blog.
We have had a few holidays and done some walks but I just didn't get round to writing them up.
I left work early on Friday and as it was a lovely evening we went to Hathern to do a geocaching walk. We parked in Pasture Lane and walked down the lane to a footpath across a field which had been harvested, ploughed and rolled ready for seeding - Autumn crops going in allready. We crossed a stile at a junction of footpaths and then headed across a field where the farmers were baling straw.
We crossed a lane and followed the direction at a footpath sign which was covered with wild hops.


With the hops and straw stubble it looked very autumnal. The footpath led down to the River Soar, where we diverted off to find a geocache. The view across the river was very good, the sun was dropping and causing everything to have a golden glow and brilliant reflections of Normanton church in the river.

We followed the river for a while before heading inland again and along a lane back to the car. We walked just over 5 km which was perfect for an evening walk after work and we had found 7 geocaches.

Belper Hills Walk

Sunday 21st March
We have done some walks recently but most have been short geocaching walks. This walk was a bit longer.
The day started badly as I discovered I had lost an earring. It was one of the nice diamond studs John bought me for Christmas a few years ago. We had a good hunt round but no luck.
The weather was going to be good so we decided to do the Belper Hills walk. This was a series of caches set up for the event we attended last week. We decided not to follow all the cachers last week but to come back and enjoy the walk on our own.
We arrived and parked at about 11.30 am and set off on the walk. Wes tarted off by walking out of Belper and past the church to find a cache hidden in an Alley. We were off to a bad start as we didn’t find this one. The next cache was attached to an information board about a philanthropist who provided a lot of facilities for Belper. We then headed out of the town, past the very impressive weir and along a path beside the river Derwent. We headed up the lane and as there were several people about we decided to sit by a small waterfall and have a cup of coffee whilst they passed. We then headed up the hill, finding a cache and then through a farmyard. As we approached the next cache we saw someone lurking – it turned out to be another cacher mJamezz, so we had a chat and hunted unsuccessfully for the cache. We walked on and up the hill towards the next cache, chatting away. After finding the cache MJamezz left us as he was out for a run; we continued at our more sedate pace. We walked along the Midshires way with very good views across the hills and over Belper. We found the next cache and then as we approached the next one we spotted MJamezz again – he was having trouble finding the cache so we all hunted together again. John clambered up a tree and the cache was soon found. MJamezz ran off again and we walked down the cobbley path a bit more slowly. Surprisingly we met up again at the bottom of the hill where I found the next cache then as we walked down the road, MJamezz came running back towards us as he had left his map back at one of our previous caches. He caught up with us one last time before heading off at a run. We crossed the road and headed up the track towards Farnah Green. We continued along the hills and emerged on a road where we spotted a pub - The Bluebell, so had a break for a pint and a bag of crisps. We then set off for the last stage of the walk. After finding a few more caches we found ourselves surprisingly close to Belper. We walked along the river and crossed back towards the town. We had walked 12.4 km and found 18 caches along the route. We had been lucky enough to have had a lovely warm day with no wind.

Mountsorrel

Monday 22nd February
I had the day off so we went for a walk today. We drove to Mountsorrel and parked and walked towards the river. We had to take a long diversion to reach the underpass under the A6 but once across we joined the Leicestershire Round and headed towards the weir. We headed off beside the river and found the first of the LR caches - anew series that will take us some time to do. We then walked beside the river for some time, watching the swans and ducks until the path passed back under the A6 and then we continued beside the river startling a heron who flew off just in front of us. We walked under the conveyor belt that carries stone from the quarry and stopped to find a cache after which we crossed the river and headed into Mountsorrel walking up Bank lane towards what should have been a bridleway. The map showed the path going through Stonehurst Farm but we could not find it. We wandered around and found a farmer in the farm shop. He said the path had never gone through the farm and was surprised to see it on the map. We looked round the shop and after finding out about the farm practices decided to revisit at a later date to try some of their meat. He told us how to find the correct path and we followed it towards the quarry which we had to walk through dodging the mud and slurry to get onto the footpath. We left the footpath and onto the road. We found a cache near a railway bridge and then walked back along the road to the car having walked 10.6 km.

Markeaton Park to Kedleston

Saturday 20th February
Having had lots of short caching walks recently I decided we needed a proper walk so programmed a decent walk into the GPS –along with some caches of course. We drove to Markeaton park near Derby and after having trouble finding the parking area we finally found it and paid for 4hours +. We left the park, walked up the road and then headed off on a footpath leading to Markeaton Stones – I thought there might be something interesting there, but I think it was just the name of the farm as we didn't see anything. At the top of the lane we stopped to do a cache which was inside a tree and involved standing on a stump and leaning in, I was not tall enough so John had to retrieve the cache. Unfortunately, as he put it back he slipped and the cache fell down a hole into the depths of the trunk – oops, we will have to apologise to the cache owner.
We walked on and diverted off the path to find two more caches. After finding the first we started walking down the path only to have a big dog start barking at us. We stopped and wondered how friendly he was and as he did not come out of the farm drive we continued down the lane. Him, and his slightly smaller friend barked but did not come out as we walked past. We walked down a very muddy fields, found the cache and then had to walk back up the lane. The dogs had gone inside by this time so were no problem.
We followed a very muddy path past the boundary of Kedleston hall and out on to road. We could just about see the hall from where we stopped to have a cup of coffee. We walked up the road a little bit and then down the side of a garden centre. The footpath is missing from our new map but our old map still shows the path, we spent about half an hour hunting for a small cache which we were assured was still near the hedge but we didn’t find it but we did see lots of snowdrops in the area. We followed the footpath across fields and over some of the most dangerous stiles we’ve come across to the A52. We crossed the road and followed a path
through fields which were badly signposted and eventually found our way to the edge of a recently ploughed field.
We stood and watched a heron on a fencepost for a while, until I looked through the binoculars and realized it was plastic and then John walked across the field (so that he could map the footpath correctly) and I walked round the edge as it is such hard work walking across ploughed fields. We eventually emerged at Langley Common and went in to the Bluebell pub. We were too late for lunch but settled for a drink, sit down and a bag of crisps. However, someone else came in looking for a bowl of chips, so they agreed to put the friers back on and we had a lovely bowl of freshly cooked chips.
We left the pub and continued along the road and off onto a footpath at Radbourne Common. It was very slippy and muddy but we eventually got to a bridge where we were supposed to look for a cache but found it out on display and soaking wet. As we knew the cache owner had just broken his hip we did our best to dry the cache and put it back where it should have been hidden. We then struggled over some more stiles to the road.
After a stretch on the road we got to another footpath which went past a farm. Two large Alsatians were very vocal as we went past but luckily they were behind a fence.
We emerged at Mackworth and struggled to find the footpath that we needed to divert off to find a cache. We walked along the street searching; I turned round and could see the finger post hidden in the hedge beside someone’s garden. We went along the path, found the cache and then walked back to the road and off towards the pretty church. We found a cache near the church and then set off on the last stretch of the walk. A last cache was found just before we got back to Markeaton park having walked 18 km and found 7 caches. We had seen lots of snowdrops, robins, bluetits and a plastic heron

A walk from Narborough

Tuesday 16th February
We had missed out on our walk yesterday so today we went to Narborough. We parked by a medical centre and set off trying to find the start of the walk. We were aiming for a disused railway but there were lots of new houses which meant that the map we had did not make sense. We eventually found the start of the railway having retraced our steps to the main road.
We started out by looking for a cache called Tricky Trees. We were not hopeful of finding it having read previous logs. But we had a look. Suddenly I could see the cache, it was attached about 40 ft up a thin branch of a tree which was hanging over the river. There was no way we were scrambling up there. We retraced our steps to the disused railway and enjoyed a peaceful walk along the line. We stopped to find a very nice small cache called the Spider. It was a beautifully made metal insect that was hung on the railway bridge. We continued along the line until it ended at Enderby. The walk then went downhill as it passed a reclaimed refuse tip and industrial park. It was quite interesting seeing all the gas retrieval systems in place at the tip though.
We walked across Enderby Park where we found a cache and then crossed the road and across farmland and then skirted around Enderby College. We crossed a golf course and then mislaid the path as it went across the grounds of the old Carlton Park mental hospital – now owned by Santander. There was security stopping cars driving in, but no problem for us walking out. I wonder if it was so easy for the mental patients! We eventually got back to the car as it was starting to snow having walked 11.7 km and found 4 caches.

More Saints caches - Rutland

Saturday 13th February
We hadn’t planned a walk today but decided at the last minute to go to Rutland to finish off last weeks caches. We drove to Preston and walked up to the co-ordinates we had solved last week after finding "Neat Stripe" cache. The co-ordinates were actually on a bit of private land that the farmer had put up a notice saying keep out. We will inform the cache owner when we get home. We were a bit worried but we hunted around and John spotted the cache. We thought we would just find the coin needed for the puzzle but it turned out to be a bracelet of buttons with more co-ordinates on. We had trouble reading one of the numbers but followed the direction and eventually found a footpath where we found the coin stuck to a tree. After getting back to the car we drove to Morcott and parked. This was to find "Ninja Host" - the next Saints cache. We crossed the road and walked down beside a wood along a wide footpath. We were near the cache but were on the wrong side of the stream, but we eventually found a bridge. The cache was near a disused railway. We hunted for a while and found a couple of red herrings, one saying "nope" and the other "a helping hand". We eventually found the cache in one of the first places I had looked! We took the blessing and walked to find the coin. We got to a bridge and hunted around and I got down and looked under, after several looks I suddenly saw the coin hanging in front of my face. That's 5 Saints caches found now. A few more trips to Rutland will be needed to finish this off. We returned to the car and drove to Braunston in Rutland to complete a puzzle that is part of another series of puzzle caches called Curse of the Black Cat. we had walked about 12km on our hunts today.

Prestwold

Thursday 11th February
After a bit of shopping in Loughborough we drove to Prestwold and found a small cache that had been set during the Caravan club rally last year. It requested that cachers log whether they are caravanners -so we can tick that one off! We then drove on to Rempstone and parked in the layby opposite the church. We walked across a footpath and after about 1km we came across a graveyard. It was quite surreal to see a graveyard in the middle of nowhere in the snow. We walked back to the car and then down the A60 for a bit to a footpath which went across a very muddy field. We then walked alongside a stream to find Borderline and Rockers cache 1. Although there was still quite a bit of snow along the path it was very warm in the sun. We walked back to the car after a short 7 km.

Rutland -Saints caches

Saturday 6th February
There are a series of caches on Geocaching.com which are very fiendish puzzles. We solved and found a couple of the caches a few weeks ago but having solved a few more we decided on another trip to Rutland. Finding the cache is usually easy (having found where to go) but it is following the instructions included in the cache which causes the problems. We had found "Hobnail Staith" -St Botolphs a few weeks ago but had struggled with finding the hidden coin that gives extra information. So today we started off by visiting Wardley and taking a walk down the muddy lane to find the coin that we missed two weeks ago. The cache owner had told us that it was still in place we went to the co-ordinates and I spotted it straight away this time. We noted the details and returned to the car. We then drove to Ridlington to do the next cache – “Neat Stripe and Apian Lust”. For this we had to find some information in the church and then add it to the co-ordinates we had worked out at home. These led us to Preston, which we had visited a few weeks ago. We followed the footpath and found the cache. We took a copy of the Saints Blessing and tried to work out where to go to complete the puzzle. It had us foxed, so we drove to Lyddington to find some lunch and see if we could solve the puzzle. We had no luck with the puzzle but did have a nice lunch at the Old White Hart. We then walked to the hiding place of the third Saints puzzle "CatsFire". I had solved the location for this yesterday, but we did not have co-ordinates,just a rough location. We chose what we hoped was the correct direction, and walked down the lane towards Thorpe on the Water, we knew we were looking for a footpath and a stile, 1.15 miles from Bedes house! We found a footpath and a stile and hunted for the cache but no luck. We nearly gave up but decided to follow the footpath a bit further. We crossed the river Welland which was very full; the foot bridge vibrating with the force of the water as we waked over it, and then spotted another stile a bit further on. Bingo – we found the cache. This time we knew what we were doing with the additional clues – 2 vials of herbs, that we had to identify and then use to gain the co-ordinates for the last bit of the puzzle. We headed back to Lyddington and off on another footpath, which we slipped and slid along as it was very thick with mud. After a bit of a hunt we found the last bit of the puzzle. We have now solved 4 out of 8 of the Saints puzzles and have collected information from 3 of them. It was getting late so we headed home, leaving the 5th puzzle for our next visit. As soon as we got home we managed to solve the clues from Neat stripe, so that will be found on our next visit too. We had walked 9km on our various trips today.

Dunstall circular

Monday 1st February
No work today so we decided to do the Dunstall circular cache walk. We drove to Barton under Needwood, parked and set off for the first stage of the walk. We spent a bit of time looking for the first cache unsuccessfully (we found out it was archived when we got home), and then set off across the field towards the next cache,which was very small, but hidden in plain sight,but well disguised. We then headed towards the woods where we found another cache. It was very slippery here as the ground was icy so we walked carefully down the slope and out into a meadow. We followed the path across the field with views of a lovely house and church on the opposite side and emerged at the Old Hall farm which was having a lot of work carried out; scaffolders and builders everywhere. We left the farm track and emerged onto the road which we followed to Dunstall, where we found a cache near a well; it was a stone lion but the water in the trough was frozen solid today.

From here we followed the path along field edges to Highlands Park, another large house covered in scaffolding and then headed back along a path towards Sprinks Bank farm. We struggled with finding a cache here but John braved the hawthorn and found it. We found the next cache under a bridge, to the sound of barking dogs, and then headed away from the farm to emerge at the other end of Dunstall, where we went to have a look at the church which had very impressive stonework inside the church. We followed a bridleway through the woods, past the lake (which was frozen) and eventually arrived back at Barton under Needwood. We found two police officers by our car, because they said it was causing an obstruction. It wasn’t our car causing the problem but all the mummy’s picking up their darlings from school who were parked opposite!

Belper, Derbyshire

Saturday 30th January
It was a nice day so we decided on a Peak district walk. We drove to Belper and parked in the market place. It was lovely and warm as we left the car so we wondered if we needed coats, but took them just in case. We walked up the Butts and then onto a rough lane leading out of Belper. We stopped to find a cache in a field containing a nice horse called Partridge (or that’s what it said on his stable, any way). He munched on his hay whilst we hunted. We then continued up the hill and found another cache. It was the first of a series where we had to collect the numbers from the cache to find a final cache at the end of the walk. We got to the end of the lane, crossed the road and walked onto a track that went past a reservoir and then past a farm, across a field and through farm stables. There were several horses in the field but they ignored us. We ended up in the corner of a field where we had a cup of coffee and then went for a short diversion along a footpath that was along a disused railway and under a tunnel under the A38. It was an interesting path, the sleepers and tracks were still in place. John will map it on OSM when we get home. We walked back onto our route and followed the path through a lovely bit of woodland and over a stream. We emerged into Holbrook. There was a nice pub here – the Dead Poets which served very good beer but no food. We had a bag of crisps and ate our sandwiches in an alcove near a roaring fire. It was very cosy and we had to drag ourselves away to carry on with our walk. We walked along the road and then joined a farm track that led back towards Belper. It was bitterly cold now but we found a few more caches and completed the sums needed to get the co-ordinates for the final cache. Unfortunately my PDA decided it was too cold so stopped working and we were unable to get the co-ordinates to put in the GPS. We will have to come back to find that cache another time. We had found 12 geocaches and walked 10 km.

Egglington, Derbyshire

Monday January 18th
As it was still dry we decided to go for another walk before the snow comes back in. We drove to Eggington (Derbyshire) and parked. We walked out of Eggington finding a few caches as we went, and then walked along the busy road, beside Eggington common. Everywhere was very wet and flooded. We walked along the Etwall road and then took the footpath that followed a lane past a farm. We were heading towards a cache called Shall we play a Game, which had been quite a fiendish puzzle. John had solved the tricky bit this time. We crossed a field with a stream running though it, although it was difficult to see where the stream really was as it had escaped it’s banks a bit and then we crossed a bridge and found the cache – being surprised to find we were only the second people to find it. We continued across the field and emerged onto the new Sustrans cycle path. We diverted along the path to look for a cache –we were unsuccessful this time, and decided not to continue along the path as it was so smelly – there is a nearby composting unit which may have been creating the pong, or it might just have been farming smells. We walked past Derby airfield and were treated to a light plane coming into land and then taking off just before it set down. We decided someone was having a flying lesson.
We had a bit of a problem finding the next footpath but eventually found the path and headed off across more very muddy fields before arriving back in Eggington. We walked through the village and visited the church, which has a working gaslamp outside. The church was locked but we did get to look around Wilfs retreat, a peaceful area which had been created from the BBC Breathing spaces scheme. We followed the road from the church towards the A38 but took a footpath just before we reached it. We had a bit of a problem deciding where the path went, but eventually found a stile which led into a field of sheep with new-born lambs. I bet they were pleased they hadn’t arrived last week. We had more trouble with the footpaths – they don’t mark them well around here, but eventually found one which led through the garden of a rather posh house. John decided the footpaths needed mapping correctly so we took a further lap round following all the paths. The paths were either not marked or had stiles which were very high and with no cross pieces. Not easy for people with short legs! They are obviously trying to dissuade walkers but John will now have all the footpaths on Open Street Maps. We had walked 9.3km.

Sunday January 17th
It was dry and all the snow had gone so after ages without a walk we had the opportunity to stretch our legs. We drove to Etwall, Derbyshire and parked near the church. We started off by getting lost, we followed a path which led through school grounds. We didn't think it was right but it was leading where we wanted to go and there were other people walking there. We got onto what appeared to be a path but we soon realised it was a path running above the path we wanted, and there was a fence separating us. We followed along the ridge and eventually found a way to get down onto the cycle path. We followed the lane and emerged into a different part of Etwall and then headed along a footpath across a very wet field leading to the busy A516. We took our lives in our hands as we crossed the road and headed into a field full of sheep. We were amused by the sheep as they all lined up to cross over a bridge, stand at the top to admire the view and then walk down again. We found a cache and then left the field and climbed up onto the disused railway. We diverted a little from the track to find some caches – one of which was hidden in the pocket of a scarecrows dungarees! We returned to follow the disused railway for a few miles, finding several caches as we went. There were several stretches of the path which were still very icy and slippery. The railway path eventually finished at Mickleover, where we walked around the roundabout and then followed very muddy fields to Burnaston. We eventually left the fields, with heavy boots clumped with mud, and walked along the lane back to Etwall. We had walked 12.7 km and found 14 caches.

First walk of the Year -Frisby on the Wreake

Sunday January 3rd
It was a cold but bright day and as heavy snow is forecast over the next few days we decided to go for the first walk of the year while we can. We drove to Frisby on the Wreake, which is on the Leicestershire / Rutland border, and parked opposite the pub. The pavements were very icy and we had to be careful as we got out of the car. We slipped and slid up Bell Lane and then found a footpath between two houses. We passed through the gate, and were intrigued by the way the gate was hung; it was too close to a tree, and so a large chunk had been cut out of the tree enabling the handle to pass through, and the gate to open. We crossed the field which was frozen and covered with a light dusting of snow. A couple of horses were huddled under their coats looking very cold. As we approached the first cache site there were suddenly walkers appearing from all directions, so we had to admire the view until we could hunt for the cache. It was quickly found and we continued our walk. Several large fields were crossed until we emerged into Kirby Bellars. We diverted to find a cache and then walked down a small lane to a bridge where there was a lovely view of the church. We walked along an embankment, though a field containing lots of black sheep with curly horns, and then over a bridge which had crossed an old canal and then onto an icy lane, which led to Ashfordby Valley. We had planned this to be just a diversion to get some caches but studying the map we discovered we could use a different footpath to make a small circular walk. John is putting all the footpaths from our walks onto Open Street Maps so using new footpaths helps build up the database. We walked along the road at Ashfordby and eventually found the footpath, leading back over the fields towards Kirby Bellars.
At the church we turned right and followed the paths in the snow towards the lake. The lake was frozen but was covered with birds, lots of swans, ducks and geese. We were treated to the sight of a flock of swans taking off. The noise of their wings was incredible as they took off from the frozen lake. We were surprised to see that the footpath went straight through the middle of the lake, it was built up on a small embankment, and we then walked beside the River Wreake and the railway until we got back to Frisby. As we were signing the log book of a cache by the church, two people came towards us, they were also cachers and had been doing a similar walk but in the opposite direction. We had walked 10.5 km and found 11 caches.

Last walk of the Year - Breaston

Thursday 31st December
It was a lovely day today –cold crisp and bright and after the excesses of Christmas we needed a walk. We drove to Breaston which is close to Long Eaton. On the way we drove past a spot where we should have emerged on a path during the latter part of our walk, only to discover that the path was within a Severn Trent water works and meant that we would not be able to do that stage. We parked opposite the church and set off across the fields. Our path was quite dry but the rest of the field was under water and the next field which was also flooded had a horse standing in the water. Our field contained a couple of rams, with very impressive horns, who decided to take an interest in us, luckily we were quickly over the stile, as I think they could have done quite a bit of damage! We crossed the railway and walked along a pleasant lane to a new plantation known as Orchid wood. There was a cache in the nature reserve so we diverted off the path and did a lap around the reserve, finding the cache on the way. A lady passed us with two dogs one of which was very bouncy but after a stern “Sit” from John he promptly obeyed. We continued along the footpath and arrived at Church Wilne. There was a lake here called St Chad’s Water and after finding a cache we decided on a complete lap of the lake, to make up for having the latter stage of our walk cut short. There were lots of birds on the lake, which was frozen at the edges, including swans, moorhens and cormorants. We continued our walk along the road and then crossed a bridge into a field and followed the footpath to Great Wilne. We checked the map to see how the walk should continue and found that we could do a little more and then use the MidShires way to head back towards Breaston. It was a lovely walk even though it was a series of small circles. We found 5 caches and walked 10.5km.
We managed to walk 1276 km this year, a slight improvement on last years 1208 km.
The camera was found (left in the caravan) so Ican now start adding pictures again!