Given the current issues we are facing and how reports suggest that Covid-19 can remain viable and infection of some surfaces for days after contamination can I suggest that people remember to sanitise their hands before and after finding the container and signing the log book. For those people who don’t fancy actually touching / opening a container I will happily accept a photograph of the container itself - in situ if that is what you would prefer. The main priority here is that we should always stay safe.
A simple letter bo hybrid to be found at the top of Black Dog Woods.
Please note: The Inkpad and Stamp are NOT tradable items and sould remain with the cache.
Black Dog Woods is as the name suggests haunted by a spirit of a large black dog which is said to either presage doom to all who see it or to attack on sight. What ever the reason, the wood has two utterly fascinating legends about how the spectural pooch came to be.
The Chapmanslade Maid
The first, and far older legend revolves a very fair Chapmanslade maiden. She was supposed to have been a beauty to rival Helen of Troy, and it wasn't surprising that she was wooed by two suitors. Now the maid could not chose between the two of them, and so her suitors decided the only way to settle this matter was with pistols. A duel was swiftly arranged in a clearing within the wood and as the maid looked on the men turned and fired. Instantly one of them crumpled to the ground dead. However the man's dog, a particularly large and loyal black mastiff, broke free from the grip of his second and attacked the other man, killing him.
Totally distressed at losing both her suitors, the young lady then took her own life and was buried at Dead Maids crossroads, which is located on the edge of the old Dilton parish. The dog itself was destroyed on the spot and it is this ghost that haunts the wood to this day.
Th Highwayman's Dog
The second tale suggests that the black dog was, in fact, owned by a highwayman who used to conduct his business on what is now Black Dog Hill, on the A36. Today, there is a straight round running up the hill, but in previous times the road used to meander tortuously up the hill and, with its many bends, was an ideal place for a highwayman to lurk. The dog's job, by the way, was to leap up onto the stagecoach and attack the driver in the neck, thus halting the vehicle.
Anyway the story of how the dog became a ghost goes something like this. One wild and stormy night, a shepard who had sold his flock at the Warminster market was walking down the toll-road back to Standerwick, when the highwayman leapt out at him. He ordered the shepard to hand over his money, and the shepard readily agreed. However he did ask the highwayman a favour.
He didn't want to be thought of a coward for giving in so easily, and so begged the highwayman to shoot at the sheppard's hat, which he would lay upon the ground. The highwayman considered this for a second before saying yes. The shepard quickly took off his hat and the highwayman quickly fired his pistols.
At which point, the shepard drew a pistol of his own and told the, now unarmed, highwayman to be on his way. Shamed by falling for such a stupid trick, the highwayman took his revenge on his poor dog, which had done nothing to aid his daft master.
From then on, the ghost of the dog is said to haunt the woods attacking any man it comes across. That is, if you believe this kind of thing.
The Cache
Well whatever the reason, the wood is an interesting place to visit and this cache is a celebration of that dog.
You are looking for a small clip top box in which you will find a log book, a stamp and ink pad. As this is a letterbox hybrid, it would be great if you could bring your own stamp - however it's not compulsory.
In case you are confused when it comes to letterboxes, you're supposed to have your own stamp and log book. When you find the letterbox you stamp the log book in the cache with your stamp, and stamp your own log book with the stamp from the cache. Like I said it isn't mandatory at all, so if you don't have your own stamp then that is fine.
All I ask is that you please leave the ink pad and stamp the cache contains and don't take it as a swap.
There is a quid awaiting the first person brave enough to find this cache.