The trail is about 3 ½ miles long, the majority on public footpaths, apart from the last couple of hundred metres from Thiefhole back to the village. Please take care with children and dogs once on the road.
It can be quite muddy in places so please wear appropriate footwear.
The trail which is designed for both children and adults consists of 13 caches and a bonus.
Some of the caches are clippy boxes containing “treasure” and information about different pigs and some of them are more devious micro type caches.
The Pig (not the piglet ones) caches contain a clue to the coordinates of the bonus cache. You need to look at the poem carefully noting a word that is different and the related letter on the card. The number of the cache is irrelevant. .
Please make a note of that information. Please replace the caches exactly as you found them.
Street side parking in the Village.
General Information about pigs
Pigs are intelligent animals.
Like humans, pigs are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals.
A pig’s snout is an important tool for finding food in the ground and sensing the world around them.
Pigs have an excellent sense of smell.
There are around 2 billion pigs in the world.
Humans farm pigs for meat such as pork, bacon and ham.
Some people like to keep pigs as pets.
Wild pigs (boar) are often hunted in the wild.
In some areas of the world, wild boars are the main source of food for tigers.
Relative to their body size, pigs have small lungs.
Gloucestershire Old Spot
Although if old paintings are to be trusted, there have been spotted pigs around for two or three centuries, the Gloucestershire Old Spots has only had pedigree status since the early 20th century. They had been set into type for some time and were very popular in the Berkeley Vale of Gloucestershire where they were known as the Orchard Pig.They grazed in the apple orchards, clearing up the windfalls as well. They lived outside throughout the year being tough and hardy although also quiet and easily handled. These qualities are prominent today. The Gloucestershire Old Spot is a large meaty animal with a broad and deep body and large hams. Its white coat has large clearly defined black spots. A few years ago fashion called for only one or two spots but today breeders have decided that if you are going to have a spotted pig, then it should have more spots. The spots should, however, be clearly defined and black but not blue. Their legs and feet should be strong and straight and their ears should be lop ears covering their faces and coming down to their noses They are ideally suited to an outdoor system.
Provided they have a warm and comfortable hut they will thrive outside all the year around, better on land that is reasonably dry so that it does not become a quagmire. This the pigs wouldn’t mind, but it would become difficult to get round to look after them. The Gloucestershire Old Spot pig today has a very fine carcase and produces top quality meat for all purposes be it pork chops, roasting joints or sausages. Meat of this quality is in demand by the more discerning public and many butchers are now specialising in it.