This is the first in our series of caches named after our Lancashire Heelers, the second being Mr Beans Cache , the third Emmas Cache and the fourth being Megs Mansion.
Car Park Co-Ordinates N53.38.409 W002.34.573 Anglezarke Car Park which is located about 2 miles north of Great House Barn Information Centre.
There are toilet facilities located at the Great House Barn Information Centre along with a lovely Cafe.
This cache is the first to be placed by Joan using one of the ammo boxes Cave Troll (Mark) recently purchased, the ammo box is painted black with the official Geo Cache Sticker on the outside.
The reason the cache is called "Dotties Delight" is because Dotty was the first of our Lancashire Heelers who was regularly walked along this walk. The walk is perfect for socialising young dogs as there are plenty of muggles about, both with and without dogs,as well as joggers and mountain biking muggles, there are also a variety of surfaces ranging from hard to soft and muddy perfect for tightening up the feet, muscles are also worked on the gentle slopes and hills which form part of the walk. Dotty will be 10 this year and along with her son, daughter and granddaughter she still enjoys the walk throughout the year especially when it has been snowing.
Original Cache contents
Log Book and Pencil in plastic bag also in this bag is a 1st to find prize which is a beautiful handmade card for you to keep or send. The message on the front of the card is "Specially for You"
T.B Accident Prone Eeyore
T.B Rackhouse Rambler
2 x 3 pairs of Disposable Gloves size M just perfect for muddy cache sites
1 x Conforming Bandage
1 x Handmade Card (not as above)
3 x Gel Pens
1 x 3 Hair Elastics
1 x Bag of Fabric and Tinsel Bobbles perfect for crafting
1 x Large Plastic Fish Keyring
1 x Book - The Last Cowboys by Harry Horse
1 x Hardback Book - The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Cache is located along the beautiful Anglezarke Woodland Trail which takes you past and through the following beautiful areas, please note though some areas can be extremely muddy even on a nice day.
Leicester Mill and Anglezarke Quarries - which were extensively worked during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for the hard, coarse-grained sandstone Millstone Grit. The stone was used for building, paving and kerbstones, as well as for millstones, in fact many roads in Manchester were built from stone quarried at Anglezarke. These quarries also provided an invaluable local source of impervious stone to line the vast embankments during the construction of the reservoirs in the mid-nineteenth century. At this time a small thriving community developed in the area amongst the navvies and quarrymen. There was a shop, a blacksmiths and stabling for the horses, and a pub called the Clog Inn. The dry quarry area illustrates a natural scrubland, where willow, birch and oak have grown up naturally beside the track and across the heather and bilberry covered slopes. This scrubland attracts a wide variety of birds throughout the year such as blue and great tits, wrens, robins and blackbirds, but listen out for the descending melodious song of the willow warbler during spring and early summer.
High Bullough Wood - which demonstrates how small pockets of woodland on steep valley sides remain behind when the surrounding areas are cleared for agriculture. This is how much of the moorland might have looked thousand of years ago prior to Man's influence. Today the wood contains a variety of mature trees including some native species such as oak and some species introduced by Man, such as sycamore and beech. Most woodland plants flower between March and June before the tree foliage shades out most of the sunlight. Look out for wood sorrel, stitchwort and golden saxifrage and later, during the summer months, for foxglove and red campion. Typical woodland birds such as jays and woodpeckers have made their homes in High Bullough Wood, listen for the familiar "yaffle" of the green woodpecker which has become quite common in this area,
High Bullough Reservoir - was the first reservoir to be constructed in the area in 1850 by Chorley Waterworks Company to supply nearby Chorley with drinking water. Today the link with the main system is completely severed and the reservoir remains as a winter refuge for wildfowl such as goldeneye and little grebes. During the summer you may hear the shrill piping cry of the common sandpiper, or witness the aerial acrobatics of swallows and swifts feeding above the waters surface.
The Boardwalk and Footbridge Area - at the far end of High Bullough Reservoir is developing as an important wetland habitat were marsh loving soft rush, alder and willow thrive. Alder is a soft easily worked wood which, due to its water resistant qualities, is considered the best material for clog soles.
Brook House Plantation - is a beech and oak wood planted back in the 1870's, which takes its name from a ruined farmhouse to the north of High Bullough Reservoir. The predominance of beech trees provides a rich source of beech "mast" for chaffinches, great tits and grey squirrels to feed upon. However the dense canopy of leaves cuts out much of the vital sunlight required to encourage plant life on the woodland floor, you will notice the sparcity of undergrowth in this area.
Anglezarke Reservoir - Was built in 1857 by Liverpool Corporation as part of the Rivington Pike Scheme to establish a chain of reservoirs to supply the growing population of Liverpool. The reservoir is an important feeding and roosting site for a variety of waterbirds such as tufted duck, mallard and great crested grebes, whooper swans are also regular winter visitors.