AS WITH ALL MY CACHES THEY ARE FAIRLY EASY TO OPEN WITH A LITTLE THOUGHT SO PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT FORCE THEM
December 8th, 1919 saw the first trees planted by the newly created Forestry Commission right here, in Flashdown Wood, part of the old Eggesford Estate. By 1956 the Commission had planted one million acres of woodland, an occasion commemorated by a granite stone unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen’s Stone can still be seen in Hilltown Woods picnic area. All trains must stop at Eggesford Station, as the local landowner made it a condition of releasing the land to build the railway in 1854. The scenery here is lovely and the house very handsome." So wrote Thomas Hardy of the area, in 1885. The forest itself possesses some magnificent Douglas fir, including a veteran on the Eggesford Estate, planted in around 1840. There is also a motte and bailey castle, a scheduled ancient monument that is all that remains of a once imposing Norman fort.
From here on in you may find your GPS starts to struggle because of the tree cover but you are looking for larger than normal containers so this should equal out the difficulty.
You will find ample parking at the start of this series and I would estimate it to take you approx 2-3hrs to complete. Possibly longer depending on how quick your finds are. You will at certain times of the year need decent footwear as parts of the footpaths can get quite muddy and slippery after prolonged rain.
From the previous cache head back to the Castle and turn right. Take the next track on the right then turn left and head down hill. At the bottom turn right. This stretch can be quite boggy at times. You are looking for a small bank on the left close to the stream which you will have to go over. I will apologize in advance to the older cachers as this bit may be a little tricky (especially in winter) but it was a lovely secluded spot i couldn't overlook.
Contains the log and room for some swaps