CC42 Coal Crown Traditional Geocache
Write and Mane: Soggy log book confirmed. Cache retrieved. This is the end of the line.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is the forty-second of a series, the "Caerphilly
Collection", that will explore the whole Borough Council area. The cache, in a small plastic container, is close to the viewpoint of the Council's newest park. A fairly short walk and gentle ascent mean this could be a quick "cache-and-go", but this park warrants further exploration.
BECAUSE THIS CACHE HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY MUGGLED RECENTLY, FOR THE TIME BEING IT HAS MINIMALIST CONTENTS - A LOG BOOK. THERE IS NO WRITING IMPLEMENT (SO BRING YOUR OWN) AND THERE ARE NO EXCHANGE ITEMS. WE WOULD NOT RECOMMEND LEAVING TRAVEL BUGS OR GEOCOINS HERE.
The Caerphilly Collection is distinguished with a unique CC number and is made up of 50 caches. The caches vary in difficulty and type and usually have other "C" word connections - castle, cheese, coal, canal, etc. There may even be Cryptic Clues for Clever Clogs! The current Caerphilly unitary authority grew out of the former Rhymney Valley and Islwyn Councils and stretches from the outskirts of Cardiff and Newport in the south to the Brecon Beacons, north of Rhymney. Despite a past dominated by coal and heavy industry, it has a diverse history and varied and dramatic scenery. We hope you will enjoy exploring it with us.
Towards the end of the Collection is CC48 The Accumulator, the location of which is given in coded form. The translation details of the code are distributed around the whole Collection, but only about a third of the caches will contain a piece of the code, which is on the back of the Log Book. To do the Accumulator, you will need to keep a note of each piece of code that you find. Unless you are very lucky, you will need to find the majority of the Collection in order to do the Accumulator. The Accumulator cache is hidden in an area of difficult terrain and demanding navigation, with a 5,4½
rating.
When King Coal abdicated from the South Wales Valleys, he left his crown behind (hence the CC title for this cache) and it has been used as the focal point for Parc Penallta, a Millennium Project. The park is the result of reclaiming the spoil tip of the former Penallta Colliery, but it is worth getting closer to the landmark sculpture at its summit, both to see its detail and to enjoy the views. Scattered around the park, you will find large rocks with interesting and varied the inscriptions on them. The park includes a wetland area, with boardwalk, crannog and willow tunnel, but the highlight is, perhaps, the earth sculpture of a pit pony (CC also standing for coal conveyor!). At about 200m from nose to tail, this is reputed to be the largest such sculpture in Europe - so big that you won't see it if you are too close!
There is parking in the park and the cache is suitable for mountain bikes and fairly accessible from the National Cycle Network. If you want a longer walk, this cache could be linked with CC7 and CC11 in a circular walk of about 5 miles with about 500 feet of ascent.
Small swaps only, please.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)