The market town of Witney is a town of approximately 28000, 12 miles (19 km) west of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. The place-name 'Witney' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as 'Wyttannige'; it appears as 'Witenie' in the Domesday Book of 1086. Witney is famous for the manufacture of blankets, gloves, and other woollen goods. Witney was selected by The Sunday Times newspaper (March 2014) as one of the best places to live in Britain.
As the most prolific cache hiders in the town, TT and I noticed there was a lack of ‘walk around and discover’ caches for this lovely town so we thought we’d put some together. It’s not overly easy and you won’t be able to look it up online I’m afraid and at the end you will have a few calculations to do but we hope you enjoy the walk and the cache. The final location can be busy so please use stealth!
Start on the Church Green outside the church and walk towards the town …
Walking towards the town you will see a blue plaque near a tree, how many lines of text are there on the plaque = a Plaque is missing so A=8
On the memorial to your left there is a phrase that begins ‘Their name’, how many letters in the word on the second line = b
Walk on and to your right there is a black post with lots of directions on it, how many sides of them contain the word ‘centre’ = c
Take the road on your left.
There is an Indian restaurant on the right, what year was it established? 199d
A bit further on is a hairdressers on the right, how many panes in one of the top floor loft sets = e
Further, there is an alley on the left with some post boxes on the wall assuming A = 1 and Z = 26 what is the value of the middle post box? = f
Staying on the left there is a ‘Disabled Badge Holders Only’ plaque by parking bays, on the back is a serial no HQ6g977
The red post box has location number OX28 h29D
Take the road to your left.
SV or WO it makes no difference, lower number 15, upper number = 8i
Take the first left.
There is an old black drainpipe on the left = j½RV
At the back of one of our favourite local works, how many hours is the store open for each day = k
Follow the road round to the right.
On the left as you walk down outside one house, how many goblins are there? = l
Carry on down and you are at the back of one of Witney’s main educational establishments, what number is the library? = Ym3
You will then go down a small alley / path to some more houses.
On the first of those houses how many chimney pots are there? = n
Walk down into the field the toilets are on your right, when were they built? 199p
Opposite the coffee shop is a plaque, how many oak trees were contributed? = q
Nearby is something we hope we’ll never need, what is its location? = AB0r
Carry on down to the play area and there is a large sign, how many different sponsors have their symbols on there? = 2s
Final cache: N 51 (f + h) ( q - l) . k (a - r) (c + j) W 001 (b - e) (p - i) . i (d - g - e) (n + s - m)
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.
We hope you enjoy the cache and happy caching!
FTF = Walk Tall