A green oasis near Bradford.
Heaton Woods is an oasis of fields and woods only 2 miles from the centre of Bradford, one of Britain's largest cities. Notes in the cache tell you about how the Heaton Woods Trust was formed, and what it is doing to preserve this green space. Also in the cache you will find 8 'find me' cards detailing some places within a 500m radius of the cache which you might like to go on to find if you want to spend a couple of hours here. The 'find me' items to track down include a pond, a playing field with swings and slide, a picnic table, a bench with a view, the explanation for why this area is called 'Redburn', and some carvings in the woods.
Sorry to run a bit of a spoiler on this, but it is important to say where the cache is hidden so that you don't take apart its hiding place or damage nearby walls trying to find it. The cache is hidden in a large pile of rocks. To get at the cache, look for a horizontal slab on the top of the pile - when I left it, I put one triangular rock on top of the slab. Lift off the rock and then lift up the slab carefully like a lid, and you'll see the cache in its home. You only need to move the top rock and the slab underneath it – if you are moving more than one rock and one slab, stop! – you've gone wrong! – replace the rocks and think again.
Note that this cache is not hidden in a wall (worth noting that UK geocaching guidelines say that no caches should be hidden in any dry stone walls ever). Don't climb over or dismantle any walls!
Opening the cache once you have found it may be more tricky. See the hint, if needed.
Please replace the cache, the slab and the rock carefully when done – there are lots of geomuggles on this site.
Park at either:
The end of Park Drive SE 14413 35956, and walk in though the gate.
Or in Redburn Road at SE 14508 36305, and then go along the path that leads over the small wooden bridge and then up the flight of steps and then turn right to go in through the gate on your right with the Heaton Woods Trust sign (gate is at SE 14470 36138, about 200m from where you park).
I would like to thank the Heaton Woods Trust for their kind permission to place this cache on their land.
