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 (located down the footpath adjacent to the school), some weekends you might even get to watch a bit of cricket at the big playing field. From Essendon you can walk to Little Berkhamsted across the golf course and this cache is part of the series that I am placing along this route which will eventually form a loop back to Essendon. In Little Berkhamsted you will find a few ammenities and a play park as well as a lovely church which is now the subject of a new church micro cache after the previous was archived in 2011.
You do not need to cross any fences to find this cache. Parking in Essendon 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". There is parking in Little Berkhamsted of course if you wish to approach from that direction. Beware the path alongside the chalkpit after Ashfield Farm and toward the golf course gets very muddy in winter so wellies probably needed. There is also a ford with a little bridge which can get hard to cross after very heavy rain (N 51° 45.766 W 000° 08.566) an alternative could be along the roadway to Kennel Hall farm and then across the golf course at that point.
Small flattish tub.
About the cache's name sake....
House spiders (Tegenaria duellica) grow up to 10mm to 14mm *head and body) and 50 to 60mm (including legs). They are found throughout the UK and seen all the year around as they can overwinter easily in houses and out buildings. They eat small insects and other invertebrates which they catch in their thick sheet web. Their webs are usually about 15cm across, in a neglected corner. The web has a tubular retreat at the rear where the spider sits and waits for dinner to drop by. House spiders can survive for several months without food or water. They become more noticeable in autumn, which is their mating season. The males are often seen scuttling across a room or falling into bath tubs as they move around in search of a female. The males have longer legs than the females, while the females have broader abdomens than the males.
