Keil's Den Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A woodland trail with views over the Firth of Forth
Keil's Den is a long narrow wooded glen set in an agricultural landscape. The wood is located on the steep slopes of both the west and east banks of the Keil Burn as it runs almost directly north-south. The main entrance to Keil's Den lies 0.5.km north of Lower Largo and the main A915. Both banks of the burn slope very steeply for the majority of their length, although the site includes some flat land on the top of the slopes and low lying floodplain where this exists.
The majority of the wood in Keil's Den is composed predominantly of mixed mature broadleaved trees, including beech, ash, sycamore, birch, oak and elm. The majority of the elm are dead or dying, having been infected with Dutch Elm Disease. However, there are substantial patches of scrubby elm regeneration. The northern end of the woodland is dominated by ash, with few beech trees, whilst the southern end has a much greater proportion of beech and sycamore. Alder and willow are also found growing in the north of the wood, and along the burnsides. In the south-east of the wood there is an area of mixed mature larch and Scots pine planted in the 1950s. Approximately half of this has recently been felled and replanted with a mixture of Scots pine and broadleaved trees.
The ground flora in the woodland varies from that typical of an ancient semi-natural woodland, including bluebells and dog's mercury, through thick grass cover in the open glades, to virtually no ground flora at all in areas where the canopy is very dense. Bracken is frequent in the more open areas.
During the last five years a number of the large open glades, most notably an area of 2.56 ha on the north-west bank of the burn, have been planted with a mixture of broadleaved species. The species planted are predominantly rowan, oak and ash and mixed woody shrubs all of which are planted in tubes.
The wood offers extensive public access with a number of paths following the boundary of the woodland and across its centre.
There are seven points at which it is possible for the public to gain access to the wood, through kissing gates and staggered fencelines. The main entrance is directly from the public road, through a timber stacking area. A lay-by on the public road provides parking for two or three cars. At the northern end of the wood there is also access directly from the road, but with no parking provision. Three of the other access points to the wood join up with footpaths across the neighbouring agricultural fields. Each of these access points is marked with a Woodland Trust sign.
Cache can be found at the above coordinates.
Container contained at time of placing: Notebook & Pencil, Robin, Camera, Nail Brush, Train, Card Game Hearts, Wooden Puzzle, keyring, Grow your own prince!
Please take a piccie of yourselves for us as this is our first attempt at hiding a cache.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre n fyno ng rqtr bs jbbq naq svryq