The Monmouth Way is a short, 6km
long footpath that links the village of Eversholt with the town of
Toddington. It also links the Icknield Way long distance footpath
with the Greensand Ridge Walk.
It was named after James, Duke of Monmouth (1649-1685), Pretender
to the English Throne. His mistress, Henrietta the 6th Baroness
Wentworth, was born in Toddington and lived at the Manor.
Henrietta was a faithless, blonde, good-time girl who slipped out
at every opportunity to meet her other lover, a gamekeeper from
Liecestershire named Charlie. He would rattle down the M1, park his
Land Rover in Eversholt and walk down the Monmouth Way to meet
Henrietta in Daintry Wood which, co-incidentally, is exactly where
this cache is set. Yeah... OK, so I made that bit up. It could have
happened!
The cache is a camouflaged 2.6 litre 'Lock & Lock' type box
that should be big enough for most Travel Bugs and a few swaps as
well. Please don't overload the box and compromise the integrity of
the seal. I'd be happier if you took something and left nothing
rather than risk the cache becoming waterlogged and spoiled.
There are numerous ways to approach this cache. Most will
involve a walk of something approaching 1 mile.
WARNING.... You park on
the approach road to Castle Farm from Tingrith at your own risk.
It's narrow and in constant use by heavy farm equipment. Not to be
recommended if you value your car.
If you've nowhere better in mind, I park at the side of the lane at
N51° 59.124' W000° 33.407' and use
either of the paths that take you south-east, then cross the stream
and approach the cache from the north. The path across the pasture
from the kissing gate at
N51° 58.624' W000° 33.198' is
indistinct to the point of being non-existent so skirt round the
bottom of the high ground and look for a gate into the wood at
N51° 58.371' W000° 33.089'. It's quite
well hidden in summer when the foliage is at its highest.
Keep to the waymarked path until you reach the cache site. There is
no need to do a lot of bushwhacking. Please re-hide this cache
carefully and try not to leave any evidence of your visit. This is
a lovely area of pristine woodland that has absolutely no litter,
dog mess or mountain bike tracks. I'd like to believe that we can
help to keep it that way.
More information on The Monmouth Way, including gradients,
restrictions and access points can be found HERE
Please don't leave sharp, pointy things or items of food or
drink in this cache.