Ripley Travel Bug and Geocoin Hotel Traditional Cache
SEJohnson95: Time to put this one to bed I think
The idea was great a year ago, and I'm pleased to say that most people stuck to the rules and ensured that there were plenty of Travel Bugs to go around. I can't get this one back up and running in a hurry because I've only got one TB with me at the moment - not enough for the hotel.
As this one's not part of the Historical Ripley series, it's not a particularly crucial cache in that respect. We've had a good number of cachers visit this one (80 odd in a year) so I'd like to thank those who came, and apologise for anyone who has lost any TBs.
Ripley Travel Bug and Geocoin Hotel
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache has been placed to provide the town of Ripley with its own “Trackable Hotel” – a place for Travel Bugs and Geocoins to reside so that a willing geocacher will have somewhere to exchange a TB, in order to move it on to a new destination, hopefully some distance away! When you get there, have a look for a 5.5 litre box in a camouflage bag. There are also many Swap items, as the thought of having an empty cache if there were no TBs in was terrible!
It has a reasonably high difficulty rating, owing to the fact that the GPS Signal can be dire in these woods. The cache itself is located off the paths so that no one will stumble across it; however, two paths do run close by,so watch out for Muggles and muggle mutts.
There will be times of the day when there are none around, but I wouldn’t recommend this one at night, as there are lots of harsh drops and trip-ups, and even a stream to deal with!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE try to abide by caching laws on this one. I do not like to see Trackables taken from “hotels” simply for the fun of plundering them. If you do wish to trade, make sure you bring a trackable or two to swap. (I admit that I sometimes do not follow these rules, but from now on I will stick to them)
“Surely not an SEJohnson95 cache without history?”
I can hear you say it now... but the area DOES have some history to it.
Carr Wood Nature Reserve can be traced back as far as the 13th century, when it was part of the ancient Duffield Frith Forest.
For much of its history it was a part of the original Butterley estate, and is indeed located only a stone’s throw away from the site of the former Butterley Works. For nearly 200 years,coal mining left the site scarred and bare; beech and oak trees were then planted on the site, and these proudly stand as the tallest trees in the wood.
It played a large part in the history of the Butterley Company: a series of ponds were created to provide water to the hall, foundry and the housing. One of Butterley's most famous creations - The St. Pancras Station's roof - actually helped to shape the area, as the "slag" waste left over from the construction was used to create the wall along Bridle Lane. You will have walked past this to get to the cache!
It is now a place for local wildlife and flowers to flourish and bloom in the spring, as nature has been left to take its course since the early 1920’s – ironically a time when the industrial activity in the area was booming! If you’d have stood here in the 1920’s, you would have been surrounded by railways, in fact, you’d have to cross one of them to get beyond Ripley. It was designated a local nature reserve in 2001.
In springtime, you can take a walk along the paths (bikes not allowed) in Carr Wood and see bluebells out, along with a variety of other flora.
Update: 1/6/11
After doing further reading elsewhere, I have concluded that the "Red brick building" mentioned in the clue is the old "Carr Pit" shaft, pumped by Butterley until the 1970's. It is several hundred feet deep and takes the drainage from old workings seeping into Ripley.
The Cache Originally Contained:
1x A6 Hardback Notepad - 50 Sheets
1x Green SPS Pen
1x HB Pencil
1x Bag of Assorted Marbles
1x Pack of Playing Cards
5x Mini Highlighters
1x 1st Loscoe Scout Badge
1x Rocket Balloon in Yellow Bag
2x Novelty Fish Pencil Sharpeners
2x Large Bouncy Balls
3x Small Bouncy Balls
1x SEJohnson95 Name Slip
1x Beauchief E.S.U Name Slip
1x 1st Loscoe Scouts Name Slip
1x Nilbog Australia 2009 Geocoin
1x Templeton the Rat TB
1x Patrick the Puppy TB
1x Walter the Wagon TB
1x Write about Britain TB
Cache placed with kind permission of Amber Valley Borough Council
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Trg ng Rlr-Urvtug gb Ynql Pnee-Ivat sebz gur erq oevpx ohvyqvat naq jnyx 30 lneqf gbjneqf ure. Or fher gb abg or fghzcrq ebggra!