Before reading on please note that although this cache is less than 2.5km from the closest parking at Carter Bar (on the England/Scotland border) and the obvious route follows a public footpath, for a lot of the way it's fairly boggy. In a couple of places (marked as waypoints) it's best to walk just off the path (at least until improvements can be made, possibly withint the next couple of years).
When heading to this site for work we usually recommend wellies unless it's summer and full waterproofs are usually carried unless the weather is looking clear all day. Even then I usually carry a jacket.
Weather conditions in the hills are very changeable and I've been here in cloud with less than 20m visibility - much of the site is quite featureless so only venture out if you're happy in such conditions. The week before the cache was published we had a 90 mile round trip to the site only to return without setting foot on the fell because conditions were too dangerous to procede.
Parts of the site have a good phone signal on certain networks (there's a mast just over the border) but other networks struggle.
The Moor is open access land but the that covers foot access only - please don't cycle to the cache. The area gets abused occasionally by illegal offroad motorcycles, which is very difficult to stop and this causes significant damage. Please respect tha land - it's a SSSI and a National Nature Reserve.
After following the gently climbing path to Black Cleugh (marked on the OS 25k and 50k maps plus some open source maps) the direct approach to the cache is to leave the path and head straight up the slope towards the cairn which you'll have seen on the appoach. The cache is just below it, facing east.
Once you've found the cache head to the cairn to check out the wonderful view taking in the Scottish hills, Cheviot, Hedgehope, Windy Gyle, Catcleugh Resevoir, over Kielder Head to Deadwater Fell.
NE of the large cairn is what appears to be the remains of a burial cist. There hasn't been any archaeological work done to confirm this and the site isn't a scheduled monument but having seen other cists in the area and considering the significant viewpoint it obviously is one. Hopefully some archaeological work will be done in the near future as part of the Revitaslising Redesdale project. Closer to the resevoir there's the remains of a Romano-British settlement
The track across the moor was orignally built as a route to bypass the toll road over Carter Bar and used to head west over the border. It was only relatively recently that it was diverted down to the Car Park. If followed SW it leads past the site of 2 lime kilns which were used to process limestone that had been quarried higher on the moor.
If you look west and north from the cairn you're looking across on to an area of SSSI blanket bog. These form in areas of high rainfall and cold conditions which allow peat to build up and blanket the ground. Here the peat is approximately 2.5m deep. Historical use of the site (before it was acquired by Northumbrian Wildlife Trust) involved digging long drainage ditches across the area and this caused water to leave the site too quickly, stopping the build up of peat, causing erosion, flooding down stream and an increase in peat particles on the water. To combat this NWT initially installed plastic dams along the ditches and these were recently augmented with 300+ peat plug dams.
This winter and spring there'll be work undertaken to stop the erosion of small gulleys with the installation of leaky dams. These slow the passage of water and trap peat, allowing sphagnum moss to re-establish (with some being translocated from healthy areas). This minimises the peat sediment flowing into the nearby reservoir and should eventually lead to the peat building up again on the bog.
Look out for wildlife whilst your visiting - ravens can be regularly seen overhead and if you're very lucky you may spot a merlin. During spring and summer you'll see flocks of golden plover. There are adder on site but they usually stay lower down. And when you get home check for ticks!
If you see a group working up there come over and say hello- I'll probably be one of them.
You may notice that the placed date for the cache is just over a year before the cache was published. This was to test the location's suitability - the contents of the cache have remained perfectly dry in that time despite the wild nature of the site. Please make sure you seal the bag and close the container well to ensure the cache stays that way.