The 'Hickling Basin' as it’s known is a small square 'lake' with the Grantham Canal running through it. It was built in 1797 and the nearby Wharf followed afterwards. As was common at the time, pubs would serve the passing trade and nearby villages such as Kinoulton even had a pub right by the side of the canal (The Bull; now long gone) to service the need. The canal was used to transport a variety of goods between Nottingham and Grantham but most notably coal going towards Grantham from the Nottinghamshire coal fields which were numerous at the time. The round trip took about 10 days but was actually profitable. Night soil (basically human lavatory waste) also used the canal as a method of transport and examination of surrounding fields where it was scattered will reveal a selection of broken pottery fragments if the field has been ploughed. These came from the city’s middens and being ceramic didn't experience the decomposition of the organic waste and thus remain to this day.
The basin has a rather splendid structure next to it. It's the old wharf building and is pretty much contemporary with the early days of the canal. It was used as a storage area for sacks of grain going out and coal going in. I believe the grain was upstairs and the coal was on the ground floor. The proximity to the canal allowed the narrow boats to moor alongside and the produce to be hauled up via a gin wheel and rope using a cantilevered timber beam set into the gable end. A similar arrangement existed on the back of the building to load wares onto carts.
As well as acting as a small ‘port’ for the canal boats, the Basin also allowed boats to turn around. There are winding holes along the length of the canal for this purpose but they are few and far between.
The canal was under pressure from the 1830s onwards as the railways proved to be faster and more efficient, though 1841 was the canal’s busiest year. The canal finally wound up in 1936 and much damage occurred in the 50s and 60s as bridges were levelled and ‘progress’ took hold. There have been moves to maintain the line and condition of the canal and it is the ultimate aim by the Canal and River Trust to see it reopened one day for pleasure boats.
The Hickling Basin is now something of a local tourist attraction. Parking can be tight in the summer months as people flock out to the countryside to enjoy the walks along the canal, the pleasant scenery and generally feed the ducks/swans. It’s a popular venue for cyclists as the canal towpath by its very nature is essentially flat and the Vale of Belvoir is much the same for the hoards of cyclists who use the rural roads.
The cache is a short multi and quite easy to find. To add a little interest to the hunt there is a Chirp beacon at stage 1 which will guide you to the final coordinates. Stand at the given coordinates and the Chirp will take you from there. Note that the Wharf is a small cafe these days after being essentially semi derelict for 60 years and the cache has been placed with the owner’s permission. You specifically do not need to enter the premises to gain access to the cache nor part with any money. Access to the chirp signal and cache is 24/7.