For the third year I was heading down to the Halloween Mega in Northamptonshire. Last year I had been carefully planning caches for a couple of weeks beforehand to make the Mega event my 3,000th find. No such fuss this time as I was a long way from any milestone. I did briefly toy with the idea of making it my 3,500th but that would have involved finding 50 caches or so within a couple of weeks and there aren’t that many caches around that wouldn’t have involved miles of walking – which I was loathe to do in case it aggravated my injuries, or involved hundreds of miles of driving.
As on previous trips this year I decided against just stopping at every random cache along the route and for my way down to Kettering planned a meandering route determined by YOSM’s and Church Micros…
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 3027 Barkestone Le Vale GC3X3TK – cache #3441
My first stop on the journey was this little village where the CM and YOSM are only a field apart !
The Church Micro was an easy cache to find though I did have to be a bit wary of looking suspicious to the young ladies learning the finer points of equestrianism in the adjacent field
24th October 2014 – BYL’s Round ~ 16 GC4EP18 – cache #3442
With this cache being virtually on top of the trig point it would have been rude to not pick it up
24th October 2014 – Ye Ole Survey Monuments GC45CC – cache #3443
YSM422 – Barkestone
The first of three trig points visited on the day and the only one that was actually on top of a hill !
24th October 2014 – BYL’s Round ~ 17 GC4EP1E – cache #3444
I’d parked at the end of the footpath that leads up to the church micro, walked across the field for the Trig Point (and BYL’s Round #16) and then walked back down the road to my car, which was virtually across the road from this cache. I had to wait for a couple of cyclists to go past but when the coast was clear the cache was easy to find and in good condition
After this I couldn’t find GC3X3WG Church Micro 3028 Eastwell, the GPS had the coords in the middle of the road so that wasn’t much help. neither was the clue as it’s a rather unspecific ’round the back’, so I looked back at previous logs and found that the clue was referring to a tree and looked behind all of them within 20 yards but found nothing but peoples dumped garden rubbish… feeling a little self conscious poking about in the trees opposite peoples houses I decided to call it a day and move on
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 4925…Waltham on the Wolds GC4WJZZ – cache #3445
A nice easy find, though finding my way around the diversion and road closed ahead signs wasn’t so easy
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 5165…Stonesby GC4XYCB – cache #3446
I parked at the tiny village green and soon had the cache sorted, then I wandered up the street to take a photograph of the church
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 5047…Garthorpe GC4XEXA – cache #3447
My main impression of this church was that it is like a real church, only smaller… lower tower, shorter nave etc.
24th October 2014 – Ye Ole Survey Monuments GC45CC – cache #3448
The rather battered YSM456 – Wymondham was my 50th YOSM
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 2309…Wymondham GC38W96 – cache #3449
A cache in an old red telephone box, caches are no longer allowed in telephone boxes and BT workers have been told to remove any they find. As I came down to the village, I found a BT van parked outside the kiosk with a man cleaning inside… so I went for a wander down to look at the church and when I came back he had gone and I could get in for the cache
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 2308…Edmondthorpe GC38W8W – cache #3450
Friendly horses in the field were very interested in me fiddling around the gate for the cache…
After getting the cache I drove off towards South Whitham along a gated road – gated roads are always fun when you are by yourself
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 2301…Clipsham GC38XVA – cache #3451
Diverting off the A1 to get the YOSM at Pickworth I first came to Clipsham and stopped for the Church Micro here. A cache in a posh village where the cache is hidden next to a little shelter almost like a bus shelter, what it’s for I don’t know as I don’t suppose they run buses down here – or maybe they do !
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 2163…Pickworth GC3GQB1 – cache #3452
An interesting little church, it could easily be mistaken for an Edwardian pumping station if it wasn’t for the gravestones in the churchyard.
24th October 2014 – Ye Ole Survey Monuments GC45CC – cache #3453
YSM406 – Pickworth
Last of the three trig points I visited on the day, all of which were right on the road side
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 4402…Easton on the Hill GC4QD7Y – cache #3454
Arrived with the sun shining on the village making the yellow sandstone glow, what a lovely little village – I bet the price per sq ft is high though as the houses will be expensive as well as small !
I was a little concerned that the post the hint refers to may have been altered recently as a new gate had been installed, but it turned out to be a nearby similar post that the cache was hidden at
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 5183…Collyweston – St Andrews GC4Y3N5 – cache #3455
Well it’s definitely a micro… but not so much a church ! it’s a cache next to a graveyard a quarter of a mile or so from the Church. Maybe you can see the top points of the church tower in the winter, but when there are leaves on the trees you can’t see it at all. I don’t like Church Micros like this, if you can’t find a cache hiding place near the church make it a multi so that finders at least have to visit the church, after all it’s not difficult finding numbers for clues in a churchyard full of old gravestones
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 5056…Duddington GC4XYBW – cache #3456
I parked virtually outside the church and walked up the road for the cache. This was one of the more difficult churches to take a photograph of as the churchyard is small and the yew trees large ! so it was impossible to get all the church in view
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 3265…Holy Trinity GC44G08 – cache #3457
A sign saying “Historical Church” pointed me down a narrow winding country road into the village with the delightful name of Blatherwycke and from there it’s a short walk to the church.
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 3248…Bulwick GC4A2EK – cache #3458
Another nice easy find, once the gossiping locals had left the area !
24th October 2014 – Church Micro 3585…Weldon GC4A2EK – cache #3459
The last stop on my journey, I parked by the church gates and walked back down for the cache. You don’t find that many churches with a lantern on top of the tower, so it was nice to see something out of the ordinary at this pleasant church
