Lytchett Matravers is situated on a broad ridge of relatively high ground about 4km north of the Wareham Channel. To the north the land falls generally towards the River Stour and to the south towards Poole Harbour. The elevated position allows some extensive views to the south towards Poole Harbour and the Purbeck Hills beyond.
The ridge is the westermost extension of the ridge upon which lies Upton Heath, Corfe Hills, Broadstone & Canford Heath. At Lytchett Matravers the geology is a mix of Reading Clay, London Clay and associated Lytchett Matravers Sand.
Although the land is generally quite level on the summit of the ridge where the heart of the village is situated, there are some notable variations in the landform elsewhere. To north, west and east the landscape is undulating with a high incidence of trees and hedgerows. In the southern part of the village itself there are three small but well-defined valleys containing streams that have cut into the soft sands and gravels of the ridge. These are a distinctive feature of this part of the village and they help to define a number of attractive views. However the valleys become much less distinctive beyond the southern edge of the village where the landscape is characterized by a more consistent south-facing slope that falls south towards the A35, the Sherford River and Poole Harbour.
The Earthcache is located in the easternmost of the three valleys.
The local steep sides of the valley have been created by a combination of the relative steepness of the general southerly slope off of the ridge at this location, which has allowed the stream to flow with more force and thus cut downwards more efficiently, and the softness of the geology (clays & sands).
In order to log this cache you are required to obtain measurements that will allow for a calculation of the valley side slopes.
1) Go to each of the two reference locations and note down the distance in metres back to the Earthcache location. Each of the two reference points is up each side of the valley - the Earthcache location is in the bottom of the valley.
2) At each of the three locations note down the altitude as measured by your GPS. Note you must have your GPS set to output the GPS measured altitude, not the elevation as given by your base map. (You may notice that if your GPS is working as per the latter case the elevation at the top and bottom of the hill is the same!! Oops!).
3) For the valley bottom altitude (taken in the roadside) subtract an estimated further distance to take you down to river level. I used a whole metre(s) value the same as that of a tall man. Do not go into the garden or clamber down the the stream.
4) Calculate the difference in altitude from the stream level to each reference point.
5) Divide the horizontal distance (1) by the altitude difference (4) in both cases. This will leave you with two slopes east side and west side that can be defined as 1 in X and 1 in Y.
Your second task is to submit a reason why the results you obtain for each side of the valley have the outcome you have calculated? For example are the results the same or is there a large difference from one side to the other? Whichever outcome you have please tell me why?
Please email me those values so that I may validate your cache log. I am happy for you to submit your log whilst waiting for my reply, but I will delete logs with an obviously incorrect answer for the slope measurements. However I do appreciate that something may go wrong with the measurements so if you submit with your log a photo at the cache location with your GPS then I have secondary proof of your visit, and it might be fun? As far as your reasoning for the slope results is concerned then any sensible answer will be considered.
Deans Drove is a residential area so please park with consideration for those who live here. The road is not overly busy, but the steep hills may create blind spots for drivers, so do please take care of yourselves and your fellow cachers no matter their size, age or number of legs.