Bluebell Woods Traditional Cache
Royal Oak: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.
Regards
Royal Oak
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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A lovely piece of woodland on the way to Shotwick Castle
Please note that what looks, on the map, like the obvious route to this cache, along the track from Seahill Farm, is not a right of way. Please do not attempt to approach the cache from this direction.
You should instead start from the Greyhound pub in the middle of the village. (You can park on the road just down from the pub.) From here you could take the lane towards Shotwick House, and then pick up the footpath, not shown on the OS map, but it is obvious on the ground. Or you could take the public footpath, signposted to the Welsh Road, which starts a few doors down from the pub. I suspect the former will be less muddy.
Alternatively there is a public footpath from near the cache DNFs ?, and there is a permissive path (again not shown on the OS map) from one field NW of the cache Oak.
Once you have found the cache, it is well worth continuing your walk to Shotwick Castle. It was built about 1093 by Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester. It was a motte castle enlarged in the 12th and 13th centuries into a hexagonal enclosure of stone walls with a tower inside it. It controlled a ford across the River Dee. Several kings of England, including Henry II and Henry III stayed at the castle during their campaigns against the Welsh, and Edward I visited it in September 1284. The castle was in ruins by the 17th century, and these days there are only the contours in the grass to see.
Of course when I was a child I didn't care about the history, but I knew it was a great place for rolly-poly.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Eubqb
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