Astley Moss Cache Traditional Cache
Andy D: Unable to maintain now I do not live in the area.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A nice stroll in a quiet pocket of countryside on the outskirts of Manchester. Virtually flat and mainly tarmac roads and farm tracks, more suited to walking and cycling.
This cache is located in the Astley and Chat Moss area of land to the West of Manchester. This area, sandwiched between the busy A580 East Lancashire Road and the even busier M62 is a haven of tranquil peace and home to a diverse range of wildlife.
The area contains miles of quiet roads, paths and farm tracks - the main one being Rindle Road which runs from Astley Green to Irlam. Off this road are plenty of trails, but this cache - hopefully the first of a few for this area - is at the Northern End. It's also quite close to a couple of other caches in the area - most notably "Park and Hide", "William's Canalside Cache" and "01-01-00 Nature Reserve".
If travelling by car, start by coming off the A580 East Lancs Road and heading South towards Astley Green. You'll pass the Ross's Arms (great ales) and The Old Boathouse (great food) public houses on your left. Go over the canal bridge and follow the road. Go over the roundabout and after the houses end and a couple of wood factories it takes a sharp bend to the left and then to the right.
The closest place to park is by the railway crossing (you can't take the car any further as it's a private road, but a public footpath), but if you find the spaces already occupied, you may be able to park with the cars at the fishing pond at couple of hundred yards back at N53'28.513 W2'26.772.
Cross over the level crossing at the signal box (it's a manual one so take care) and continue down the track to the South. At the junction head East. I was hoping to describe how it felt like you'd travelled back in time to the 1950's as you pass the 1950's prefab peat-burning moss cottages but a number of them have been pulled down and replaced by large, modern wooden cabins and bungalows!
Follow this road until it turns into a peaty path into a small wood. After about fifty yards the wood ends are you are presented with the alien landscape of Chat Moss. Watch out for the strange cracks in the ground - the cache is very close to this.
The cache originally contained:
Log book
Two information sheets on the Astley and Chat Moss area
Pencil
Eraser
Pencil sharpener
Bulldog clip
Model Starship Enterprise
16Mb USB memory stick
Clay pigeon
Paintbrush
UV detective pen
Floppy disk holder
EDIT:
Not sure if my Garmin etrex unit is off. My original recorded co-ordinates were SJ 71146 96906, but was very accurate when locating other caches recently. So I would appreciate the co-ordinates from any other visitors.
UPDATE JULY 2007. I have moved some miles away from this cache now so may not be able to maintain it as often as I would like.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Nf lbh sbyybj gur cngu, gur gerrf qvfnccrne ba lbhe evtug. Gur pnpur vf va gur fgevc bs fvyire ovepu gerrf ba gur yrsg.
Treasures
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