Local caching buddy Kitty!! has family down in Eastbourne. She hates the drive there and back when it has to be done in a day, and was glad of some company. So I was able to hitch a ride, go and play on the seafront on my geo-bike while she went to do the family business.
I found plenty of caches along the way, including SideTracked, Church Micros and some solved puzzles which I had prepared for the trip.
SideTracked Eastbourne
Moving inland from the seafront to find some CMs…
CM8354
The bike made life a lot easier and I was able to cover much more ground than if I had just been on foot.
CM4435
We wrapped up with a quick find on the Downs under a great sunset, before heading back to Essex in Kitty’s car.
It’s been about 7 years since I started on McWomble‘s linked Church Micro series, scattered about on the Dengie peninsula. I’ve had a few of the numbers safely written down for ages, but made a concerted effort to gather a few more a couple of months ago. Then I promptly forgot about them again.
Today I decided to see if I could finally put the series to bed. Several Bonus churches needed collecting, and the Bonus Bonus! (McWomble doesn’t do things by halves). Actually, most of these have now been adopted by Bean & Sprout, but they remain evil and pretty much in their original locations.
The first target was CM541 Mayland which I found eventually after barking up the wrong place for several minutes. It’s a nice neat little church quite a way from the village centre.
CM541 Mayland
I stopped for another puzzle by Bean & Sprout next, Joker – which required a bit of bog snorkelling, but I had come prepared! It’s not a T4 for nothing… Then a quick trad on the way to CM538 Asheldham. Thankfully this was a quick find.
CM538 Asheldham
CM536 Tillingham was next, which led me a bit of a merry dance. Eventually I spotted it somewhere where I should have noticed it before.
CM536 Tillingham
One more bonus church to go – CM545 Bradwell St. Thomas. It’s a notoriously difficult one to find, even though it only gets a D2 rating. I’m sure the older ones are harder than some now! Anyway, after much grovelling all I came away with were damp knees and stung hands. Drat.
However, undeterred, I was only missing one bonus number, so I headed off to CM546 Bradwell St. Peter and sat in the car park to think about where it might be. Luck was on my side – the number I was missing was only going to be one of a couple of values, since it would be in the sea otherwise! So I made a guess and headed off to my GZ.
Silent Spinners – Near CM546
I was delighted to find the pot, exactly where it should be. Hurrah! So, just the one cache in the series still to find, but I’ll come back for that another day.
I had another trip to Kent today to find some Challenge Caches and a couple of earthcache hides, and mopping up a few extras along the way.
My first stop was Church Micro 3151 Horton Kirby – a Challenge cache which I qualified for on Sunday with my 20 CM finds. This hide also filled in the D4.5/T3 square of my DT grid (actually I did this one twice today!).
CM Horton Kirby
There were a couple of Letterbox hides which I picked up in passing, too. We don’t seem to have that many in Essex but the folks in Kent seem very keen to set them, so I grab them whenever I can.
Letterbox Stamp
VS~480 Fawkham Green (Dip slope Earthcache) is an unusual high DT Earthcache and recent addition to the Village Signs series. I hadn’t realised until I logged it that it’s actually the same D4.5/T3 which I had just bagged this morning. So that’s good for Loop 2 of the DT grid! I also enjoyed a jolly good lunch at the Pub near the village sign, I can recommend it if anyone is passing.
D4.5/T3 Earthcache
The final earthcache of the day was at Church Micro 2372… West Kingsdown- St Edmund which I hadn’t had time to investigate when I was nearby a few weeks ago doing the Cool Cuban Spirit series with Kitty!! and Mr Crow. It’s also near three more Challenge caches which I picked up while I was about it.
CM West Kingsdown
So all in all, an enjoyable day out. The new DT means I have just 14 squares left to find now. Onwards and upwards!
I’m feeling a little better today, still coughing a lot, so not really fit to be seen at events, but I have been itching to get out for a proper caching day all week while I’ve had the lurgy.
Church Micro 3591…Bexleyheath – St Peter
Today’s plan was to find at least 20 Multi Church Micros. This would qualify me for several Challenge Caches. I knew it would be tough, but there are several clusters of yellow box CM’s around Belvedere, Welling and Bexleyheath, just south of the river. I had 25 on the GPS, just in case I got any DNF’s, but thankfully I met my target of 20 with only a couple of difficult finds.
Church Micro 3592…Bexleyheath – St Thomas More
Unfortunately, most of the churches weren’t terrible picturesque, mainly being modern constructions and in very urban settings, so I didn’t end up taking may photos. But I got the job done eventually, and then came home to collapse on the sofa for the evening!
It’s a pity I missed Mr Geotrowel’sCluedunnit 2 event near Colchester this evening, but it would have been a long way to travel for the evening, which is when I’m generally still feeling rather grotty. Lurgy Be Gone!
Another errand to run took me to Southend today. I’ve gradually been hoovering up the caches around the east of the town and beyond, but there were still a few left I wanted to have a go at today.
Moody In Shoebury
I finally found CM St. Mary’s Shoebury which I had DNF’d a few weeks ago – but had had a chat with the CO at last night’s Essex Meet, so had a better idea of where it was this time.
Phone Home?
The CM at South Shoebury was a multi which lead to a strange hide indeed – the remains of an old Nokia phone!
Unfortunately, it wasn’t very water tight and the log was quite soggy, despite being double-bagged.
Good to have another few CM’s under my belt – I needed to find at least 10 during January as part of a challenge cache qualification.
“Signal Box”
I also picked up SideTracked Thorpe Bay – which I needed for a SideTracked related challenge (just one more to find to qualify for that one).
I managed a trio of finds today on my way to Mum & Dad’s for Christmas. The first two were were another couple of Church Micros – Aldham and Ardleigh – which I needed towards a Challenge cache qualification.
Aldham Church Porch
Aldham was a straightforward find just as the sun came out (it had been pelting with rain this morning).
Ardleigh was a little more involved – and turned out not to be a micro at all! But a good old Ammo box hidden at the edge of a field. Another find under my belt, this time looking over a lovely sunset and listening to the peel of bells from the Church tower calling the parish to the Christmas service.
Sunset Over Ardleigh
There was a Letterbox hide nearby too, and I’m always partial to a Letterbox. Dusk was beginning to fall but I managed to find the box after grabbing the information. Now onto the folks’ for the Christmas hols!
I had to run an errand to Southend again today and thought I would stop off in Westcliff on the way to pick up a couple of Church Micros I needed for a Challenge Cache. It requires finds in every numbered 100 between CM001 and CM5000 – I have a few gaps but these two filled the 4001-4100 and 4801-4900 slots. The remaining can hopefully be picked up around Colchester when I next visit, and a couple in Kent.
Today I decided to work on a challenge cache, Ecclesiastical: An Assiduous Cacher Challenge which requires you to have found 10 church micros in a day. I had noticed a cluster of CMs around Basildon which were all quite close together and which I hadn’t found. I had a few as backup too, in case any were DNFs.
The first was CM Noak Bridge which was a quick find, followed by Dunton which is now a private house.
CM – Dunton
My only DNF came at Manor Mission which was Muggle Central – despite a thorough search I just couldn’t locate it.
CM – Basildon Holy Cross
Next up was Basildon URC, Holy Cross, & St. Andrew’s before getting to CM Vange. The church was a lovely example and open to have a look around. I enjoyed my picnic in the car park.
CM – Vange
Fortified by food, the next stop was CM Vange Mission, then Pitsea and Gun Hill.
CM – Pitsea
The final stop of the day was St Peter’s, Thundersley, which has an unusual terraced graveyard with the church at the top of the hill. Thankfully it was an easy find so I was able to continue onto Southend to run an errand before it was dark!
