Rambling around Rampton

Once again more Cambridgeshire cachers have been hard at work setting new caching trails, this time around Rampton. We just had to go and find them...rude not to really.

We arrived in Rampton just outside Cambridge just a couple of days after the new ‘Rampton Ramble’ series was published, and as anticipated quite a few other local cachers had had the same idea. 

I’d literally just stepped out of the car when I spotted the familiar sight of two pink birds...the Flamingos to be precise. They appeared to be having a rest, while taking in some local history reading the nearby information board, so I headed over to say hello. 

Unlike us they were early starters, having almost finished the trail. They seemed to have enjoyed it, saying it was a good walk, if a little windy in parts. 

After discussing where to avoid the mud, we bid farewell and set off across the field towards the church. It wasn’t long before we’d bagged our first cache at the farm gate, a little magnetic tube.

As we headed into a small wooded area we stopped to find the next, and found ourselves doing a couple of circles until the GPS finally settled on the right thing, a great homemade log cache. 

As we wandered through the pretty little wood more caches were quickly found including a brilliant green iguana and a black slug on a timber footbridge leading out of the wood.

Leaving the woodland behind was a bit of a blow as the freezing cold wind suddenly hit us as we made our way along a very open stretch of path, high up on a steep river embankment. Boy was it cold! 

Pulling hats down over our ears and wrapping scarves as tight as they would go, we made the bracing walk picking up more caches as we went. 

Despite the serious lack of vegetation in which to hide a cache, the COs had cleverly created several hides and caches under and in rocks and stones. Sadly it was just to cold to stop for long and admire them. 

It was a huge relief when we arrived at the quaint bridge across the river at the far end and picked up an older cache ‘Cut’s Gate’. The Tupperware box was soon spotted and the log signed. 

Back on the trail of the new series we found ourselves entering another interesting part of the diverse walk - a wetland nature reserve. Sadly not much wildlife about, unless you count some youngsters hanging out on a bench, but some great caches were soon found. These included a fake ivy micro and an apple...and it really did look real and good enough to eat! 

Then came an innovative water pipe connector cache, that we’d not seen anything like before. It was cleverly fixed to the side of a fence post and would easily have fooled any non cachers as to its real purpose.

An acorn in a tree was soon spotted, and another brilliant homemade wooden log. 

As we emerged from the nature reserve back onto the road we spotted a bench, which provided a well timed rest and snack break.  After a brief sit down, I decided to grab the next cache just a few metres away. Again it was inventive - a micro on an information board that looked like a piece of chewing gum.

As we walked back towards the village and car, we grabbed a couple of other sneaky hides including a bolt on a bridge. Then it was time for a quick divert to grab ‘Eight Tree Cache’. 

We slipped and slid our way across a very muddy path across a field to get to GZ only to realise upon arrival that it required jumping a rather slippy and steep, water filled ditch! I really do never learn to read cache pages before heading out! 

As usual we weren’t equipped for it and with just some well worn trainers on, getting wet feet seemed inevitable. Furthermore, we had an audience. A large, curious flock of sheep lined up along a thin wire fence to watch! 

“Here goes nothing”, I thought, as I took a short running jump and landed half way up the bank on the other side. Clinging to some grass I managed to pull myself up and was soon battling my way through the prickly undergrowth to find the cache. 

To my relief I spotted it quickly and got one of the nicest surprises I’ve ever had whilst caching. Inside the box was a TB...a rare sight these days it sadly seems...but this TB was particularly special, as it has a surprise for each finder. When I opened it up I discovered the last cacher had kindly placed a £5 note inside. Wow! 

I’m now planning a nice surprise that I’ll leave inside it for the next finder. I obviously can’t tell you what...as it’s a surprise! 

Jumping back across the ditch, I ended up with a few stings from some almost invisible nettles, that I unfortunately grabbed onto to stop me falling in, but had made it, with only a slightly wet toe!

As we headed into the village the church micro evaded us - I think it was sadly the victim of some recent hedge trimming - but the Village Sign cache was soon found. 

With an hour of daylight left we headed over to Cottenham to pick up another cache in the Village Sign series and ‘Cottenham Moat’ cache. Cottenham Moat turned out to be a real moat, with an interesting history.  I had no idea it existed, despite many past visits to Cottenham, and it was nice to see that the new housing estate has been built around it, ensuring it is preserved for future generations.

Our final stop of the day was to find the ‘In memory of Tony Hillier’ cache. Now this really is well worth a visit if you are ever passing. 

Tony was a very skilled metal sculpture artist and created a series of fantastic sculptures which now reside in his former front garden and in the grounds of local schools. 

The cache is placed amongst the sculptures in his former front garden, so it was a real treat to enter and see his creations up close. Incredibly clever and amusing, they really brightened up our day.

Right we’re off to roast our feet by the fire, and plan our next caching trip. Until then, happy caching.