This is the first in the Marsh Meander series of caches. Cache #1, just at the end of Quay Lane, is a microcache and you will need to BYOET and a pen/pencil for the log.
The Series
The Marsh Meander series is a circular walk starting from the car park of the nearby cafe and takes just under an hour excluding cache time. It takes in coastland, marshland, reedbeds and woodland. There is a huge variety of wildlife to see and so please, of course, respect the natural beauty and the flora and fauna to which it is home. The Marsh Meander series contains a mixture of micro caches (BYOET) and traditional caches with room for TBs and swappables. You will need a pen/pencil for all logs.
Parking/Access
You can park at the cafe for free and without making a purchase during cafe opening hours (see below for suggestions if you park elsewhere). From the car park, go through the gate into the cafe garden and follow the route for the Marsh Meander (there is an info board showing the Marsh Meander route if needed).
The Marsh Meander crosses private land in a couple of places:
- from the car park to Cache #1 and
- from Cache #6 to Cache #8.
Permission has been given to cross this land so you may follow the route even though it will not show up on OS maps etc as a public footpath. The rest of the route is across public footpaths.
Outside cafe opening hours, or if you just prefer to start from a different point, we suggest you park on-street in Reydon or somewhere in Southwold and walk up - there are plenty of footpaths. You might well find that you then start and finish the series from a Cache other than Cache #1. If so, we suggest you tackle Caches #1, #7 and #8 as follows:
Take Caches #7 and #8 in order and, after Cache #8, retrace your steps to Cache #7 then turn right and walk down Quay Lane towards the coast. You will come to the location of Cache #1.
Terrain
The route follows public footpaths. It is relatively flat but quite uneven and we'd suggest not suitable for buggies or wheelchairs. As one might expect from a Marsh Meander, parts of it get very soggy in wet weather and robust footwear is required.
Happy hunting!