30/7/11 - South of Studley

Distance - 5.75 Miles
Geocaches - 21
First Cache
Reasons to be cheerful - Sun is shining, Football on TV, post brings wedding invitation, exam pass, payslip, trail magazine and a new walking book.  And I have a great wife and children.  And a nice dog.

Great Alne

I think the stars have aligned today or my biorhythms are in sync, as I am in a fantastic mood today.  This 21 cache geotrail has certainly added to a great start to the weekend.

Last weekend was dedicated to walking and as I need to keep the caching numbers up, I have a look at identified geotrails in the area and pick this one.  I used to go on corporate events at Studley castle back in the days when I worked for AT&T.  If I had know that really good walking country was just around the corner, I would have sneaked out with my boots on.

Feel its a bit early to park at the pub, as I dont think it will be open when I finish the walk, so I park at the village hall and walk up.  My one concern about these big geotrails is that loads of people will be out on a Saturday and I'll end up compromising my furtive activities.  True enough, when I get to cache one, I can see that it has been signed today by GeocacherScott.  Wonder if I will bump into him.  So far, its been families walking their dogs.

Good start to the walk through wheat fields and then into the woodland to the east of Great Alne.  I find evidence of the Warwickshire Indians and tread carefully through their sacred land.

White man cache with forked tongue

Doing well on the caches, although the longest hunt of the day is at cache 3 but rewarded with success.  Continue east crossing the River Alne.  Unfortunately, there is no way for Molly to drop down for a drink.  We will need to find her an opportunity to imbibe at some point in this weather.

This brings us to unexpectedly into a caravan park, where we have to walk straight through the centre.  A small amount of road walking and I am heading down south on the Arden Way.  This is expecptional walking country, heading through a prarie like wheatfield to a small hillock.  Warwickshire is not known for its height.

Not much of a hill, but there are views.

The arden way leads onto the wooded hills of Aston Grove.  I am fairly sure that I have been walking here before.  Drops to the east, where Molly gets to play (in her grumpy, old before her time way) with a black lab that is being trained as a guide dog.

Only in Britain, would this be available to all.

Come to the village of Walcote.  Not a speedy winger playing for Arsenal, but a village that hasn't changed in centuries.  Wonderful buildings and a deep sense of history.

Head north on the home stretch.  At cache 17, I finally get a cache that hasn't been signed by GeocacherScott - did he have a DNF, have I overtaken him without noticing, is he lost?  Future logs will tell.

We walk through the grounds of Great Alne Mills and this is why you have to marvel at this country.  The mills have been converted into residential property by a rich fella.  He is playing tennis with his mrs but thanks to the laws of this land, a fat bloke in a too tight walking shirt with a stupid hat can march right over his manicured lawns and finally, allow his dog to get some refreshment in his pond.

Well earned dunk.

After this highlight, its back to Great Alne, which can claim some fine buildings of its own.  Get back to the car and as I pull away a man with a rucksack sits down at the bench next to cache 21.  I nearly shout hello, its attached to the flagpole, but on reflection, I am not sure if it was a cacher and probably make the right decision to look for my own refreshments. 

Its 12:30pm.  Naismiths rule of walking obviously doesn't count when caching is involved, as 5.75 miles should not take 3.5 hours.  But the good news is that the Huff Cap is open.  Take £4 out of by parking fund to buy a well earned drink.  Now, this is a nice pub but it is morally reprehensible for this not to be enough to purchase a pint.  Even if it does come in a fancy Italian glass.  Order my drink and then have to scuttle back to the car for an extra 40p.  Is it right that a pint is 25% more than the minimum hourly wage of a 16 year old?  I'll let Ellie answer.

I was sure that I would enjoy the caches (thanks to HKMHill for setting them up, glad to get 100%) and I have been pleasantly surprised as to how good the walking has been.  And for some reason, the sat nav brings me back through Alcester - which is a superb looking place and a scene of previous caching trips.
All is good in the Mappiman's world.