This cache is located in a beautiful spot dangling above the tidal river Hamble within a National Trust nature reserve. The cache is accessible by both foot and boat but you will need to visit the car park to get the coordinates. By foot you are looking at a 2.5 mile round trip but as there are some other caches in the area this one can be combined with them.
EDIT: The car park where the clue is located is now a private car park for customers of the nearby pub only. Public parking is available around 250yds along the road in a layby, alternatively free parking is available at Burridge Recreation ground at the other end of the National Trust reserve. A duplicate sign is present here which can be used to solve the clues.
The nature reserve is on the site of an ancient Saxon settlement and remains of the earthworks can be seen as you wander along the footpaths. There was activity in the area up to at least tudor times and at low tide evidence of docks can be seen and finds from this area have shown that trading with Cornwall occurred. On the other side of the river there is a scheduled ancient monument at the site of a Roman Villa.
The start point for this cache is the entrance to the National Trust 'Hamble River' nature reserve at Curbridge (or as above at the Burridge entrance at the other end of the trail). You are looking for 2 metallic signs at the entrance to the reserve which will indicate the position of the cache.
To obtain the final coordinates for this cache look for the following:
B = No. of letter ‘B’s in total on both signs (both upper and lowercase)
L = No. of letter ‘L’s in total on both signs (both upper and lowercase)
* = total no. of underlined words
Note that you should only look at the 2 metallic signs and not at any other temporary signs which may be attached. Double check your numbers as this can be quite tricky.
The cache is located at N 50 B*. (L-1)(B+1)L W 1 1B.L*(B+*)
Placed with the kind permission of the National Trust Warden from who the story of the history of the site was obtained. It's likely that you may meet him in the reserve and if asked nicely may provide some further hints if you are struggling!
Well done Badcats on FTF!