Chess themed Geocache No.5 - WHITE
KNIGHT (Bucks)
Your starting point is the telegraph pole next to the road at
N51° 52.799 / W00° 50.434 as pictured above. This is Weir
Lane, tucked away behind Whitchurch (which gets its name from the
White Church up on the hill) and best reached from Market
Hill. If you're struggling to find the road, here's a clear Streetmap.co.uk map of the
area. I suggest this is a good place to park too. The post
has some letters and numbers carved into it, in the following
way:
The figures look something like this, but I've
replaced the numbers with lowercase letters:
BT
---
aM
bc
dI
Your second location is at N51° (c-1)d.(a-1)(b-4)(d+3) / W00°
(A-3)0.(d-1)(a-1)(d-2). To get there, take the footpath beside
the house (possible barking dogs to make you jump) to the stile at
the end, with a distant view of the Black King. Turn left here,
following the edge of the field to another stile which is somewhat
tucked away behind vegetation. Be careful over this one, as it was
rather wobbly when I visited in July 2003. Now follow the arrow to
the co-ordinates, crossing a small bridge and following a little
stream (a spring known in the village as Fair Alice. Answers as to
why on a postcard please) to your goal.
Now, locate the obvious object which has some numbers on it, two
two digit numbers and one one digit number (I hope that makes
sense) and keep a note of them. I've called the largest (i.e.
highest numerical) number EF, the next largest GH and the single
digit I.
Cross the busy road with care and proceed to your third
waypoint, which is at N51° FH.(E+E)H(F+G) / W00°
F(F-I).(F-E)(I-F)(H+I). As you cross the road you may glimpse a
mock-Tudor building called The Furs at the south end of the street.
There's nothing much special to see here now, which is why the
cache trail doesn't visit it, but 50 years ago you could be shot
for hanging about here with a note book. This was the home of a top
secret government department called MD1, or as it's better known,
'Winston Churchill's Toyshop'. Here weapons for spies, saboteurs
and other military exotica was designed, developed, built and
tested. The locals had to put up with explosions from the complex
of sheds behind the main building. Q-branch would have been proud
of them!
Back to your target. If you've reached the correct location, you
should be able to see three dates, all above your head. One is in a
square, one on a cross above the square and one on the biggest
sundial I can ever remember seeing. [ ] 16J7 / + 18KL / Sundial
18M8. On the other side of the building you'll find an unusual
iron reference to Sarah Tomlin. The date on it is August the
N0th 1OON. Note all these figures!
Leave this area by the exit to your left and pass a house with a
rather obvious name before dropping back to the main road. Re-cross
it with care to the fourth location: N51° JN.OL(N-M) / W00°
J(M-N).M(K-J)J, a spot unpopular with arachnaphobics! On the
wall behind the road name sign are two letters and a date: TF
i-ii-iii-iv. Note these figures too. Well done, your quest is
nearly at an end!
The final target, the Cache, is located
at:
N51° JM.L(ii)(iii) / W00°
F(b-K).(iv)c(i)
To get to to the cache, follow this quiet road to a kissing gate
on the left. It might be worth taking a little detour right at a
fork in the road, as the ancient market place is worth a look, I'd
say. Back at the cache site, you'll find the remains of (Sir? I'd
better get a Knight reference in here as well as all the White
stuff) Walter Bolebec's home. He was one of the assessors of the
Domesday Book, started in 1086, and was given this land by Bill the
Conqueror for his efforts. When Cromwell's forces visited during
the English Civil War (it never seemed all that civil to me...)
they demolished it totally. The site is now overlooked by Bolebec
house, once home to the painter Rex Whistler. His picture called
'The Vale From Whitchurch' was painted in the back garden. Culture
as well as caching eh? You lucky people. Happy hunting!
The cache originally contained:
1x Small handy tin box
1x Blade Runner postcard
1x 2-euro coin (spend it wisely)
1x Sony Memory Stick metal keyring
2x Tealite candles
1x Art of the Phoenix Trail (Thame to Princes Risborough)
leaflet
Plus the usual: Cache notice, log book, pen, pencil, all in a bag
to keep them dry, or to pinch to use 'Cache In Trash Out'-ing.
While you're in the area, I suggest you check (another vague
Chess reference there. Did you spot it?) out my first cache,
Chess themed Geocache No.1 - BLACK ROOK (Bucks) or
Chess themed Geocache No.4 - WHITE ROOK (Bucks). They're
both within short driving distance.
A small experiment - Please feel free to
rate your visit to this cache out of ten in your
log.