The cache is situated behind the Welcome Break Service Area at
South Mimms, at the junction of the M25 Motorway (Junction 23) and
the A1(M) (Junction 1) just a few miles the North of London.
This Travel Bug Hotel provides the opportunity to place Travel
Bugs and Geocoins going to all four points of the compass.
Unusually, the motorway service area is also easily accessible by a
number of local roads, which means you can get to it without
travelling on a Motorway. Because of its close proximity to
Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and City Airports it is also a useful
drop off point for items whose mission is to travel overseas. The
cache itself is a brown ammo box with white lettering suitable for
small and medium sized TB’s.
Please try and take only one item
or swap items like for like i.e. 3 TB's in & 3 TB's out, so
that there are always TB’s and Geocoins for the next cacher to
discover.
The actual cache is located just outside the area of the
services and is approached from the car and caravan park, via a
footpath between the main service building (the “aircraft hangar”)
and the hotel (Days Inn). The path leads out into a wetland
conservation area called 'Wash Lane Common' on the banks of
Mimmshall Brook (aka Mymmshall Brook.). It is hidden just off a
footpath through the common area and in summer there can be nettles
and brambles (be careful short wearers!). The cache is not
overlooked and few people actually leave the service area, so your
search should be uninterrupted. However, running alongside the
Common is the
The Great North Way (website link). Nature lovers
should look out for the 16 species of butterfly recorded on the
Common.
The Great North Way is part of
National Cycle Network (Route no. 61). In Hertfordshire it covers
32 miles between Barnet (North London) and Letchworth.
The Welcome Break South Mimms Motorway
Service Area has all of the usual facilities, is clean
and bright (and the food isn’t half bad!). It was the first service
area opened on the M25 and when the first building was destroyed by
fire in 1999, the current building was built by Welcome Break. It
looks more like an airport terminal (or “aircraft hangar” if you’re
a cynic) than a service area and has a wide range of retail outlets
- Coffee Primo, Eat In, Burger King, KFC, a Gamezone arcade and a
shop that sells books, games, CD’s, snacks and all sorts of other
travel essentials. There are toilets, cash machines, a Photo booth,
a Days Inn hotel and of course a petrol station.
It is a WiFi 'Hotspot' served by BT Openzone, Boingo Wireless,
Divine Wireless and iPass. Most service providers require an
account although access vouchers are available on site (currently
£6 per hour).
Parking is free of charge for the first 2 hours, after which
charges apply.
The South Mimms service area featured in a book called
"Destination Nowhere" where the writer stayed at the service area
for a week and wrote about the people that passed through it in the
form of a diary. It was also used as a location for the music video
for "3 Lions", which featured Robbie Williams.
Also check
out GeocacheUK - offering support
for Geocachers in the UK
A Knight's Quest for hidden
treasure!