Gorse Covered Traditional Cache
BalooCrew: Sorry to our fellow geocachers but unfortunately we will have to archive this geocache. This geocache has definitely been muggled - not only that but the "nice" person(s) who have done this have not only taken the cache container but have completely trashed and destroyed the rotten tree stump it was hiding in and also trashed and destroyed other nearby rotten tree stumps. It's a great shame because this little cache hide seems to have given quite a few people a lot of fun finding it, and a big thank you to all of you who have tried to find this. This is the first time we have had to archive one of our caches do this this sort of thing. Maybe we will try to place another geocache in this lovely little wood at some point, when we have time to find another suitable hiding -place. Thanks to Steveparkes for pointing out that the cache had gone missing.
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Size: 
(small)
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Close to and to the right of a path entering the woodland at Gorse Covert. The site is at the edge of the woodland, adjacent and accessible to, open grassy parkland that is accessible to the general public. Popular play area for children and with dogwalkers. Easily accessible from local roads and footpaths (<100 m away)
This is a traditional cache, consisting of a small waterproof plastic box containing a logbook and pencil, and several small items of treasure to be swapped.
An easy walk and readily accessible from the adjacent grass parkland. Parking is easy in nearby residential streets off Maxwell Drive and along Francis Drive. For a little longer walk you can park at the nearby Gorse Covert Shopping Centre (Morrisons) - in Thorpe Acre (on Maxwell Drive) (N 52 46.723, W 001 14.340). From here you walk west along the footpath at the back of the car park following the Blackbrook. About 50 m past the white footbridge you should follow the way-marked footpath/cycle path that leads to the right and up towards Mawell Drive. You cross Maxwell Drive to reach the Gorse Covert park.
Gorse Covert but not "gorse-covered" - in fact not a gorse bush in sight. Gorse Covert is a local beauty spot with fine views over Loughborough, the Soar Valley to the north, and to the Charnwood Hills and Beacon Hill to the south. This is a lovely place for a family picnic and a nice play area for children, with a large open grassy space, swings nearby and a football pitch too. It is also a great place for kite flying on a windy day. The woodland contains some fine tall oaks and ashes and is a haven for wildlife. In spring and summer the green woodpeckers make their presence heard with there "hammering" and "laughing calls". You can often see and hear thrushes, blackbirds, blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits, coal tits, wrens, robins, chaffinches, greenfinches and treecreepers as well. Kestrals and sparrowhawks can sometimes be seen hunting in the area and a buzzard also sometimes visits the wood or soars above the hill on a warm day. If you are lucky you might even spot a badger or fox in the evening or early morning.
The GPS signal can sometimes be weak immediately over the cache site in summer due to the cover of the tree canopy The best way to access the site is from the path entering the wood at the northeast corner of the park, and walk along the inside edge of the wood. This way you can avoid the nettles that sometimes grow along the outside edge of the wood.
Please ensure that the container is placed well within the hiding place, and properly covered over and hidden from view when replacing the cache. Thank you
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va gur onfr bs n irel ybj naq irel ubyybj ebggra gerr fghzc pbirerq jvgu vil. Ybpngrq ng gur jbbqynaq rqtr nobhg 3z gb gur evtug bs gur cngu nf lbh ragre