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 across the golf course and this is the second of the series that I am placing along this route which will eventually form a loop back to Essendon.
You do not need to cross any fences to find this cache. Parking in School Lane or by the church is pretty easy and serves as a good base for the rest of the caches as well as the two by "geocacheUK" in the local "Backhouse Woods".
Big enough for most trackables and geocoins and a little swag you are looking for a plastic drinking cup with a screw top lid. The container is disguised with camoflauge tape making it a bit tricky to see... The tree cover made getting accurate GPS Co-ords a bit tricky, eventually pinned it down to within 5 metres on my third visit, but you should find it with hint no problems. The cache is not far after the end of the partially broken down fence on the bank and is at ground level.
Between this cache and the previous in the series (Spiders are Great #6) you need to cross the golf course. This is the Hertfordshire way so they are used to plenty of people passing through, but do keep dogs on lead etc and of course watch out for shouts of "Fore!" it is only 300m or so before you are back in woodland and near the next cache!
About the cache's name sake....
The Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) is a very large, colourful spider that is a recent arrival in Britain from the continent and has slowly spread over the south of England. The Wasp Spider was first recorded in the UK in the 1920s and has since spread rapidly. With milder winters as a result of climate change, this spider now appears to be expanding its range northwards so this beauty, once perhaps only seen on holidays to warmer climes in Europe, could something we begin seeing a lot more of. But probably not in the “exotic wasp spider that bites swarming across England” manner as one tabloid warned in 2007.
Wasp Spiders build large orb webs in grassland and heathland, and attach their silk egg-sacs to the grasses. The web has a wide, white zig-zag strip running down the middle, known as a 'stabilimentum', the function of which is unclear. Mating is a dangerous game for males; they wait at the edge of the web until the female has moulted into a mature form, then take advantage of her jaws being soft and rush in to mate. However, many males still get eaten during this time. The females of this species of spiders are unmistakable they are yellow black with a white stripe. The males are smaller and pale brown.
