Welcome to Flitwick - with a silent 'W'. This is a series of caches designed to increase Flitwick's presence on the caching map. They will be added gradually over the winter of 2010 / 2011. If you wish to chase the FTF you'll have to come here often. Alternatively you may want to wait till all of them (I'm intending for them to be 15 plus a bonus cache) to be in place. Plan your own route around the delights of Flitwick!
Cache #8 has been set to bring you to Flitwick Mill.
Flitwick Mill is one of the few remaining buildings of historic significance in Flitwick. There are references to a water mill on the site in the Doomsday Book. It is now the only surviving water mill on the River Flit, with features that make it locally and nationally unique. Flitwick Mill was designated Listed Grade II in 1961, when it was still a working mill meeting the needs of local farmers, milling continued until the 1980s. Much of the machinery still remains intact and provides a remarkable and unique record of the evolution of milling practice over the last 200 years.
In August 2009, Central Bedfordshire Council approved the planning application for the owner to change the mill into a dwelling.
The Mill is situated on the outskirts of Flitwick close to Flitwick Moor, a nationally important Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the heart of the Flit Valley. The majority of the moor is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust. This is a superb, but fragile wetland, created by a combination of peat cutting and the naturally iron-rich groundwater bubbling up to the surface from springs.
Flitwick Mill (like cache #7) is on the Two Moors Heritage Trail. The trail is a gentle 5 mile walk aimed to provide a good introduction to the landscape of the area. More details of the Two Moors Heritage Trail, including maps can be found on cache #7 or at the Greensand Trust website Follow Link
You should be able to park a short walk from the cache if doing it as a cache and dash.
I would consider the site to be wheelchair accessible, but assistance will be required for the cache itself. The trail itself is not weelchair accessible.
The cache is a second replacement for the original, after the original hiding place was removed. It is a 5ml tube. It only contains a log. Please bring your own writing equipment.
There is currently no bonus information in the cache. I will e-mail all finders this information until I have added it to the cache - it shouldn't matter as I have yet to set the final!
Please log any issues / DNF's - as I can check the cache very easily.
Congratulations to The Red Duke on being first to find