Welcome to “Caching at Nostell”. This small series has a variety of geocaches; straightforward and sneaky; large and small. It is open to all cachers and is a good intro to caching. There are 16 caches, plus a multi and a bonus. Collect information for the bonus as you go round. You will need a litre of water to retrieve one. Another cache will need special equipment – this has been provided. Don’t forget your pen and tweezers. Some of the bigger caches have swaps – remember “Trade up or trade even”. Do not leave foodstuff or perfumed goods. Some of the caches have been specially made, please take care with them. You might need to put your hands through fences, but you won’t need to climb any.
Every cache has a hint, but you need to do a little work to translate them. Try with this little haiku:
Skool ekil lereggod
Uoy dnuof noitalsnart ysae
Peek gnihcacoeg
Photos are welcome if they are of a general nature, but photos of the caches will be deleted.
The walk of around 8 kilometres will take you round the parkland of this lovely site. All caches have been placed with the enthusiastic permission of the National Trust. You may notice the lack of litter as you go round due to the vigilance of volunteers and staff; if you see any why not pick it up and put it in a rubbish bin at the end of your visit? Do not leave any litter, especially around the water cache.
Parking is free for NT members, remember all parking fees go towards the upkeep of this place.
Nostell’s parkland is open 07:00 - 19:00 or dusk if earlier; put WF4 1QE into your SatNav if coming by car. Although there are ways of getting into the parkland by public footpath at all times, please don’t cache at night by torchlight as you might be thought to be a poacher.
There is good public transport. Arriva Yorkshire (( 0344 8004411) operates regular bus services between Wakefield and South Emsall 485 and between Wakefield and Doncaster 497.
Cycling is encouraged – at the time of writing people arriving by bike get a free cup of tea!
Close to C@N #3 are the stables where you can find clean, free toilets and baby change facilities; a café; shop and a tap and bowl for dogs. NT staff are on hand to give info.
The terrain is gentle – some firm paths, some cut grass and woodland paths. There are no stiles so it is suitable for “tramper” style mobility scooters if someone is with you to open the gates. Many people walk the parkland with buggies. Dogs with responsible owners are welcome. There might be livestock in the fields, controlled by temporary electric fences. The beasts are used to walkers, but you should take the usual precautions. (There are permanent gates to allow access; people often wonder what they are for when there are no electric fences!) The caches from #5 to #15 are placed in a wildflower meadow that looks spectacular in the summer.
Each cache page will tell you which way to go, #2 will have a complete walk through if you want to print it out.