The Saffron Trail #Nutmeg Traditional Cache
The Saffron Trail #Nutmeg
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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These caches have been placed along a very short section of “The Saffron Trail” in Blountswood Rd, Hullbridge.
The Saffron Trail is a long distance footpath just over 71 miles in length stretching all the way from Southend-on-Sea in the south east of the county to Saffron Walden in the north west. There are some lovely sections along the route including riverside walks, visits to unspoilt villages and historic monuments, strolls through beautiful woodlands in the heart of the urban sprawl, and miles and miles of walking in the wilds of the Essex countryside.
The Saffron Trail was devised by Essex Ramblers because they noticed that the two major long distance walks in Essex - The Essex Way and St Peter's Way - both went from west to east, and thought it would be a nice idea to have a south-north route as well. The walk is called the 'Saffron Trail' because it ends in Saffron Walden. The name conjures up exotic images of an historic spice trail and since the town is named after the saffron grown there from 1400 - 1700 (extracted from crocuses), this seems to make sense. Sadly though, there is no evidence of any such spice trail between Saffron Walden and Southend. In fact the bulk of the saffron crop was sold in England, where it was in high demand as medicine (it does have many medicinal uses, and was thought to be a cure for the plague), as a flavouring and for dyeing, and a small amount was exported via London in the 17th century to the American colonies and to northern Europe.
This byway is regularly used by cyclist & horse riders, Be warned when wet this track can become extremely muddy.
At the time of placing the track was very muddy!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pbeare