Welcome to Queer Quest. This geocaching trail re-imagines the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight through a queer lens, immersed in the very landscape which inspired the legend. As you follow the route, each cache marks a moment in Gawain’s legendary journey—challenges, temptations, and revelations—while also sharing local LGBTQ+ histories and folklore from the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Just like Gawain’s quest to test courage and honesty, this trail invites you to explore the countryside and uncover stories often hidden or overlooked. Inside each cache you’ll find a small piece of artwork and a short tale that links the epic myth to real queer lives and landscapes.
You are also invited to share your own reflections and post your response to be included in our archive.
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Gawain sets out alone on his journey to the Green Chapel. Long and solitary, the trail through the landscape is a time of self-reflection and struggle against loneliness.
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Artists Statement: Inspired by LGBTQ+ lives and the path that Gawain takes to reach Lord
Bertilak’s castle, dreadfully lonely, isolated and threatening, this piece of artwork uses
broken ceramic pieces from Stoke-on-Trent’s pottery industry to represent a difficult yet
hope-filled, colourful pathway that leads to a new chapter in the protagonist’s life.
Through the trees from here you can see the Nicholson Institute. A community member spoke to us about how this had been their "place of refuge, but it was the place when I went as a gateway to the rest of the world." They describe discovering LGBT-related materials discreetly: "I first, sort of, like, snuck into the section with the Dewey Decimal code that had LGBT stuff in it. But it didn't quite have LGBT stuff, but it was close enough, and nobody saw me."
The narrative highlights the library’s impact on the speaker's personal growth, especially as someone who was "relatively isolated in a community where I wasn't represented, and it was an indication that there was a world outside."
Volunteer work at the library offered them special access and unique experiences: "there were so many corners that the public didn't get into, but I did as a volunteer. So, you know, there's the reserve collection upstairs, and there was the all the bank storage downstairs, and it was very special, magical place for me."
Emotionally, the library and the nearby Nicholson Institute symbolised hope and possibility: "I'd go to a certain spot, gate on the edge of a field, and I'd stand there and look at the copper dome... and it was like little, sort of a beautiful... it was like the Emerald City over there." For the speaker, these places remained "special for me... places where dreams happened."
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This area north of Leek is near to the site of the former Dieu-la-Cres Abbey. This Cistercian monastery is thought to have been the home of the Gawain-poet, explaining his intimate knowledge of the local landscape and the detailed descriptions of the hunting grounds and topography. The religious life is one of order and contemplation and, despite its community setting, often one of isolation. On this ancient site, many have chosen to leave the world of survival and subsistence in order to pursue a higher ideal.
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Access information:
Slight incline, a bit slippery underfoot. Suitable for the firm of foot. Suitable for an all-terrain power chair or scooter.