Hales Circular Walk - No.1 The Green Traditional Cache
Hales Hikers: We sadly have to archive this cache after numerous muggle events.
Hales Circular Walk - No.1 The Green
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Easy access across a grassy common. You just need to be able to cross the usual country stiles. You're looking for a micro (film canister). No hints as yet as we've made this easy so that you can enjoy the walk. Will post hints if it is posing problems.
Hales Green is possibly the largest village green in the country. It is almost 1 mile from end to end and comprises 76 acres of grassland. Duncan Down, Whitstable and Frampton on Severn also claim this title but, at 47 acres and 22 acres respectively, they hardly challenge Hales! Hales is one of the few commons that is still managed by cattle grazed by commoners. This maintains the visual features of the Green and also provides an important contribution to the local economy and is essential to the maintenance of a neighbouring agricultural holding.
Flora and fauna: Hales Green is an important wildlife reservoir, a recent survey recording over 116 species of plants. The hawthorn and bramble thickets sustain a healthy insect population, while there are several unusual plants present on the Green, including Spiny Restharrow, Bee Orchids and Stemless Thistle. The shallow ponds are often frequented by shellduck among other species of duck and wader.
Look out for:
Spring: Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
Summer: Spiny Restharrow (Ononis spinosa), Bee Orchids (Ophrys apifera)
Autumn: Stemless Thistle (Carlina acaulis)
Winter: Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
The first cache in the series is at the Northern end of the green close to the former cricket pitch used by the extremely successful village team; the new pitch is just off the green and, in summer, you may be lucky enough to catch a quality match. Why not take time out to relax and watch excellent high quality cricket in this most quintessential of English settings?
Close to the first cache in the series you can see Loddon Hall – once the home of the Hobart family.
At the opposite end of the Green, at the southern end, is Hales Hall, which boasts a 15th century barn; the largest surviving brick-built medieval barn in Britain, and which features a superb example of what is known as a "Queenpost Roof".
Parking on the Green itself is not allowed but there is limited parking on Transport Lane and off Green Lane next to the cricket club premises. The X2 bus runs every half hour between Norwich and Lowestoft stopping in the village of Hales about half a mile from the start of the walk.
Please keep to the footpaths when not actuially on the Green.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Abar