Speech House Central 5 - The Dilke. Traditional Cache
Speech House Central 5 - The Dilke.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Here is another of our circular routes this time with Speech House at its centre. The trail is along the cycle track that follows the route of the old forest mining railway, with various starting points along the way. We started the trail from the bottom of Speech House Hill where there is free parking (outside the barriers) for 8-10 cars. Other suitable parking places are available.
This trail may be done on bikes or on foot. It is just over 7 miles however so is more suitable for bikers or fit walkers. The trail may be split into 2 sections for those on foot, with routes back to parking spots via Spruce Ride or the Gloucestershire Way, but by the time you have done this you might as well have walked the total distance on the easier cycle track. The trail is also on very good made up tracks and the gradient is never severe – as long as you attempt the caches in numerical order. Attempt the circuit in reverse numerical order & you will see why we put that bit in bold.
The caches are quite widely spaced apart, to avoid cyclists having to hop on & off too frequently. We would also suggest a local Explorer map (OL14) may be useful, or download one from the Internet, or use the marvels of technology on your GPS – they show the route accurately and have the local parking and picnic spots on them.
If you fancy a break for lunch there are quite a few places to consider – New Fancy picnic site, Beechenhurst picnic site and BBQs, Speculation picnic site off the New Road or Folders Green/Cannop picnic site – depends where & when you set off from on the circuit. Don’t forget, if you are parked up inside a barrier get back to the car by 5pm in the winter months, or you could have a long journey home that night. In the summer you have at least 2 hours more time available.
Cache 5 is placed quite close to Dilke Hospital, just above the old track. Dilke Memorial Hospital first opened its doors in 1923 as a permanent memorial to the popular local MP, Sir Charles Dilke, with donations from local people and miners of the Forest donating one penny (1d) a week - a lot of money in those days - as well as great support from local businesses. Back then, the need for such a facility in the Forest was recognised by all and the hospital was used to treat injured miners (if treatment was possible), to tend to the local elderly and infirm and to deliver those local babies which were not, for whatever reason, to be born at home.
Cache 5 is a micro camouflaged tub.
With thanks to the Forestry Commission for their permission to place this cache.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Onfr bs fynagrq bnx ba jrfgrea onax.