This virtual cache is a celebration of all of those little local walks which got us through the weeks, months and years of COVID lockdowns during 2020 and 2021.
When I was first awarded the privilege of placing a new virtual in 2019, I was thrilled! I had grand plans for a cache in one of two stunning locations, neither of which was local to where I live but both of which I love. Without warning or precedent though, and before I had got round to uploading the co-ordinates I had stored, we were thrown into a surreal pandemic world of lockdowns and isolation, with strange new laws about how long you were allowed to leave home for, how far you were allowed to go, and for what reasons. Suddenly we could no longer just jump into the car to access our favourite walks, but had to discover where we could walk to from home. Just once a day we were allowed out for an hour's daily exercise. There were even discussions about whether or not finding physical geocaches was a COVID-safe activity!
By the second lockdown I had discovered the beautiful East Berkshire Golf Course, which at that time you could walk on as golf was banned (along with sadly pretty much all other sports both indoor and outdoor!) and soon also found that I could walk this loop through it to Heathlake and back within the permitted hour. I walked it nearly every single day of the lockdowns. It had taken me 30 years of living in the same place to finally discover this loop, though I knew it existed, and during the long lockdowns where I was working alone from home on Teams all day it helped keep me sane.
I walked this route at pretty much every time of day and in nearly every type of weather including before dawn and after dusk, in deep snow, driving icy rain and bright sunshine. I saw deer, foxes and a hegehog, and watched bats and a huge flock of redwings. Red Kites love circling in the sky above the course, and at night you can hear owls hooting. East Berkshire Golf Course stands on ground which is thought to have been a deer park in medieval times. You are most likely to see and hear wildlife after the golf has stopped for the day or before it starts, though you can see the red kites and watch the birds and waterfowl on Heath Lake at any time of day. You might even be lucky and see a kingfisher, and in springtime there are lots of noisy fluffy babies learning to swim on the lake. Heath Lake is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and the only naturally acid lake in Berkshire. It is part of the 55 acre Heathlake nature reserve.
Reflecting on the difficult times we are living through, when it came to choosing where to put this special virtual cache, I decided I wanted to do something very different to my original plan. Instead of placing it in a big spectacular place, I decided instead to place it to represent this moment in history and those little local walks which helped keep so many of us sane through the craziest years any of us have ever lived through. During these challenging times, it really has been the little things we always took forgranted before, which have brought the most joy. This lovely walk, which had never interested me enough before to bother trying, became one of my lifelines. Feel free to tell me about yours in your logs, and I hope you enjoy this one too.
The walk is an easy one of around 3 miles over fairly flat terrain. Part of it is along a private road with a small amount of traffic but it's mainly along traffic free paths. In parts it can get very muddy if there's been a lot of rain, so do wear appropriate footwear. It also crosses a very active golf course so please heed all warning signs. I've added photos of all the directions from waypoint 5 up to the path which rejoins the golf course.
Thank you little local walks - you were our lifeline!
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To log this cache:
~ Please message me the answers to the 4 questions at waypoints 2,3,4 and 6.
~ Upload a photograph to your log from your walk. Did you see any wildlife? You can log this cache as soon as you have completed these requirements.
~ (Optional) If you had a favourite lockdown walk, please upload a photo of that too, or share with us in your log what got you through the lockdowns of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.