Hathern Trail No.9: "Art Fry & Spencer Silver"
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is one of a series of geocaches that will take you on trails through fields and meadows around the pretty village of Hathern. The geocache and trail is located entirely on waymarked public footpaths. The trail is on flat ground, although you will need to climb over well-made styles and it can be muddy in places in wet weather.
The geocache is a small, camofluaged, clip-lock plastic food container containing only a log book and room for a small tradeable items.
PLEASE ENSURE THAT THE GEOCACHE IS REPLACED CAREFULLY IN ITS ORIGINAL POSITION AND OUT OF SIGHT
The the original contents of the geocache included:
*Log book and pen (please leave the pen for others to use)
*2 polished semi-precious stones
*Fancy eraser
*Gel-pen (for trading)
*Kalaedoscope
The footpath to this geocache will take you along the edge of the Soar Valley and afords lovely views northwards across the valley towards Normanton-on-Soar and the hamlet of Zouch. You can make a longer walk along these paths to take in the other geocaches in the series
The geocaches in the Series are:
No.1; "Starting-in-Style" (GC2E8Y8)
No.2: "Rock-On" (GC2E938)
No 3: "Back-on-Track" (GC2E94Q)
No.4: "Old Man Willow" (GC2E96G)
No.5: "Lonesome" (GC2EB9N)
No.6: "Balded-Ash" (GC2EBAN)
No.7: "Wicked Hathern" (GC2EJ8H)
No.8: "Fibonacci Pattern" (GC33JBY)
No.9: "Art Fry & Spencer Silver" (GC33J0X)
No.10 (replaced): "Inspired View" (GC3H5DK)
No.11: "A Slow Pace" (GC36WT7)
No.12: "Gate closed but horse bolted" (GC36WWB)
Other geocaches may be added in due course
If you follow this small series you can make a circular route that can start and finish at Hathern Park, Pasture Lane, Hathern.
For a short walk: from the Trailhead (Car Park) follow the Series in the order 1, 2, 3 and 4, then back to the Trailhead (Car Park).
For a longer walk: from the Trailhead (Car Park) follow the Series in the order 1, 2, 3, 11, 10, 5, 6, 12 and 4, then back to the Trailhead (Car Park).
"Wicked Hathern" (no.7) is only a short distance along the road into the village from the Trailhead and could be added as a short detour either at the beggining or at the end of your walk.
For a nice long walk you could combine, "Wicked Hathern" (No.7), "Fibonacci Pattern" (No.8), and "Art Fry & Spencer Silver" (No.9) with the others in the series in the order 1, 4, 12, 6, 5, 10, 11, 3, 2, 8, 9, 10, 7
"Wicked Hathern" and "Starting-in-Style" can all be reached by wheelchair and strollers but other caches in the series are along footpaths across rough fields and tracks that can be muddy at times, and/or involve climbing over styles that are not suitable for wheelchairs, and may be difficult or not accessible to pushairs/strollers.
Why not walk to "Wicked Hathern" from the the Trailhead up Pasture Lane, via the ancient "cross" at the junction of Dovecote Street, Church Street, Cross Street, then walk along Church Lane to see the pretty little village church. Hathern Cross is a scheduled ancient monument believed to be medieval in age and an iconic feature that is greatly loved by the villagers. Its shaft is constructed of sandstone blocks mounted on top of a stepped base of Charnwood stone. The top of the shaft had to be repaired after it collapsed during a gale in 1916. Little is known about the purpose of the cross. Whether it was a preaching cross or a simple market cross is unclear. A single Charnwood stone located at the southwest corner of the base was perhaps used for teathering animals or may have been used as a whipping post. It is an enigmatic feature - it actually has no "cross" . Whether it ever had a cross on top is unknown. Maybe the top stone was a lantern head, as is found on other similar monuments.
You can also saunter down to the River Soar while doing this series and admire the pretty view of Normanton-on-Soar with its beautiful spired church across the other side of the river, and watch the narrow boats cruising on the river. You could also take in a couple of other nearby geocaches: "Zouch Rhymes with Scotch" (GC2135Y) and "Mind-your-manor" (GC2DT4F)
PLEASE ENSURE THAT THE GEOCACHE CONTAINER IS CONCEALED FROM VIEW
CONGRATULATIONS TO PLASMAWAVE FOR FIRST-TO-FIND ON 6 SEPTEMBER 2011
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
1. Vairagvba. Gur pyhr vf va gur anzr!
2. Uvqqra ybj-qbja