ABOUT SONNING
The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book Three Men in a Boat as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Sonning’s familiar brick bridge was constructed in 1790 by local builder John Treacher and is intersected by the county boundary between Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Two-way traffic was permitted before the installation of traffic lights in the 1960s and a structure better suited to the conveyance of pack animals and pedestrians continues to bear a highly disproportionate amount of road traffic across the Thames. The river itself, now well known for its pleasure cruising, has been a vital trading artery for centuries and in 1773 its weir and Pound lock was first opened. Sonning Lock, built in the 18th Century, is 40.5 miles from Oxford and 72 miles from London Bridge via river. The village lies within easy access of the A4, M4 and M40 motorways, bus routes and railway stations at Reading, Twyford and Winnersh. Canadian and American troops were billeted in Sonning before the 1944 D-Day Normandy landings. General Eisenhower (a future President of the USA) also stayed briefly at The Grove in Pearson Road, the very same house where the defeated Admiral Villeneuve had been imprisoned in 1805 following the Battle of Trafalgar. Famous current and past residents of Sonning include Prime Minister Theresa May, actor George Clooney, illusionist Uri Geller, footballer Glen Hoddle, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Deep Purple's Jon Lord.
THE MULTICACHE
The above co-ordinates take you to the village boundary on the B4446 where there it is usually possible to park with consideration on the western side of the road - there is also a bus stop near here for buses from Reading, Wokingham and Maidenhead. The first stage of the multicache is here. The following stages take you on a three-quarter of a mile walk through Sonning village (take care crossing the main road) and down to the Thames Path along to Sonning Lock where you will find the final stages. You can take a seat to calculate the final cache location as there are a number of benches overlooking the lock and the Tea Garden on the western side of the lock should be open during the summer months, Apr-Sep. (For the return journey, there is a path leading through the churchyard that will take you almost directly back to the start point).
You should have a single digit answer to A-L, while M and N are derived by adding the following: A+E=M and G+J=N.
The final cache container, which is a camo 35mm film canister, is at: N ME° JC.AFB W 000° NH.LKD