One of a growing series of puzzle caches with the common theme being that they all offer a direct line of sight view of Stokenchurch Tower.
The cache is not at the listed coordinates and there is no need to go there but if you do, perhaps on your way to/from GZ after doing the main trail, you will find an interesting piece of history.
This was originally designed as an augmented reality geocache but time has moved on whilst the technology supporting it hasn't. This part of the experience has therefore become increasingly unreliable. Details on this experience are still provided below for reference and please feel free to give it a try but as of 19th August 2022 the cache can now aso be completed as a long multi in beautiful countryside.
The multi will take you around the 3km long Aston Rowant (AR) Nature Trail looking for the information boards. At each information board you need to find a value for letters A-K (look around and under the boards for dymo printed white text on black stickers).
I have listed the locations of all the information boards but each board tells you how to get to the next so you probably don't need them. Information Board 3 was missing when the cache was originally published so there is nothing to do there apart from admire the views. See details in the listed waypoints on how to get to Information Board 4 from here.
The final cache can be found a 10-15 minute walk away at:
N 51º AB.CDE W 000º FG.HJK
Congratulations to Smokeypugs on the FTF and for making this cache their 750th (FTF that is). Impressive work indeed.
Still want to try the AR experience?
If you still wish the augmented reality experience a try, here are the details.
This experimental augmented reality geocache requires you to first download the Metaverse app for iOS or Android. You will then need to open the "AR Trail Experience" via the this link or by scanning the QR code below. You will need a cellular data connection in order for the experience to work.
Update 30th May 2022: As the augmented reality app is no longer officially supported and seems to be becoming increasingly buggy I have updated all waypoints to also include the questions. So it is now possible to do this simply as a long multi in a beautiful landscape if all else fails.
Update 2nd October 2021: Experience updated to match the new/rearranged signs so this should now be much easier to complete. Some stages will feel a little bit random now as they were made to match the original signs but the important parts (i.e. the clues for the final) are fixed. Should hopefully still make for a pleasant, if a little quirky, walk.
The cache has been tested on an iPhone X running iOS 11.4 using the O2/giffgaff network. This worked well for me. To aid with the experiment please also put in your logs the device, operating system and network you have used and I will keep this listing updated with compatibility information. Tested so far…
- iPhone X running iOS 11.4 using the O2/giffgaff network.
- iPhone 8+ running iOS 11.4 using the O2 network.
- iPhone 8+ running iOS 11.4 using the Three network.
- iPhone 7+ running iOS 11.3 on EE. Couldn’t use QR code to activate experience but webpage link worked fine.
- iPhone 6S running iOS 11.3 on the O2 network (started with 100% battery and ended up on about 40%).
- Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) running Android OS on BT (started with 100% battery and ended upon on 50%).
- Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) running Android OS on EE.
- Oneplus 3 running Android v8.0 on Three.
- Moto X Style on Android v7.0 on EE.
- Samsung Galaxy S7 running Android OS using the Vodafone network. Crashed when closing phone cover. Worked until stage 6 and then for some reason became unreliable.
- iPhone 6 on the BT network
Practice:
In order to get a feel for how the experience works in the field you can practice at home by scanning the image below. It also provides a good indicator of the type of sign you will be looking for on your route.
Some Tips:
- There are 3 notice boards at the first stage. The one you need to scan is the one furthest from the gate.
- Sometimes the image recognition does not work first time. If that happens please try again. I found that most scanned successfully first time. A couple took two or three attempts. The trick is nice clear text not taken at a jaunty angle or with reflections.
- If the camera is working but there is no white button to take a photo, it is likely that you need to press a blue button to enable it - but the blue button may be out of view (perhaps behind your back and above your head!) Try turnng round in a circle, and raising/lowering the phone, and the button should hover into view.
- If the text is too small to read, you don't zoom in the usual fashion by using your fingers - you just step forwards.
- The characters that appear to ask you a question sometimes don't immediately show up on the screen. If so, turn your device around until you see it. If all else fails restart the experience and take the photo again.
- AR caches use quite a lot of battery power so make sure you're fully charged and perhaps bring a spare.
- You may like to use your GPS in conjunction with your phone and also might consider bringing a printout of the cache listing along.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy the experience. I look forward to receiving your feedback. Please be kind.