Around English Bicknor #2 - The Ship & the Needle Traditional Cache
Around English Bicknor #2 - The Ship & the Needle
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Welcome to our fourth group of Geocaches in and around the Forest of Dean. Around English Bicknor is a circular route of about 5 miles,with English Bicknor as its centrepiece. The village is situated on a hill above the surrounding fields and woodland. It is an old village with a Norman church & an ancient motte & bailey (the castle no longer exists). The village was first recorded as a hamlet as early as 1066. There are 9 caches in this series & some lovely views along the way.
The main parking spot for this circular route is at Symonds Yat Forestry Commission car park. The car park has toilets, picnic benches and a small shop but is charged at £3 in winter months & £3.50 during the summer. There are other caches in the area of the Yat Rock and along the Wye, so you could make a caching day of it, and the whole site is of interest to walkers & birdwatchers.
If you would rather not part with your money in this way may we suggest the free parking at Shortstanding picnic site, between Christchurch & Hillersland – this site has 2 large benches & parking places off the road, with grass for children to play on. From here you would have to walk towards Symonds Yat on the footpath, which runs parallel to the main road (through the woods). DO NOT attempt to walk along the main road, as there are no footpaths and the road is narrow & busy with traffic visiting the Yat Rock. If you choose to park at Shortstanding you could also bag caches 8 and 9 on your way to the start, so the extra distance walked would be limited.
A third parking option, which is also free, is to park in English Bicknor itself, in the car park just below the church and school. You may then join the circular route by turning left out of the car park and walking up to the junction signposted Eastbach. Turn right down Church Hill and head for cache # 4 Under Cowmeadow.
In the winter months parts of the route do become rather muddy; churned up by cattle in gateways or made wet by streams crossing the path, so we would suggest wellies or walking boots are the ‘footwear of choice’.
The whole circular route is about 5 miles and much of the walk is along Public Footpaths & Waymarked Paths (Wysis Way), but there are a few farms close by the route so please keep dogs under control, especially around livestock. As usual we have hidden a First to Find ‘REWARD’ along the route – but in which cache?? Have a great walk & enjoy the views.
Cache 2 is placed between the Ship and the Needle Rocks only a few feet from the main footpath. It is well away from the steep valley side in a quite obvious hiding place. The cache is medium sized and camouflaged – please replace it as found and cover well to avoid Muggling.
After cache 2 the path remains narrow for a while and near the steep edge of the valley – please take care. Towards the end of the woods the path veers away from the river and becomes wider, finishing with a stile at the end. Turn right after the stile, up towards the farm buildings on a track. Turn left at the metal gate along a grassy track, through 4 kissing gates, to a steepish downhill track through woods. This downhill track can be wet & slippery in the winter. Turn right at the bottom of the track where it meets the tarmac road and then uphill to cache 3 and the village.
Our thanks to the Forestry Commission for allowing us to place the cache on their land.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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