GCJX5Y Down in the Dyke (Traditional Cache) in United Kingdom created by CTR

This cache has been archived.

Clint_Black: Cache seems to have gone.

GCJX5Y ▼

A cache by CTR Message this owner

Hidden : 7/5/2004

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Cache located at the bottom of Devil's Dyke, a popular Sussex beauty spot.

A view from the cache.

Devil's Dyke is a one-off, a spectacular, steep-sided downland combe or cleft 300ft (91m) deep and half a mile (800m) long. According to legend, it was dug by the Devil as part of a trench extending to the sea. The idea was to try and flood the area with sea water and, in so doing, destroy the churches of the Weald.

However, it seems the Devil might have been disturbed by a woman carrying a candle. Mistaking this for the dawn, he quickly disappeared, leaving his work unfinished.

It's a good story but the truth is that nobody knows for sure how the Dyke was formed but it was most likely to have been cut by glacial meltwaters when the ground was permanently frozen in the last ice age. Rising to over 600ft (180m), this most famous of beauty spots is also a magnificent viewpoint where the views stretch for miles in all directions. The artist Constable described this view as the 'grandest in the world'.

During the Victorian era and in the early part of the 20th Century, the place was like a theme park with a cable-car crossing the valley and a steam railway coming up from Brighton. On Whit Monday 1893 a staggering 30,000 people visited Devil's Dyke !

The Dyke lies within the South Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. It's also a fantastic place for dog-walking with lots of rabbits to chase - our dog Clint loves it!

The cache is situated on the floor of the valley, there a number of ways of getting down to it. The best is probably to follow the path down out of the pub car park, turn left and walk along the top of the crest, through a gate and then down through the woods, turning right from the main path and continuing down to the valley floor.

Getting to the cache from the pub involves a steep walk back. An alternative is to park at roughly TQ 27112 11428 and follow the footpaths to the bottom of the dyke.
The cache is a tupperware container with a blue lid and contains the following: