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This is the forty-ninth of a series, the "Caerphilly Collection", that explores the whole Borough Council area. This cache, in a medium size plastic lunch box, is located near a Roman lead mining site in the middle of Coed Cefn-pwll-du, a large area of mixed woodland. Anticipate a walk of about 3 miles, mainly on good tracks but with occasional rough or muddy sections, with about 200' of ascent.
WARNING - THIS CACHE IS DELIBERATELY LEFT WITHOUT EXCHANGE ITEMS FOR THE TIME BEING AS SOMEONE KEEPS TAKING THEM. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE TB'S OR GEOCOINS HERE.
The Caerphilly Collection is distinguished with a unique CC number and consists of 50 caches, which vary in difficulty and type and may have other "C" word connections - castle, cheese, coal and canal come to mind. There may even be some 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.
CC48 is an "Accumulator" cache, 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 quarter of the caches contain a piece of the code, which will be found 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 rating of 5, 4½.
The shafts and spoil heaps of the lead workings can be traced over about ¼ mile, running on a roughly east-west line. There is a path crossing the line at N 51 34.957 W 003 07.900, close to the eastern end, and a track and viewpoint at N 51 34.927 W 003 08.162 , near the western end. With care, it is possible to meander along the line. The cache is near the middle and not far from another crossing path. Some of the shafts are deep, with steep sides: these have been fenced. PLEASE RESPECT THE FENCES ESPECIALLY WITH CHILDREN. Other shafts are little more than depressions and the cache is located near the top of one of these. The workings were confirmed as Roman by finds of 1st century pottery and apparent evidence of the forging of Roman coins. Lead is found in the carboniferous limestone outcrop that follows the southern rim of the South Wales Coalfield and was also mined in the area in 19th century at the Clive, Clive United and West Clive Mines: much of the evidence of these has disappeared into Cwm Leyshon Quarry but, if you go about 30 yards into the woods on the east of the track at N 51 34.599 W 003 08.678, you will find part of the workings (AS BEFORE, THE FENCE AROUND IT SHOULD BE RESPECTED). We had also hoped to include a giant in this cache, but the enormous beech tree has succumbed to old age in the last 10 years: the base of the dead giant is still there, surrounded by fallen limbs. These and the fresh growth that has sprung up in the clearing created make it very difficult to find but, if you like a challenge, don't let us stop you trying: it is at N 51 34.905 W 003 08.261.
The suggested starting point is the forestry car park at N 51 34.362 W 003 08.799, affording good tracks and gentle gradients for most of the way and taking you close to the other points mentioned. You could also start from Machen (combining this cache with CC22 Machen Forge) with a similar distance, but more ascent. The closest starting points would be at or near Draethen, but you would then need to be prepared for more steeper and rougher ascent.
This cache is on Forestry Commission land, set up in accordance with their guidelines. Generally, these are the same as for any other cache, basically requiring sensible and responsible behaviour. However, because forestry operations can be dangerous, the Commission may close access at any time, in which circumstances all warning signs should be obeyed.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)