Up the Merry Hill Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

kingsizedan: Cache Archived - Sadly Kingsizedan has passed away. (Archived by his brother using his login)

Thank you to all who searched for it - He thoroughly enjoyed this pastime.

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Hidden : 3/23/2011
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This is my first cache, and is a multi-cache in which you need to visit the waypoints to obtain information leading you to the final GPS coordinates of the cache. The posted coordinates are not for the final cache but for the first waypoint.

There are seven (7) waypoints for this cache. At each location you will need to take note of information to answer the clues as detailed below. In doing so you will build the coordinates of the final cache location. Each waypoint has a prominent feature you are looking for. This should take the average fit and able person at a gentle walking pace about 1h30m-2h to complete. The waypoints themselves are dotted around the Merry Hill Woodland Trust site, mainly on the Circular Walk, which is about 4 miles. You may even pass the final cache location before coming back to it!

The final coordinates are: N 51 AB.CDE W 000 FG.HJK

A = Jubilee Bridge was opened on A/6/2002 by Norman.
BC = Norman was BC years old when he died (take the most obvious solution, which also happens to be the correct one).
DE = Martin was born in 19DE.
FG = Elsie was born in 19FG.
H = Beatrice died H number of years prior to 2000.
J = Gawan died in 199J.
K = Number of letters in Lady Clayton's first name.

At the final cache location you are looking for a large clip-lock type food container about 1.5l in size. Starting off it contains logbook, pens & pencil, a whistle, compass, alien, gemstones, a roundhead, post-its and last exit to nowhere sticker. Feel free to trade items in and out.

Be sure also to look for my “Hartsbourne Jubilee Bridge” traditional cache while hunting for this multi, which is at one of the waypoints.

Clues above are not in the order you are likely to come across them. The order doesn't matter, but my suggested route to save a lot of back & forth is:
N 51 38.267 W 000 22.320
N 51 38.012 W 000 21.851
N 51 37.987 W 000 21.461
N 51 37.779 W 000 21.486 (N.B. This feature isn't as big as the others.)
N 51 37.701 W 000 21.956
N 51 37.709 W 000 21.960
N 51 37.885 W 000 22.163

There is no specific parking for the site, and there are several well-publicised public rights-of-way into the site from both Merry Hill Road to the north and Oxhey Lane to the south. Parking is on-street so watch for any restrictions (none of note on Merry Hill Road) and please don't cause any obstructions. Nearest railway station is Carpenders Park, which is both mainline and Overground to Watford. N.B. Dogs are welcome, and it is a popular site for dog walkers, but please take any foul mess away with you; signs do warn of this. I have shown 3 possible trailhead waypoints: Oxhey Lane/Merry Hill Greenway is nearest to Carpenders Park station. The other two are on the other side, Merry Hill Road, with the one near Victoria Road being most suitable if parking over this side.

Merry Hill is a superb 76ha woodland creation site located between Harrow and Watford on the outskirts of London. Despite being only 15 miles from central London and surrounded by the outlying suburbs of Bushey, Oxhey and Carpenders Park, Merry Hill fits snugly into a surprisingly rural and wooded landscape. It was formerly an arable farm, acquired by the Trust in 1996. Subsequently over a third of the site was planted with native broadleaf trees between 1997 and 2000. Lying within Watling Chase Community Forest, over 62,000 trees and 3 miles of hedgerows were planted, part of which was under the Woodland Trust's 'Woods on Your Doorstep' millennium project.

Complementing the young woodland are vast open meadows, some of which are grazed throughout the summer months, adding diversity and richness to the site as well as offering splendid views across the countryside. An establishing orchard is also an interesting addition to this large community woodland. The grazed pasture to the northwest is known as Attenborough's Fields, an open conservation area well supported by the local community. The fields to the west and the Golf courses on the southern and eastern boundaries are privately owned. The underlying geology comprises London clay overlaid by the slowly permeable and seasonally waterlogged soils with some brown subsoil of the Windsor series.

Merry Hill is extremely popular with the local residents and it is well connected to the public rights of way network.

The woodland, grazed pasture and rough grassland meadows provide a mosaic of diverse vegetation providing ever-increasing potential for wide biodiversity and recreational interest.

For more information about the site, visit (visit link)

Geocache placed with kind permission of The Woodland Trust.

Happy 'caching!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Jbbqynaq Gehfg ybbxf nsgre ybgf bs gurfr!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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