Thanks to Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council for permission to place this cache.
This cache is placed on the strangely-named Billa Barra Hill, in the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire. The name is thought to derive from “barrow”, meaning burial ground, and there are ancient stories of Saxon battles nearby with the dead being buried on the hill. However, it is thought that quarrying on the hill in the 1940s has destroyed any archaeological evidence that may have existed.
The conifer plantation at the summit is thought to date from the 1900s, and the area around it is an unusual acid grassland habitat. The rocks, like many in the Charnwood area, are pre-Cambrian and among the oldest in the world.
The hill is a popular recreation area for local people, and when we first visited in early February 2009, the thick snow cover made for an excellent toboggan run down the hillside nearest the car park!
Near the car park is a sculpture called The Charnwood Noon Column. This English Oak column has a slot through which the noonday sun shines on Midsummer and Midwinter Day each year. Next to the column is an example of a Swithland slate drystone wall. These can be seen all over the Charnwood area and are a typical feature of the Charnwood Forest.
The container is a screw-top cylinder in a camo bag containing the usual log book and goodies. Please trade fairly and hide the cache well before you leave.
As featured on BBC East Midlands Today on the 4th of February 2011.