Stowe Cache Planning

Stowe Cache Planning

Sunday League Error

I should have known better, but then I was a bit of a novice. I was cache planning at Stowe but I made a bit of a mess of it.

I’d been working with the National Trust at Stowe since the middle of the previous year trying to see whether we could set a few geocaches on their land. During that time we’d got to the point of seeming mutually interested, but then their marketing lady left. Plus they went into a rather busy period while they moved their operations. They’d recently finished renovating the New Inn, on the south side of the estate, and as a result it all went a bit quiet.

I contacted them again at around Christmas time, hoping that things had moved on. Indeed they had moved on, to the extent that they were ready to talk to me about some locations.

Lots of Trees

I was initially planning to place caches through the inner landscape gardens at Stowe. There are a lot of different tree species in the gardens and I thought it would make a good theme for the series to use different tree types. It was quite easy to get up to 16 different types of tree, and it was easy to get a good geographic spread throughout the gardens.

In the event, though, that wasn’t to be. I set out an excellent (well, I thought it was excellent) cache series in the gardens and prepped all the pages. But when I released them the reviewers bounced them on the basis that the gardens are pay-to-enter. That’s not allowed under current rules, even if it’s for a charitable organization. So I had to go back and collect them all up again and think of another plan.

It’s a shame. I personally thought that a series inside the gardens was a much better idea than the ones I eventually set. But the rules is the rules, so I had to put up with it. The funny thing is that if I’d tried listing them on an alternate listings site they would have been fine, but on geocaching.com they weren’t. ‘Nuff said.

Anyway, while I was attempting to place the caches I took some decent photos. Some of the trees I was attempting to use as hosts were very photogenic.


2011 Caching Diary

2011 Caching Diary

The Sketch

2011 Caching Diary – My second year of caching, with the speed of finding picking up a bit from the previous one. 2011 yielded 731 total finds over the year.

Let’s start with a more few numbers.

My “Days Found” matrix improved from 88 to 184 days, so there were 96 days in this year that I hadn’t been caching in the previous year. The “Days Placed” matrix improved from 140 to 268 days and the “Months Placed” improved by 30, although 12 of these would be “this year”, so don’t really count.

My “Difficulty/Terrain” matrix improved significantly to 43 out of 81 slots completed.

And geographically, I went caching in 9 new UK counties and one new country (India).

So what did I actually do on the caching front in 2011 then?

January (56 finds)

  • 1st January – We took a New Year’s Day stroll around Willen Lake – 2 finds
  • 2nd January – We travelled over to Long Compton for a New Year’s event (see Long Compton) – 16 finds
  • 4th January – I made a single find locally in Milton Keynes – 1 find
  • 5th January – I made another single find locally in Milton Keynes – 1 find
  • 6th January – The same again – 1 find
  • 9th January – I scooted out to the east side of Milton Keynes – 5 finds
  • 14th January – I headed up to the north side of Milton Keynes – 7 finds
  • 15th January – I returned to the north side of Milton Keynes – 6 finds
  • 16th January – I popped out from home for one local find – 1 find
  • 18th January – I popped out of work at lunchtime to grab a new cache – 1 find
  • 21st January – I returned to the north side of Milton Keynes again – 3 finds
  • 22th January – I returned to the north side of Milton Keynes again again – 7 finds
  • 25th January – I made a business trip to Blackpool and grabbed a cache on the way home – 2 finds
  • 26th January – I popped out of work to make one find – 1 find
  • 28th January – I popped out to Little Brickhill at lunch, trying to avoid getting covered in mud as I walked around the edge of a field – 2 finds

February (79 finds)

  • 2nd February – I scooted out of work at lunchtime to grab a few – 3 finds
  • 11th February – I shot around Milton Keynes in the evening to grab a few while the girls were off up north for the weekend – 5 finds
  • 12th February – I travelled down to Chesham for a bit of a monster day, in which I walked absolutely miles in the freezing cold (see Chiltern Hundred 1) – 60 finds
  • 13th February – My feet hurt but I went for a stretch around the north of Milton Keynes – 2 finds
  • 15th, 16th and 18th February – I popped out after work to grab a few caches – 4 finds
  • 23rd February – There was a caching event on the A5 down towards Leighton Buzzard and we went to grab a few in Stockgrove Country Park – 5 finds

March (40 finds)

  • 2nd March – I made a business trip to Preston on the train and managed to grab a couple – 2 finds
  • 5th March – I went up to Salcey Forest with Ami to meet up with CASH and Gary – 7 finds
  • 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 18th and 28th March – I popped out of work to grab a few caches – 10 finds
  • 29th March – I popped out for a while in Milton Keynes – 4 finds
  • 31st March – There was an event down in Leighton Buzzard – I left work promptly and met up with another cacher to grab a few before the event – 17 finds

April (68 finds)

  • 1st April – I popped out from work to grab a handfull of local drive-bys – 5 finds
  • 2nd April – I went up to Salcey Forest – 4 finds
  • 4th April – I made a one-day business trip to the north-west, travelling up via the M6 and back via the M1 – 2 finds
  • 6th April – I scooted out after work up to the north of MK – 2 finds
  • 7th April – I went over to the east side of MK, but have absolutely no recollection of doing so – 3 finds
  • 11th April – I grabbed one in a car park in Leeds whilst on a business trip and then another in the woods near home once I got home – 2 finds
  • 13th April – I scooted out of work at lunchtime to grab a new one nearby – 1 find
  • 16th and 17th April – We were up in the north east and I grabbed one on each day – 2 finds
  • 20th April – We were at my folks’ in Measham and I went out to grab a couple – 2 finds
  • 21st April – We were still at my folks’ in Measham and it was Easter weekend. I completed a long day doing the Burgo and Beans series – 29 finds
  • 22nd April – We were still still at my folks’ in Measham and I drove to the other side of Coalville to grab a few in the morning – 4 finds
  • 24th April – We were back home and I did a couple of local caches – 2 finds
  • 25th April – I went up to Salcey Forest again – 4 finds
  • 27th April – I was working in Bracknell and stopped off for a couple of drive-bys – 2 finds
  • 28th April – I popped out in the evening to grab a cache at Bletchley Railway Station – 1 find
  • 29th April – I made a few local finds – 3 finds

May (37 finds)

  • 8th May – I grabbed a couple on an otherwise dull Sunday afternoon – 2 finds
  • 10th and 12th May – I grabbed one each on two work days – 2 finds
  • 13th May – I grabbed 3 during the work day and then went out on my bike in the evening for another – 4 finds
  • 14th May – I grabbed a couple up near Oakhill Wood. One was only for ladies, so I had to take the kids with me – 2 finds
  • 15th May – I cycled to north MK to do a few – 4 finds
  • 24th May – I took my car up to Stony Stratford in the evening to grab a short series – 8 finds
  • 25th May – An event over towards Stewartby. I left work early and ran round the lake whilst grabbing caches. I went to the event slighty smelling – 15 finds

June (67 finds)

  • 2nd June – We were down in that there London and grabbed a handful whilst walking around – 3 finds
  • 5th June – I’d just arrived in Bangalore on a business trip and I hired a taxi for the afternoon to take me out caching – 2 finds
  • 12th June – I popped out on a Sunday afternoon to find a few local ones. They turned out to be truly awful – 4 finds
  • 13th June – Another “grab one at lunchtime” day – 1 find
  • 14th June – There was an event in Chesham to celebrate a caching milestone of Dr Solly’s (20,000 finds, I think). I took a couple of hours off in the afternoon to have another go at the Chiltern Hundred series (see Chesham) – 43 finds
  • 21st June – I did an array of caches spread out across Milton Keynes, so I’m assuming there were a few at lunchtime and some more on the way home from work – 6 finds
  • 25th June – A Saturday morning stroll to Coombs Quarry with Ami while the other two ladies were having their hair done – 4 finds
  • 30th June – I went out on my bike in the evening in the general direction of Winslow – 4 finds

July (59 finds)

  • 3rd July – I went down towards Winslow again, in the car this time, to grab one I hadn’t reached earlier in the week – 1 find
  • 10th July – We were up at my folks’ and I did a few whilst on a morning run – 8 finds
  • 11th July – A single find done in lunch break – 1 find
  • 16th and 17th July – A number of finds in MK parks – 8 finds
  • 18th July – A single find done in lunch break. It was so close to work that I walked there – 1 find
  • 22nd and 23rd July – Kas took the girls up to her mum’s while I stayed at home. Notionally I had some work to do, but I didn’t feel like doing it on a Friday night. By Saturday afternoon it under control and I went to finish the Chiltern Hundred series (see Bozeat) – 28 finds
  • 31st July – A bright and sunny Sunday morning at my folks’ house – 12 finds

August (43 finds)

  • 3rd August – We were still at my folks’ and I dashed out to grab a few local ones – judging by the number, I was having the day off – 7 finds
  • 4th August – I made a single find in Lancashire, so I was evidently on a trip to Blackpool for work – 1 find
  • 5th August – I was back at my folks and we went to Breedon-on-the-Hill to grab a couple – 2 finds
  • 10th August – I was on a business trip to Blackpool but had time to go out in the evening when I got home – 9 finds
  • 15th August – We were having a week off up at Kas’s mums, and we made a few finds in Cleadon – 3 finds
  • 16th August – The week’s holiday was interrupted by a work meeting that I apparently couldn’t miss. It was in Warrington, so I got the company to provide me with a rental car for the day. I filled in a lot of counties on that day. I chose to drive over the M62 and come back up the A19 through North Yorkshire – 6 finds
  • 17th and 19th August – I was back in Whitburn and grabbed a few more – 6 finds
  • 20th and 30th August – Both yielded single finds near home – 2 finds
  • 31st August – A nice evening. I persuaded the girls to come out with me to do a few after work – 7 finds

September (112 finds)

  • 3rd September – A singler in MK – 1 finds
  • 6th September – Must have been a day off because there’s no way I could have done this many if it wasn’t – 12 finds
  • 11th September – I was on a business trip to Bangalore again and got a taxi driver to take me out for a find – 1 find
  • 15th September – I arrived at Heathrow Airport and drove straight to Birmingham without going home. I was far too early so my evening event, so I went caching (see Bats in the Belfry) – 23 finds
  • 16th September – I drove home from Birmingham via a couple of caches, emptied and re-filled a bag, and then travelled with the ladies of the house up to the north-east for the weekend – 2 finds
  • 17th September – We were in Newcastle and made a handful of finds – 6 finds
  • 18th September – It was the Great North Run and I found a cache at either end of it. This is a record for my greatest distance travelled on foot in one day between two caches – 2 finds
  • 19th September – I grabbed a few on a trip out from work at lunchtime – 3 finds
  • 24th September – There was a caching event to celebrate The Other Stu’s 40th birthday, and he’d set new caches. I did some with the family on the 24th and then returned on the 25th on my own (see Getting on a Bit) – 47 finds
  • 27th and 28th September – I did my usual trip out at lunchtime – 3 finds
  • 29th September – I was back up in Newcastle again. This it was a business trip where I’d travelled up by train and rented a car – 12 finds

October (61 finds)

  • 3rd October – I did a lunchtime dash – 1 find
  • 9th October – Me and the girls walked around Peterborough for a bit while Kas ran a half marathon – 6 finds
  • 14th October – I did a lunchtime dash – 2 finds
  • 16th October – I went out in the car and did a fairly widespread bunch – 5 finds
  • 18th October – I grabbed a handful after work on a run – 3 finds
  • 20th October – I was in Blackpool working and had time to find one – 1 find
  • 22nd October – We were back up in the north-east. I grabbed a cache with the kids whilst doing a parkrun – 1 find
  • 23rd October – We left the kids at Kas’s mum’s for a couple of nights and went up near Bamburgh to enjoy a mini break – 1 find
  • 24th October – We were still in Bamburgh. I got up early to go for a run / cache before we went home – 10 finds
  • We didn’t go straight home because it was half-term. So on October 27th I went for a run from my folks’ house – 10 finds
  • 28th October – I wasn’t working and went for a run around Kingsbury Water Park (see Kingsbury Water Park) – 21 finds

November (48 finds)

  • 2nd November – I went by train on a business trip to Preston – 2 finds
  • 5th November – We went over to Ampthill, met up with a couple of people and did a couple of puzzles – 2 finds
  • 6th November – I FTF’d a new(ish) puzzle in Milton Keynes – 1 find
  • 17th November – I made a quick find on the way home from work – 1 find
  • 19th November – I popped up to the north side of MK with Izzy for a bit of a walk around – 10 finds
  • 23rd November – I made a quick find after work – 1 find
  • 24th November – There was an event over towards Letchworth, so I skived off work early and drove over – 9 finds
  • 26th November – I noticed Simply Paul had released a new series, and it seemed a shame not to go attack them on their first day (see Life Begins) – 21 finds
  • 30th November – There was an event over to celebrate SP’s birthday, and the new series I’d already done most of – 1 find

December (55 finds)

  • 3rd December – I went to finish of the series of SP’s – 16 finds
  • 6th December – I made a quick find on the way out to work – 1 find
  • 7th December – I was on a business trip to Leeds and stayed the night – 10 finds
  • 10th December – I drove up to Wolverton for a few Saturday afternoon quickies – 7 finds
  • 11th December – We met up with a bunch of friends to do a night cache in Linford Wood – 1 find
  • 23rd vI nearly got an FTF locally – 1 find
  • 24th December – I went out for a few in the afternoon with Kas while the kids stayed at my folks’ – 9 finds
  • 27th December – We’d migrated to the north-east and went for a walk round a local country park – 8 finds
  • 28th December – I drove down to the northern edge of Sunderland to grab a couple of new ones – 2 finds

Life Begins

Life Begins

Steeple Claydon

The boy Simply Paul was 40 years old, apparently, although I didn’t really know him at the time. Life begins….

Anyway, to celebrate this momentous occasion he decided to set a series of caches around the village in which he spent his formative years, namely Steeple Claydon, in that there Buckinghamshire.

I happened to spot a bunch of notifications of these caches on the morning they appeared. It happened to be a Saturday afternoon when I didn’t have a great deal of anything else to do. So me and the cache mobile headed off in the general direction to see what we could find.

As it turned out, what we found on that Saturday afternoon was a bunch of empty log sheets. Apparently, nobody else was close enough and eager enough to go and give it a shot, so on my first visit I made about 26 FTFs. Cool. Although, by the time I got back, it was distinctly dark. Not great conditions for wandering across agricultural land in the winter. Anyway, my route for the day took me on a clockwise loop to the north of the village.

I only managed to do about two-thirds of them on that first afternoon, so I returned on December 4th to finish them off. In the meantime, I’d also been to Steeple Claydon for an event to celebrate SP’s birthday. This was at the now defunct Phoenix pub. I seem to remember SP didn’t actually attend. He gort caught by a delayed or cancelled flight somewhere. Back at the plot, the second day proved to be quite hard work. I struggled with a lot of the caches on the southern part of the figure-eight shape, but I got most of them eventually. Several of them required me to phone a friend. It was slow going.


Kingsbury Water Park

Kingsbury Water Park

Running Whilst Caching

Kingsbury Water Park is one of those British industrial regeneration jobs that the East Midlands is very good at, although technically this might be the West Midlands I guess – it’s close to the borders between Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire in an area where I can never quite tell where I am.

It was autumn half-term and I was staying up at my parents’ house in Measham and had a bit of free time, so I decided to combine a run with a bit of caching. Kingsbury looked like a good place for both. The previous day I’d been out caching locally and made 10 finds at fairly rapid pace.

Back at the plot, the site of industrial regeneration at Kingsbury Water Park is a bunch of old gravel pits that have been allowed to fill up with water and have been surrounded by a bit of forest-like tree planting to create an area that is now a haven for anglers and twitchers from miles around.

My first issue here was nearly a catastrophic one. You have to pay for parking, and you have to pay on the way in. The payment requires coins that I didn’t have (I didn’t actually have any coins at all). So before I could even start with anything I had to go and find a shop. A shop in which I could buy a token item and request a stack of coins my change. I eventually found a shop that I could park outside in Kingsbury village. I bought myself a small bottle of water using a £10 note, and took all the change in coins.

Once I eventually got into the place and found somewhere to park the rest of the morning went quite smoothly. I found 13 caches inside the park on a run of about 5km and then had enough time left to drink my water and do a few drive-bys alongside the M42 on the way home.

The caches I found over the course of the two days were :