Caches No’s 3233 to 3256 – A Bank Holiday Church Micro Trip

Bank Holiday Monday and the weather looked promising and I had nothing planned so I decided to go and do a tour of Church Micros in the East and South East of Leeds area. I did a bit of planning first of all… wherever the caches were multicaches with answers that could be gleaned from the Church websites I sorted out final co-ords before going, and I downloaded a GSAK macro which determines the best route around a set of caches – something it did well, I will probably do a write up on it for the Cache Mag for a later issue… so I knew I had 82 miles to drive and 18 Church Micros plus another 6 or 7 caches that were drive-bys en route. The headline picture shows a Church Micro geocoin that is now available, I did think about buying one, but I have several coins already and don’t use them so not really point in buying another

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 3674…Boston Spa GC4BJCG – cache #3233
The first of eighteen CM’s – and the one with the most mud !
I parked right outside the Church, put the numbers into into the GPS and soon was at the coordinates, what a lovely spot for the cache to be hidden, probably why there were so many dog walkers there. As I have said many times before I do like a cache with a convenient bench nearby on which to sit and sign the log…

cmbostonspa

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4466…Micklefield GC4RFR1 – cache #3234
The second cache of the day – and probably the one that took me longest to find
The coordinates I worked out seemed to put me in the middle of the road and looking around I saw the pump and flower bed as the obvious place to hide the cache and was wondering whether the cache had gone missing… so I checked back through the old logs and found Starterpack had done exactly the same… so knowing the cache was elsewhere I looked at other possible places until I found the right one.

cmmicklefield

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 5655…Lead GC5388G – cache #3235
The heavy rain over the previous two days meant that it was paddling in places to get to the church, but fortunately the path from there to the cache was firm and dry.
I came across a few places that matched the hint but soon found the right one

cmlead

26th May 2014 – and the beck ran red with blood… GC2WFXW – cache #3236
Picked up while doing the nearby Church Micro… well I was parked just across the road so it would have been rude not to go for this one !

streamranred

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4467…Saxton GC4RFVF – cache #3237
I didn’t actually get to work out the puzzle – as I was heading for the co-ordinates from where I was parked I thought I’d just check out a couple of possible places for it to be… and found the cache

cmsaxton

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4468…Barkston Ash GC4RFWW – cache #3238
Not knowing the village at all I didn’t know how unavailable parking was near the church, so I had to drive quite a way past before I could turn round and head back, eventually parking outside the pub just around the corner from the church (sadly it doesn’t open at lunchtimes)
Got the numbers, retreated to the bench across the road from the gates to work out the coordinates and headed off for the cache… one of those where if you had noticed the hiding place at first you would have known the cache was there even without finding the numbers !

cmbarkstonash

26th May 2014 – Yvonne & Dick’s Golden Anniversary GC3Y5R5 – cache #3239
A quick drive by cache as I was passing

yvonnedick

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4469…Sherburn in Elmet GC4RFZG – cache #3240
As I have said many times before I do like a cache with a convenient bench nearby on which to sit and sign the log… I also used it to sit on while I ate my lunch… liked the view !

cmsherburn

26th May 2014 – A Road to Nowhere GC4YZBP – cache #3241
Not quite a driveby, but only a small detour required from the main road to grab this cache

roadtonowhere

26th May 2014 – Doctor Doctor! GC4DY9J – cache #3242
Came to the village to do the Church Micro, found this one in passing… quite easy to find on a Bank Holiday Monday when the place is shut !

doctordoctor

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4470…South Milford GC4RG14 – cache #3243
Surprisingly busy round the cache site, I had to pace up and down looking harassed having a long pretend phone call until they had all passed before I could replace it

cmsthmilford

26th May 2014 – Heavens Cache GC47BTE – cache #3244
While doing the Church Micro I got the wrong exit from the churchyard so found I was right by this cache…

heavenscache

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 5654…Brotherton GC535XZ – cache #3245
My GPS put the co-ordinates several yards away from where the cache is, but there is little doubt from the hint as to where you should be looking

cmbrotherton

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 5653…Ferrybridge GC535GF – cache #3246
The ninth of eighteen Church Micros, and the one furthest from home. Also perhaps the easiest to find as I never bothered looking at the noticeboard for the numbers, just read the hint, looked round, and thought – it’s bound to be there… and it was

cmfezzabridge

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 5652…Fairburn GC53808 – cache #3247
Parked by the church, walked along to where the cache should be hiden and found it out in the open… I tucked it back as described in the hint

cmfairburn

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 3194…Ledsham GC422RE – cache #3248
I quickly spotted something that fitted with the hint and so searched all around – but found nothing, was a bit downheartened… then I realised there was a similar option on the other side of the road !

cmledsham

26th May 2014 – #1 Wood Walk GC43K81 – cache #3249
A quick drive by as I was passing… it’s becoming a bit of a field puzzle to get the log out… reminded me of being a kid shaking pennies out of a piggy bank

wood#1

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 5376..Allerton Bywater GC4ZNAA – cache #3250
Not too proud to admit that I was getting a little weary by this time and so drove down to the cache once I had found the right gravestone and worked out the co-ordinates were quarter of a mile or more away !

cmallertonbywater

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4464…Kippax GC4R9QP – cache #3251
Another multicache that I had worked out the co-ordinates beforehand. It was a bit of an obstacle course to get to the cache.
People always say geocaching takes you to places you never knew existed, well I lived 3 or 4 days a week in Kippax for three years and never even knew it had a castle

cmkippax

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 2650…Garforth – St Mary GC3YZYD – cache #3252
I had had the numbers for this since the event since last year, so I didn’t have to go to the church, just parked as near as practical to the cache co-ordinates and went for it. It took a while to spot the cache… had to check three of the hint objects before I found the right one

cmgarforth

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4465…Swillington GC4R9T8 – cache #3253
Parked in Tesco’s car park and crossed the road to the church, batteries getting a bit flat on the GPS so it wasn’t being particularly accurate and I had to check just about every gravestone before I found the right one… cache easily found once I had the numbers

cmswillington

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 5454…Halton GC50NBW – cache #3254
Quickly got the numbers and worked out the co-ordinates, I didn’t know the park it was in was there, I will have to come back and do the cache trail here sometime… had to be quick to sign the cache and replace it in between dog walkers

cmhalton

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 4471…Leeds – St Annes Cathedral GC4RGGW – cache #3255
One good thing about Bank Holiday Mondays… free car parking in the city centre !
I am not sure what the problem was, whether I had entered the numbers incorrectly or whether my GPS was playing up but the arrow was pointing to the middle of a nuilding… so I used the hint and checked all places that matched until I found the right one

cmstannes

26th May 2014 – Church Micro 5427 …Headingley St Chads GC50B2Q – cache #3256
The last cache of the day. I parked on St Chads Drive only to notice when I got back to the car that it was a Resident Permit only area… still an empty street at 5:30pm on a Bank Holiday Monday is not the place or time you expect a warden to be round giving you a ticket.
I had done the ‘Encompassing the Campus’ trail before so the path to the cache was a familiar one, a bit muddy down by the entrance to the church, but I soon got the right side of the fence and found the right hint object

cmstchads

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