Once upon a time (in the Domesday Book), West Hallam was a tiny village. Over the centuries it grew, with a village centre with a church, a public house (The Punchbowl), a 17th century school building, and a few houses. Very rural and idyllic (except for the coal mine on the edge of the village towards Stanley).
But then, from the 1970s onwards, the square of land formed by four roads (High Lane, Station Road, St Wilfrid's Road, and The Village) was completely filled in with housing. West Hallam is now a popular housing estate, which still has the old features at its edge, and is still, fortunately, surrounded by green fields in every direction (the coal mine is long gone).
Except that when they covered the fields with housing, they left a few bits of it undeveloped. Sometimes deliberately, such as with the village's cricket and football pitches, and sometimes because the land was just not suitable for building on.
The aim of this small sequence of caches is to show people that there is far more to West Hallam than the housing estate. It is hoped that further caches will be added to the series
This cache is in a small clump of trees next to St Wilfrid’s Road, at the start of an area which is known to some locals as the “Red River”. There is a lot of undergrowth, much of it in the form of nettles! Although the GZ isn’t directly overlooked, you will still need to be careful, as a footpath (which leads towards other caches) also runs close by. It is suitable for a cache-and-dash.
The GPS can be really quite misleading here. The cache is a small camouflaged clip-box, which has got room for very small swaps or TBs. Please bring your own pencil.