This letterbox cache has been placed with the permission of the council and gives tribute to the incredible structure that is Bolsover Castle. As it is placed on the top of a hill then it can be seen for miles around, beyond New Bolsover and Carr Vale, even across the M1 motorway to Arkwright and over to Sutton Scarsdale Hall on the other side of this wide valley (the ‘Vale of Scarsdale’). This visible side of the castle is made up of the intact ‘Little Castle’ keep to the left and the ruined shell of the Terrace Range stretching away to the right. If you are lucky enough to catch sight of it at the right times on the drive towards Bolsover from Long Duckmanton and Carr Vale then you may see the sun or moon rising above it, and occasionally see the castle appearing to sit on a blanket of mist in the valley. The letterbox stamp represents this bold image sat on top of the landscape.
History:
There has been a castle at this location in one form or another since the late 11th Century, although the current layout was built around 400 years ago, with the tower portion of the castle (a.k.a. the ‘Little Keep’) completed around 1621. The Riding House and Terrace Range were added later over the course of the next 60 years to give the current outline to the property. Unfortunately, the Terrace Range had its lead roof stripped by the owners in 1752 to repair the roof of their other estate at Welbeck Abbey, and so it deteriorated to become merely a shell with no roof or internal floors now. The castle was largely uninhabited then for 200 years, passing through various heirs before being given to England by the 7th Duke of Portland in 1945, where it has since been looked after by English Heritage. Thankfully the Little Castle part survived in good condition, and although the roof and floors of the Terrace Range have gone then the walls are pretty much intact, so we still have the outline looking as it once did, at least from a distance.
The Letterbox cache:
As this is a letterbox cache then alongside the usual signing log there is the addition of a special rubber stamp. This is a hand-carved image of the frontage of Bolsover Castle, and there is also an inkpad contained within the cache along with some blank pieces of paper to make a stamp on if you haven’t got your own (please message me if you find this is getting down to the last 2 or 3 pieces).
Stamping advice... The stamp needs a fair amount of even pressure and a flat surface, so I have placed a piece of firm black foam with the stamp and ink pad- it is recommended using the upturned plastic cache box and placing the foam on top of this base, then the paper on top of the foam. Apply good pressure on the inkpad to get the stamp covered with ink, and then put the paper down and apply pressure on the middle and edges of the wooden stamp block to get the best print. Hold in place and alternate pressure between the middle and edges. The ink may take a few minutes to dry, especially if cold, so please be mindful of people around whilst you are hovering around.
Ensure the lid is put back on the inkpad and that the cover is put back over the stamp block to avoid making a mess inside the container. The whole contents are contained within my usual letterbox themed container, which is bagged up inside a draw-string camo bag situated about waist height behind a tree (the bag is stiff material so give the cord a good pull to close the bag back up). There was also a special laminated FTF first-stamp souvenir for the first to find the cache, which was claimed by AJHTMH.
The cache is not situated within the castle grounds so you do not need to pay any entry fee to get to where it is. For parking, you will have to look at some of the nearby roads off the main hill up to Bolsover on the north, or around the Castle Lane area to the south. There are footpaths from both directions to the cache, both ways involve a steep slope though so access is unfortunately not possible with wheelchair or buggies. It is located off to the side of the fields and footpaths below the castle, hidden at the back of the trees, by a barbed wire fence. Be aware, there are thorns around the trees where the cache is located, so watch where you are feeling. There are also a few brambles around the trees which may take more stepping over in Summer. Coming back out from the cache, there is a very good close-up view of the castle, and whilst you are in the area then why not look for my Castle’s Treat View cache if you haven’t already discovered it (that one is a puzzle cache which needs viewing online first to take the virtual tour of the castle grounds and work out the coordinates).
If you are a fan of letterbox caches and want to check out the rest of the Web Post series around Chesterfield then click on the cache names below: