Pond Bay Traditional Cache
TheWeston's: I no longer go caching or live in the area, this cache is clearly no longer fit to be in play and hence I am archiving it.
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A short walk on its own or a decent walk taking in the village of Hurst Green. It can be coupled with my other caches in the area, either way.
A Pond Bay is the local Sussex term for a dam (indeed there is another cache of the same name near another dam). These are mainly associated with ironworking sites, which flourished in the Weald from the late 15th - 18th centuries. The industry was spread all across the Weald, where any suitable
valley would be dammed to form a hammer-pond, providing a source of water to power water wheels. These in turn powered a range of equipment, notably large hammers for pounding the iron (hence the term hammer-pond).
Each ironworking site was separate and fairly small-scale (just a few workers, often refugees from the Continental wars), but together the hundreds of sites formed a pretty massive industry, of national importance - the Weald provided Cromwell's New Model Army with most of its heavy guns. It declined when the industrialisation of Wales and the Midlands took over.
You might also want to look at the website of the Wealden Iron Research Group (www.wealdeniron.org.uk) - they have spent decades researching the iron industry, and they have put their early journals (from 1969-1980) on the website.
Our preferred dog walking area has several paths but no caches (until now). This cache is situated at a location that is a just under a mile from the parking location but is also possible to do a round walk of about 4 miles with a short stretch in the village of Hurst Green the taking in Spawn Number 1 and then Wigsell Multi.
The walking route in Hurst Green takes you past a hotel (with a bar) and a village store so there are opportunities for refreshments half way around. Be aware the path does follow the A21 briefly which also needs to be crossed twice. There is a pelican crossing available at one point but the other crossing needs to be done very carefully, especially with children.
The cache is well hidden but should be easily found with a cachers eye.
Please ensure container is fully home in the correct position before leaving.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx qrrc va gur ubyl gerr.
Treasures
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