GC4TBMC ACROSS WALES WALK FINISH (CLARACH BAY) (Traditional Cache) in South Wales, United Kingdom created by signyred

This cache has been archived.

signyred: I haven't been able to find any pictures but it sounds as though all hope of a decent hide has gone for a while so I am archiving.

GC4TBMC ▼

A cache by signyred Message this owner

Hidden : 11/18/2013

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Saturday 7th September 2013 saw the 50th edition of the “Across Wales Walk”. To celebrate this Golden Anniversary I decided to see if I could combine completing the walk with some geocaching and also set up some special new caches at the checkpoints. I passed by in November to complete this task.

WALK HISTORY
In 1963 five members of West Birmingham YHA Local Group walked from Clun to Nant y Dernol youth hostels, a distance of around 35 miles. During the walk the panoramic views brought up a discussion on the possibility of walking from the border to the sea in one day. The group's rambling leader, Roy Millard, was set the task of working out a route, checkpoints & accommodation, receiving valuable help in this task from the warden at Borth Youth Hostel.
One Saturday in October 1964 twelve group members were dropped off at the border at Felindre, having sent the night at Clun Y.H. They were backed up by another dozen 'supporters' from the YHA group and made their way via Llanidloes, Plynlimon, and Nant y moch to the coast at Borth. The only lady in the party gave up after 26 miles but, keeping together as a group most of the way, the rest all finished. The fist arrivals managed to paddle in the sea after 15 hours 20 minutes of walking but were all completely shattered.
The following year a walk across Wales was repeated with members of other YHA local groups invited and the fastest crossing was reduced to 13 hours 5 minutes. This time they were playing cricket on the beach the following day, whereas the previous year they had just about manage to hobble out to the cars to be chauffeured home!
In 1966 the group made it a national event, charging entrants 10/- to cover transport, refreshments and a certificate and the event has taken place every year since then on the first weekend in September. It soon became apparent that a cut-off time was required for finishing and this was set at 18 hours, regardless of the exact route which has changed slightly over the years but has always been around 45 miles. Since 1982 there have always been a few "Double Crossers" - people starting at the coast at 11am on the Friday who walk eastwards to the border near the Anchor Inn in time to join the start of the official westwards walk the next day!

GOLDEN JUBILEE
Saturday 7th September 2013 saw the 50th edition of the “Across Wales Walk” and this year the organisers Stuart & Judith Lamb allowed a record number of participants. So it was that 156 people set off at 5.10 am up the road towards the Kerry Ridgeway and I was one of them, hoping to successfully complete my 11th “Crossing”.
To celebrate this Golden Anniversary I decided to try and combine the walk with a little geocaching and found as many caches as I could along or close to the route. I also had the idea to create special new caches at the checkpoints and this cache is one of these.

THE FINISH
The finish of the walk is near the end of the tarmac road opposite the caravan site at Clarach, although many walkers finish by having a paddle in the sea. There are few hiding places there, however, so to get to the cache you will have to cross the footbridge and sit on some rocks. The difficulty rating is because the place can be very crowded in summer.
NB No Dogs On Beach 1 MAY - 30 SEPT (EXTRA HINT)
My grateful thanks to N!TR0 for offering to help me with maintenance should this be necessary and I cannot arrange to do it within a reasonable time.
On the way to the finish from Check 5 you pass close to several caches, most of which are his:-
GC27QVJ
GC2HXAH
GC2HXA6
GC2HX9X
GC3TE5H

The cache was in the bottom hole of one of the wooden posts at GZ but, even so, it was indeed swept away in the recent winter storms that cut off the railway link to Cornwall and destroyed the promenade at Aberystwyth. So a huge THANK YOU to fellow Brummies Colin Handley (T A G) and Jenny Berki (Lime Candy) for putting a new container in place when they stopped at their caravan nearby. Then, after this went missing, another HUGE thank you to pauldignam1999 who replaced it in July 2014 and yet again 4 years later (September 2018) - three more "White Knights (can you have a Knightess?

) of Geocaching"! Maybe the beach at Clarach Bay is good for the finish of the walk but not for a cache? Too exposed to weather and muggles. If it keeps disappearing I think it will have to be archived.