This is a lovely area to explore with its network of paths through woodlands and open fields. The village of Essendon also has a lovely church and a playground (which is located down the footpath adjacent to the school on School Lane), some weekends you might even get to watch a bit of cricket at the big playing field. From Essendon you can walk to Little Berkhampstead and I hope to place more in this series along this route
You are looking for a micro sized container close to the stile. You do not need to cross any fences to find it and can sit on the stile to sign the log!
Parking in the village of Essendon is on street either in School Lane or by the church. There is also parking in a layby opposite the PH at West End.
About the cache's name sake....
Money Spiders (Family Linyphiidae)
The Money Spiders belong to the family Linyphiidae. This huge family includes over 40% of the spiders found in Britain with over 270 species. Money spiders are under 5mm long.
Money spiders make sheet webs to catch their prey, consisting of horizontal sheets of silk with guide threads above and below the web. These guide threads deflect their prey into the web where the spider waits patiently. One of the larger money spiders found in the garden is Neriene montana. This makes its sheet webs in any herbage it can find in the garden, but the outsides of dense shrubs and dwarf conifers are particularly popular.
The shiny black spiders that originated the name 'money spider' belong the genus Erigone. Several of these are very common in Britain. They use a method of dispersal called 'ballooning'. The spider lets out a strand of silk into the air, wind currents lift the spider into the air, and it 'flies'. At certain times of the year many millions of money spiders use this method to move to new areas. This is how spiders occasionally get caught in people's hair - it was thought when this happened the person would be coming into money - hence the name money spider! For extra good luck you are supposed to spin the spider around your head by its web before letting it go!
One species of Money Spider,Lepthyphantes tenuis, is believed to be the commonest spider in the UK. At between 2 and 3mm long it's usually found in low growing vegetation and leaf litter.
(Info from the British Arachnological Society)
