Caching Tales

If you were a child of the 70s and early 80s like me, you may remember Children’s TV was largely populated by programmes featuring puppets and models made from clay.  Whilst the youngsters of today, view them as archaic and hilarious and are probably unable to comprehend how any child could possibly have been entertained by them, we loved them! And what’s more we learnt a lot from them. From cult classics like The Thunderbirds to the heart warming Bagpuss and the amusing Chorlton and the Wheelies, I couldn’t wait to tune into one of our four TV channels and watch them. But one in particular resonated with me far more than any other...The Wombles.  Uncle Bulgaria and his clan of furry family and friends, who looked a bit like a cross between a baby yeti and a large mouse, lived under Wimbledon Common and as the song goes, were known for, “Making the most of the things that we find....looking for litter to trundle away”. Incredibly over 40 years on the ethos ...

Sticking to our resolution of attending more events this year, I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for any new ones published.  Spotting a great little meet up in Ely recently I decided to plan a day out in the area that would enable me to pop along. However, the planning required a lot more effort than I’d realised.  I’d set my heart on doing a recently published series of biblically themed mystery caches, by the infamous Jane Chick. There were 26 in all, but each needed a number of questions answering in order to obtain the co-ordinates, all on a biblical theme.  Now I have to confess I’m not a particularly religious person and remember very little from my two years at Sunday school as a child. Several years at College and University learning about the fascinating science of evolution pretty much put paid to any slight beliefs I may have had hence this series was going to be a challenge!  For a whole week I was on and off google, inputting snipp...

As the Hottie from Lanzarote hit the country, bringing a very early spring with it, we headed out for some weekend caching in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.  A quick scoot up the A14 in the little red bug and we arrived in the village of Over.  I’d not been here for years so it was nice to finally return on a lovely sunny day for a bit of caching - the circular series ‘Over and Out’.  Leaving the coats and hats in the car, we set off through the village to grab the first few caches before heading out across the fields on the country lanes.  After a little divert to grab three caches on the Over to Willingham series, we were soon back on the circular picking up a puzzle cache.  It was a miniature version of a familiar cache type, that required a bit of twisting this way and that, in order to get the log out. We actually obtained the log quite quickly but putting it back in took a while longer. Other great caches soon followed including...

When it comes to geocaching events, I have to admit I’m rather rubbish at getting my social butterfly wings out!  Many a time I’ve received an email alert for a new geocaching event, just published, and have diligently added the details to my calendar. I’ve even gone so far as to add a note to the event log saying, “I’ll be there”...”looking forward to it” etc etc.  However when the day itself arrives I either seem to come down with the lurgy, decide I’m too tired to venture out or have found some other caching adventure to go on that takes me in the opposite direction to the event. However, one of my caching new year resolutions is to make more of an effort to get along to events and meet my fellow cachers so in the last few weeks I’ve done just that.  First up was the popular, three times a year event in Burwell, hosted by the Flamingos and GCZ team. With a name usually associated with a Shakespeare play this Spring’s event was called ‘In the Lair of the...