Take care on the steep bank. Please be sure to hide this one thoroughly to avoid being spotted by litter pickers, thanks. 

The children and I have had great fun walking and cycling the route several times planning this series. My daughter just loves climbing trees and scrambling down banks so you can blame her for some of the trickier terrain ones!

  All the caches are just off the tow path which runs alongside the beautiful Fossdyke Canal stretching from Odder, near Saxilby all the way to Lincoln.  A lovely route to cycle or walk the whole length in one go, approximately 5 miles. Or the series can be done in sections by parking at intervals and accessing the tow path at Lincoln near the Brayford Pool, or various places along the way. Some caches have very challenging terrain which may have nettles in the summer months so either be sure to wear trousers or complete the trail in the autumn through to spring rather than in the summer when the nettles can get a little too much to want to walk through.

The Fossdyke Canal is thought to be one of Englands oldest, manmade, waterways that is still in use today. The whole stretch of water runs 11 miles from the River Trent at Torksey to The Witham in Lincoln. It is thought to have been originally dug by the Roman's over 2000 years ago to transport food from the Lincolnshire Fens to the Roman armies. It was later adopted and developed by the Normans and primarily used for transporting stone for building their castles. In more recent times the canal was the key transort method for all heavy haulage in the area right up to the 1940s when road transport took over.

It is still a very popular waterway for recreational boaters with several areas of permanent moorings for houseboats both at the Lincoln end, just past Saxilby and also the more exculsive area of Burton Waters where some incredibly luxurious boats can be seen moored. Plus you'll see plenty of boaters navigating their way along the canal happily waving at anyone on the banks.

 For the nature lovers the banks of the Fossdyke are home to local wildlife including herons, our resident pair of swans, deer (who sadly all too frequently get stuck in the canal when trying to cross the water) and plenty of other waterfoul as well as butterflies and insects.

For the train lovers the far bank of the Fossdyke hosts the trainline from Lincoln to Sheffield, we are lucky to frequently get the Flying Scotsman coming through on its way to or from a special event.

We hope you enjoy the series