Middlebere Heath is the site of Dorset's first railway, a horse-drawn plateway, which carried ball clay to a quay on Middlebere Lake, an arm of Poole Harbour. The trackbed is now a footpath featuring charming bird hides designed to look like 19th century shepherd's huts.
The moorland is a haven for wildlife including rare birds such as the Dartford Warbler, and two falcons, the Merlin and the Hobby.
Free parking is available in the lay-by at the coordinates below. The round trip from here to the cache is just over a mile. We think the route is accessible to all-terrain wheelchairs but some help will be required for the final retrieve.
To find the coordinates of the cache you need to visit the following four locations (in order) and collect some information at each.
Stage 1: Oil Pipeline
N 50° 39.900 W 002° 03.158
What is the SIZE on the sign? Answer = a00
Stage 2: Stone
N 50° 40.193 W 002° 02.971
How many letters are in the second word on the stone? Answer = b
Stage 3: Dartford Hide
N 50° 40.140 W 002° 03.066
How many windows does Dartford Hide have? Answer = c
Stage 4: Hart Hide
N 50° 39.900 W 002° 03.416
How many windows does Hart Hide have? Answer = d
Using the numbers collected the cache is at N 50° 39. (b+b) (c+d) d W 002° 03. b a (d-b).
The checksum of all the digits in the final coordinates is 50.
The cache is a 4.4 litre lock & lock box and was last restocked on 21 November 2017. Please trade fairly. All our trade items are new and cost around £1 each. We'd appreciate it if you could mention what you swop in your online log.
Please keep dogs on short leads from 1 April to 31 July as they may disturb ground nesting birds.
This cache has been placed with the kind permission of Natural England and the National Trust.
