GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The caches that make up the ‘Marlborough Downs Trail’
are placed along a route that takes you from Barbury Castle, where
there is a large car park (note closing time at entrance), plus a
café (currently closed) and toilets, towards Ogbourne St George
along Smeathe’s Ridge (the Ridgeway), then along a footpath
to Ogbourne St Andrew, where a road and footpath lead up on to the
Downs to meet the Rockley to Barbury Castle by-way (passing
alongside Four Mile Clump). This is an undulating route with some
glorious views over the Marlborough Downs.
TERRAIN
Parts of the route are accessible with a buggy and normal bike, but
the entire circuit is not buggy-friendly and will require a
mountain bike if you favour two-wheeled transport. The path network
has been much improved recently, but parts of it will still be
prone to mud and becoming waterlogged outside of the summer months.
The route is on well-marked paths, but is quite exposed in places,
so adequate rain and wind-proof clothing is advised.
Smeathe’s Ridge often has cows or sheep grazing, but no
other farm animals are likely to be encountered. However there are
abundant numbers of other wildlife to be seen (especially hares,
rabbits and birds) and you may also see racehorses on the gallops
adjacent to the trail.
The circuit can be attempted in either direction and is
approximately 12km in length. If you can spare an extra 25-30
minutes an adjacent multi-cache, THE OGBOURNES (ST ANDREW), GCWM9H,
is recommended. If you do the multi-cache, it is recommended that
you do the circuit anti-clockwise.
PARKING
Recommended parking for the circuit is Barbury Castle (N51° 29.004
W001° 46.538) or alternatively there is room for 3/4 cars at
Ogbourne St Andrew Church (N51° 27.006 W001° 43.794) . An
alternative verge (dry weather only) parking spot in Ogbourne St
Andrew is at N51° 27.158 W001° 44.199 (space for 2 cars).
CACHES
The caches are intended to be quick and easy finds, with a variety
of containers to keep it interesting. Not all caches have a pencil,
please take one with you.
This cache is a 2 litre tuck-box in a camo bag. It can
also be reached from an alternative parking spot south along the
by-way at N51° 26.570 W001° 45.603.
There was a First-To-Find prize of an un-activated geocoin -
congratulations Mailbox Monty
Letterboxing
The hobby of letterboxing started on Dartmoor in the middle of
the 19th century. In 1854 James Perrott, a Chagford guide, set up
the first letterbox at Cranmere Pool on North Dartmoor, the idea
was for a walker to leave a message there for the next walker to
collect and so on. Later other boxes were established at Taw Marsh
(1894), Ducks Pool (1938), Fur Tor (1951), and Crow Tor (1962).
Today although there are now thousands of letterboxes hidden on the
moor, they are generally well hidden and unlikely to be found by
the casual hiker.
Letterboxes typically contain a rubber stamp and a
visitor’s book. When finding the box an impression of the
rubber stamp is taken using an inkpad and stamped onto either a
book or postcard. The visitor then either signs the visitor’s
book, or uses their own personal stamp to record their visit.
There is no official committee that organises the hobby, but an
informal ‘100 Club’ exists. To be a member and receive
the badges and membership card a Letterboxer has to visit 100 boxes
on the moor, and have visual proof of them (team Slogger007 joined
the 100 Club in the early 1990s).
Letterboxing is to this day still concentrated in the Dartmoor
National Park, but has also spread to other parts of the UK.
Interest in letterboxing in the U.S. is generally considered to
have started with a feature article in the Smithsonian Magazine in
April 1998. Geocaching has an obvious cross-over with letterboxing,
hence the ‘letterbox hybrid’ cache.
The stamp in this cache is a ‘First Nations’ design
from British Columbia, Canada.
How does a letterbox work?
1. Please sign the log book as usual, or use your personal stamp
if you have one!
2. You can then stamp your personal log book with the
cache’s stamp. A supply of card is provided if you do not
have a log book.
3. There is a log book, stamp, ink pad and supply of card inside
the cache, these are not items intended for trade; they are meant
to remain in the cache so that visitors can use it to record their
visit. You are welcome to trade the other items in the
cache.