Harlaston, Staffordshire

Monday 19th October 2009
Time for a decent walk as John's dodgy knee is feeling a bit better. We drove to Harlaston which is just into Staffordshire. The small village was quite pretty, although there had been a lot of new building in the area. The church was unusual (although I forgot to take a picture). It had a black and white tower, and dated from Saxon times, with medieval and Victorian additions.
We walked along the street and found a footpath which wound alongside several pretty gardens and emerged by a farm. The footpath sign pointed to a pile of rubble and farm equipment blocked off with barriers. Hmmm, no way through there then. The cow barn was open (and empty) so we walked through and reached a field edge. We were walking parallel with the path we should have been on, so followed it until we reached the area where the footpath proper joined the field.
The next part of the walk was over fields with new crops but no signs to show the path, and when we did reach the stile it was broken with no cross step, so we had to carefully climb over the barbed wire. It was lucky I had put the route on the GPS, so we knew where the paths went; when the crops are grown it will be impossible to see the path .
It was warm and sunny and we had good views across the fields and we followed the path over Hogs hill (which was really very flat) and emerged onto Syerscote lane, a gated road which we followed for a while and then sat on a verge to eat our sandwiches and have a cup of coffee.
After lunch we followed a permissive path (rather than the lane) to Twizzle lane. We were surprised to walk around large fields full of elephant grass. I assume it was for biofuel.
After reaching Haunton we used the footpath to walk parallel with the road back to Harlaston. We had found 6 caches on the way round and wanted to do another before we left. We took a footpath near the church and crossed a field which had heifers in. All was well as we crossed the stile but as we found the cache we could hear snorting and puffing. As we went to go back over the stile all the cows had come to see what we were up to. John bravely persuaded them to move away from the stile and we crossed the field with them showing no further interest. Our walk had been 10km.

Rough Park walk

Wednesday 14th October
We only had time for a short walk today so headed off to find some caches around Rough park. We parked at the Lount nature reserve and then walked along the road to enter the park via the bridleway. This was another local nature reserve that we hadn't realised existed and only found because someone had placed geocaches there. We walked along the track and stopped to find "Curse of the First to Find no 8". It took ages to find and then we finally found it in the first place we had looked!
This nature reserve is a mixture of ancient woodland and new National Forest plantations so there was lots of birdsong as we walked.
We continued around the trail and found "Rough Speaking" geocache, hidden in a tree trunk. As we followed the trail we passed a small orchard with 3 large pigs in it. They were having a bit of a tussle and charging at the fence. We walked on and found "Rough Rising" on the outskirts of Rising wood. It was starting to get very noisy here as the park was running close to the A42. Our last cache was found at Rough Water, a small lake. We finished the walk by following the path back to the road and then back to Lount reserve. It had been a short 5 km but had at least stretched the legs.

Clifton Campville

Monday 5th October
We decided on an afternoon walk so drove to Clifton Campville near Tamworth, Staffordshire.
We parked on the main street and then walked towards the church which had an interesting millenium tower of tiles, with villagers names on. We had a stroll through the new plantations on Coneyberry Green and then crossed the road and headed across ploughed fields.
We had problems at one footpath junction as the footpath had been ploughed up whilst harvesting potatoes and there was no footpath direction sign. We ended up on the wrong side of the field but eventually got back to the right path.
We walked beside a fishing lake and a stream for a while with the path surprisingly going through hedges and over bridges, and not around the field edge as it looked like it should do.
We chatted to a dog walker for a while as he complained about the lack of signage on the paths and asked whether you could walk to Clifton across the fields. We assured him you could.
We headed towards Haunton but found that the footpath across the field was blocked so we followed the road. Haunton was a small village with a convent, a nursing home and lots of catholic statues.
Having solved the clues of a multicache, which we found in Twizzle lane we walked back to Clifton Campville. We diverted off to find a cache, which involved walking through a new housing estate and what appeared to be someones garden, but the path went around the back to a field. As we hunted for the cache a lady appeared and asked if we had found it. She was very chatty and said she enjoyed meeting the people who came to hunt for the cache. The walk was 11km.

EBE caching series

Thursday 1st October
We decided on a walk today so drove to Etwall , in Derbyshire to do the WebRats EBE series (Etwall - Burnaston - Etwall).
The first problem arose when I overtook some lorries so did not see the signpost. We were at Utoxeter before we realised so had to turn round at the roundabout and go back about 10 miles. We parked in Etwall and set off along the road. This series had 16 caches in it so they were placed at fairly regular distances along the route. We soon left the road and set off along the border of the Toyota factory and into some very nice woodland. We found the Dave reincarnation cache, a bit off the beaten track, and also a cache which was disabled -not quite sure why, as it was clearly visible from the track and was well stocked.
We walked beside a stream for a while and then stopped by a bridge to enjoy a sandwich and a cup of coffee before walking onto the road which led to Burnaston. Here we diverted to find one of JustAlans puzzle caches. I had solved all these caches a while ago and this was the first time we had been in the vicinity to find one. Unfortunately this cache was not in a good condition so we have emailed the cache owner to do some maintainance.
We sat on a bench in front of the village hall in Burnaston for a coffee and then continued the walk. The next cache was near a barn, in a field of cows. I found the cache and hastily signed it before the cows became too nosey. We passed into some woodland and the cache listing here stated that it was the site of a secret nuclear bunker from the 60's. There is nothing there now as the site has been filled with farm rubbish but it was quite interesting to know the history of the area. Another Justalan puzzle cache was found, which involved me climbing through a hedge ad rummaging around an old tree stump before we were soon heading back towards Etwall having found about 20 caches, which has taken us into the top 1000 UK cachers. WooHoo!
We had walked about 9km so stopped at the Seven Wells in Etwall for our tea and to give the traffic time to ease off. We had two fish and chips for £9!

Curse of the Black Panther

Wednesday 23rd September
We did a bit of gardening and then decided to attempt a local night cache, called Curse of the Black Panther.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=bb1246ed-9efa-433b-89c6-16f7a0bddac0
After dinner we drove to Albert village and parked by the road. It was not quite dark so we walked down the road to try another cache which was further down than I expected and by the time we got there it was too dark to see properly, so we abandoned it and walked back to Pick wood. Several bats flew over as walked up the road and past the lake. We put on the torches and followed the path to a large spoil heap which we climbed and after a bit of a search found the first cache - Pick Triangle. This area used to be the site of Wraggs pipe works but has now been planted up as part of the national forest. We then went to the correct place as mentioned in the directions and shone the torches around. John eventually spotted a reflection in the trees and we headed down the hill towards the reflector. We then stood and shone the torches again, and spotted another reflector on an information board. It was now quite dark and we stumbled through the grass and onto the next reflector. We could hear owls around us. It was a bit of a job spotting the next reflectors, but we did and then eventually spotted the one that the instructions said were only 30 ft from the cache. The cache was soon spotted but it was difficult getting it out of the hole, we had to did around it to remove it, we signed the log and put it back in as far as we could. We then had great fun trying to find the way back to the path and back to the car. The main paths certainly didn't show up well in the dark. It had felt like quite an adventure, even though we had only walked a few hundred metres. We did not see any night animals but did hear some owls. We got home at about 9 o'clock.

Kegworth canal walk

Friday 18th September
We spent an hour in the garden clearing the bottom corner and then went to the organic farm to get some meat for Sunday and some lunch for today.
We drove to Kegworth where we parked by the canal. We started by walking across a ploughed field towards the railway where we had to go under a very low tunnel. I could just about walk upright but John had to duck. We carried on across fields emerging onto the road at Kingston. After finding a cache we sat by the memorial and ate our lunch - bacon puffs and a scone. We found the next footpath which went between some lovely cottages with pretty gardens. We crossed a little bridge and watched some fish and then headed towards the power station. We crossed another bridge where another cache was found and John spotted a yellow frog. We continued along the footpath towards the power station and then followed a zig zag path through lovely woodland and then across rough ground to the road.
The map was very unclear at this point and we headed towards the A453 but decided it was wrong so headed back but still could not find a path. We went into Ratcliffe village and found the path which was very overgrown but which went past a garden with llamas. The footpath signs disappeared and we suddenly came face to face with some very big and loud dogs. We hastily retraced our steps but could still not find the correct path through. Consulting the map we found a different way through but when we found ourselves at the river there was no way across so we walked back up onto the A453, crossed the bridge over the river and eventually found our way down onto the other side of the river. We enjoyed the stroll down the river watching the ducks and swans. We reached the canal and crossed back to the car after 8.1km.

Llandudno 3rd to 11th September

Thursday 3rd September
We had a slow morning but were eventually packed and ready to go by about 11.30. When going to the car, I heard a dreadful commotion, it was a sparrowhawk with a blackbird. As I moved the hawk dropped the blackbird who hid in the hedge. I then could not find my house keys so we spent ages looking for them,they were eventually found tucked in a map on the floor of the car. We left home at 12.20 and arrived at Llandudno at about 3 having stopped for a sandwich and taken a wrong turn which luckily we could turn round in a petrol station. We are staying on Bodolfan fields which is right on the promenade. It is a THS run by the BCC-ribblesdale section. It was very windy, the tail end of hurrican Bob, so we did not put up the awning this time.
Saturday 5th September
I popped out to get some rolls and Emily and Mike arrived whilst I was out. They were staying at Penmaenwahr in Sylvia and Jeffs caravan. We had a cup of tea and then walked along the prom and took the tram up to the top of Great Orme. It is a cable tram ride in two parts. You have to get off halfway up to get onto another tram which takes you to the top. We had lunch in the café and then strolled around the top which was very windy. We found a couple of caches and then headed back down on the tram. Emily and Mike went back to change and shower and then we went out to find a restaurant for dinner. We went into a Mediteranean restaurant with a good selection of meals. Emily and I had tovuk rule, which was chicken with spinach and walnuts in a cream sauce. John had swordfish and Mike had sea bass.
Monday 7th September
It was a very windy night, but surprisingly warm and dry when we got up. We decided on a walk around Great Orme. I packed a picnic - Mike had bought us pork pies yesterday, and we set off along the prom. We walked towards Happy Valley and headed up through the gardens. After finding a cache we sat and ate our pork pies, enjoying the views. It was very warm, and we had worn coats thinking it would be windy so overheated a bit.
We climbed past the ski slope and followed the path towards St Tudno church. We diverted through the heather to find a cache, and then went down to the church. It was very small and pretty but had a very large cemetary, considering there is only a small population on the Orme. We were pointed towards an unusual grave of a lady, Buzzin Bee, Ms Hot Rod of the 20's who buzzed round Wales on her Beezer bike. Her gravestone was a motorbike wheel with wings.
We headed from the churchyard up towards the summit stopping under the cablecars, which were running, to eat a muffin, and then headed to the summit café for a cup of tea. We walked off the top and explored a small disused quarry where the rocks were full of fossils of big shells.
We had collected all the information for a multicache, so set off on a pleasant walk around the headland. The views were stunning and the heather and gorse beautiful. As we approached the cache area we walked through sheep tracks in the heather and finally found the right place, an ammo box hidden in the gorse. We had a lovely view of the lighthouse which was castellated! After this we headed back towards the church and then followed the tram lines back down to Llandudno. It was very steep walking down the hill. We had walked 16km.
Tuesday 8th September
It was a lovely day so we decided to finish our walk at Conwy that we had started on Sunday. The entrance into Conwy is stunning as you drive over the river and beside the castle. We parked near the castle and walked into the town to buy some huntsmans pies from the butchers. We then found a path heading along the shore. We diverted into Bodlonbed woods to find a cache, where we had very good views across the sea.
We followed the path to the marina where we stopped to eat our pie whilst watching a shag. As we walked off to find a cache we disturbed a flock of lapwings -2 adults and several young. We walked round to the marina again to pick up a clue about the wartime Mulberry harbours. This clue led us back into the town and then out the other side, up a very steep hill to a trig point. We found the cache and enjoyed an alternative view of the castle. We finished with a walk around the town walls and then went for a drink at the Liverpool Arms near the harbour. We had fish and chips sitting on the harbour walls whilst watching the birds.
Wednesday 9th September
We had a quiet morning, it was sunny but very windy. In the afternoon we decided on a walk to Little Orme.
We walked across the road from the site and found Bay View cache, and then walked along the road to enter a nature reserve. We walked to the trig point on Little Orme and then across the top to find a cache. We then followed the North Wales footpath to find another cache and walked around the cliff top looking for another. Unfortunately it was 50m away at sea level and we could not see a way down. We back tracked and followed a path down an inclined plane to the sea. We found the cache and then tried to work out how to get back. We decided to go back up the inclined plane and follow the NW path. It started to rain near the top and then the path disappeared. The rain got heavier, we were soaked and unsure of the way. I spotted the trig point and we followed my instincts which were right. We eventually regained the right path and got back to the van, soaked through having walked just 7.84km.
Thursday 10th September
It was a beautifully day so we decided to stay a bit longer rather than go home. We decided on a day on Anglesey starting by driving to Beaumaris, where we strolled along the water and round the castle. After lunch we drove to Din Lligwy where we stopped to do the neolithic village and butial chamber earth caches. They were very atmospheric. We drove down to the beach and walked along the coast path for a while and then decided to drive home.