7th August 2022 – Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party GC9MDYF – cache #6071
But first on Sunday morning was the Mega 23 committee’s event… Milton Keynes next year, home of Bletchley Park, so their event was all about code breaking and puzzle solving… and some of the puzzles were a bit too complicated to do while sitting in the sun drinking coffee and chatting !

7th August 2022 – Castles of Staffordshire Lab Cache – Rocester Roman Fort – cache #6072
While I was out with Angel78 we drove around a bit and passed a couple of castles, or at least as near as you can get to one castle, and to the gates of the field where the other once was

7th August 2022 – Castles of Staffordshire Lab Cache – Alton Castle – cache #6073

7th August 2022 – Auction and Farewell Party GC9MDYT – cache #6074
It seems we started a precedent at our 2018 Mega for the Sunday evening being time to sell off all the unsold merchandise, the Log whatever’s from the weeks events, unwanted equipment and anything else you think you can make a bit of money on, so the West Mids committee carried on the tradition and held an auction to sell off all they didn’t need any more… as usual I neither bid nor bought anything… I would have, but the only items I was interested in were also interesting to people prepared to pay silly money, so they can have them.

7th August 2022 – Knotty Problems 63 GC9WKBZ – cache #6075
I signed this cache at the auction, it had been out in the field but the farmer had objected so it was brought in to the auction, signed by one and all then disabled and archived

Monday, the final farewell event then the drive home. As I don’t live too far away, just over 100 miles if I went directly, I had time to stop off for some more Lab caches on the way home, so I planned a route accordingly

8th August 2022 – Bap, Brew and Beggar Off GC9MDYN – cache #6076
The Mega was over, it had been okay, as I’ve said to many people if it is warm and sunny it’s never going to be bad, but the events, especially the evening events were very hit and miss, part of that was the venue of which two were used for the evenings, one held the hit events and the other held the miss events… the daytime event started off well, the Churnett railway and Apedale were good, the Teddy Bears picnic did not need to be so far from the racecourse for no apparent reason, and the Thursday event which we didn’t go to was a walk down the cache trail to the pub in the next village… we weren’t bothered to be missing it. Anyway all over now, on to the next

8th August 2022 – Castles of Staffordshire Lab Cache – Tutbury Castle – cache #6077
There are 10 of the Staffordshire Castle labs to do, I have only done 5 now that I directed my drive to Tutbury to grab this one

8th August 2022 – Christianity in Mickleover Lab Cache – All Saints Church – cache #6078
From Tutbury to Mickleover, and a little drive round to find the four churches

8th August 2022 – Christianity in Mickleover Lab Cache – Mickleover Methodist Church – cache #6079

8th August 2022 – Christianity in Mickleover Lab Cache – Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church – cache #6080

8th August 2022 – Christianity in Mickleover Lab Cache – St John the Evangelist – cache #6081

8th August 2022 – Mine Host aka Wudhus Beer Goggles Lab Cache – The Old Oak Inn – cache #6082
Then I drove to the one street village of Horsley Woodhouse and stopped every hundred yards along the road to get to the site of a current or old drinking house

8th August 2022 – Mine Host aka Wudhus Beer Goggles Lab Cache – The New Inn & Knife & Steel – cache #6083

8th August 2022 – Mine Host aka Wudhus Beer Goggles Lab Cache – The Site of the Former “Butchers Arms”. – cache #6084

8th August 2022 – Mine Host aka Wudhus Beer Goggles Lab Cache – The (Old & Original Knife & Steel) – cache #6085

8th August 2022 – Mine Host aka Wudhus Beer Goggles Lab Cache – The Jolly Colliers – cache #6086

8th August 2022 – The Pentrich rising 1817 Lab Cache – The village hall – cache #6087
The Pentrich Rising, a minor anti-government, anti-aristocracy protest in the recession following the Napoleonic wars… really it was over before it began as one of the revolutionary committee was a Police spy, but it happened in the village of Pentrich nd there is a set of lab cages commemorating it.

8th August 2022 – The Pentrich rising 1817 Lab Cache – The site of The White Horse Inn – cache #6088

8th August 2022 – The Pentrich rising 1817 Lab Cache – Church steps at lower entrance. – cache #6089

8th August 2022 – The Pentrich rising 1817 Lab Cache – The Dog at Pentrich PH – cache #6090

8th August 2022 – The Pentrich rising 1817 Lab Cache – The site of Asherfields barn. – cache #6091

8th August 2022 – Alfreton: Kings ‘N Curiosities Lab Cache – Alma Watchorn Park – cache #6092
Finally on to Alfreton, for the last Lab Caches of the week

8th August 2022 – Alfreton: Kings ‘N Curiosities Lab Cache – The Old Lock-up – cache #6093

8th August 2022 – Alfreton: Kings ‘N Curiosities Lab Cache – Alfreton Hall – cache #6094

8th August 2022 – Alfreton: Kings ‘N Curiosities Lab Cache – St. Martin’s Church – cache #6095

8th August 2022 – Alfreton: Kings ‘N Curiosities Lab Cache – George Inn Hotel – cache #6096

And there we were… tally for the 2022 Piratemania and Mega weekend was 242 finds… just a handful more than last year’s total (235 finds), 2 Megas, 17 other events, 182 Lab caches, and 41 ‘normal’ cache types
19/5/23 – the total was actually 243 as I had missed logging a normal cache at Piratemania