Nigel's Bench
The Flitch Way is a linear country park passing through fifteen miles of countryside along the former Bishop’s Stortford to Braintree railway, you could travel between Braintree and Bishop’s Stortford in around 45 minutes. The passenger service was closed in 1952, but steam, and later diesel locos continued with goods traffic until the line finally closed in 1969.
Open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders, the Flitch Way is flat and mostly traffic free. This will take you through wildlife-rich railway cuttings, Victorian stations and bridges, with views across impressive farmland, nearby villages and woods. There are many public footpaths exploring the countryside just off the route.
The route name comes from the Flitch Trial, a folk custom still surviving today which originated in Little Dunmow, in 1104. The custom was mentioned in Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale. Every four years a married couple stands before a mock court - if they can prove to the satisfaction of the judge and jury that they have, for a year and a day, ‘not wished’ themselves unwed, they are awarded half a pig known as a ‘flitch' (side) of bacon.
Gatewoods Pond has existed since before the time of the railway which ran between Braintree and Bishops Stortford on the track which now forms the Flitch Way.
Over the years and particularly since the railway finally closed in 1972 the pond had become silted and overgrown. The surrounding area was one of the first places on the Flitch Way on which volunteers worked, under the guidance and supervision of Nigel Wood who was one of the Country Park Rangers
You are looking for a 450 ml. lock top box. Stealth is required. Please use the plentiful local supply of sticks and leaves to hide the cache once found.