South Wales 1st Day Event
Hidden
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Saturday, April 29, 2006
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This Geocaching Event will be held at Parc Cwm Darran, near Bargoed, on Saturday 29 April 2006. This is the weekend of the May Day Bank Holiday. The event reception will be housed in the Visitor Centre. The reference coordinates are for the adjacent car park. There is a camping and caravan site in the Country Park close to the Visitor Centre, for those travelling from afar or wishing to make a weekend of it.
The Country Park extends over about 3 miles of the Nant Bargod Rhymni Valley and was created when the sites of the Ogilvie and Groesfaen Collieries were reclaimed about 25 years ago. The transformation of this valley from a despoiled industrial landscape to a quiet rural oasis is impressive. The park has a large lake, waymarked walks, extensive surfaced paths, an adventure playground and barbecue sites. It is dog friendly and there is plenty of parking.
The Visitor Centre has a coffee shop that does light lunches and has disabled access and toilets. The official start time will be 10.00 a.m., but we will be setting up the event reception beforehand and tea, coffee, squash, etc should be available from about 9.30. The reception/display area will be open until about 4.30 p.m. although we will remain at the park until the evening, when it is hoped that there will be an informal “bring your own” barbeque.
The main objectives of the event are to provide an opportunity to meet fellow cachers and to have a go at whatever local caches take your fancy. There are currently about 20 caches within 5 miles of the park and about 60 within 10 miles. There will be new caches set up for the event. It is hoped to set some of these with “children appeal”.
Two competitions will be run, one for the benefit of children (under about 14, say) and the other for the more serious geocacher. There will be prizes for both, but of relatively nominal value. In caches activated on the day of the event, there will be tokens to collect: any child bringing a full set of tokens back to the reception will get a prize. The more serious competition favours people travelling from outside the area and will run over the whole bank holiday weekend (Friday – Monday inclusive): the objective is to achieve the highest cumulative total of Difficulty and Terrain scores from caches found for the first time during this period. Logged attendance at the Event is essential, but caches found can be anywhere, so can, for example, include those found on the way to or from the event. Entries, giving details of the caches and scores claimed, will have to be submitted to us within two weeks. We will need the winners address to send the prize to.
The event will be run as a means of introducing newcomers to geocaching and will be advertised by the Council as part of their programme of events. Casual visitors to the park on the day would also be welcomed. It is hoped that a few cachers will offer their services on the day to “adopt” some of these newcomers and show them geocaching in practice.
Because of issues that have been raised about insurance, we have to make it clear that the organised event is the facilitation of a social gathering of geocachers and the provision of displays and information about Geocaching for potential newcomers and casual visitors, all within the Visitor Centre. Searching for caches will be subject to normal individual initiatives and responsibilities. Any alliances formed for the purpose of looking for caches will be a matter for the individuals concerned. We greatly regret the need to make these qualifying statements but believe that, with goodwill and within the usual spirit of Geocaching, there is no reason why it should detract from the event and everyone should still be able to have a good time.
To find out more about the park and campsite, including telephone number for enquiries and bookings, visit:
www.caerphilly.gov.uk/leisure/countryside/countryparks/parccwmdarranvisitorinfo.htm
When making campsite bookings, please mention that you are attending this event so that, if possible, geocachers can be kept together (or, perhaps, so that non-cachers can be kept at a safe distance?). Since this is a bank holiday weekend, early booking is recommended.
If you have partners/families for whom geocaching is not the be-all and end-all (tough!), a good starting point for finding other attractions in the area is:
www.caerphilly.gov.uk/visiting/index.htm
If you are not into night caching or need a refreshment stop during the day, you may be interested in the annual real ale and cider festival which will be taking place on the same weekend at The Capel, Gilfach, which is about 4 miles down the valley. More about the hotel can be found at:
www.cardiffcamra.co.uk/capel.htm
The event will be an opportunity to help Travel Bugs on their way, especially if anyone will be off to an exotic destination soon after. If you intend to bring any TBs, “drop” them into the cache online a few days before the event, with a note of their objectives. If you can help a bug on the way to its objective note this also. If you do place/retrieve a TB at the event, make sure that you log it promptly, keeping a note of its tracking number, etc.
It would help organise the arrangements if, notes are posted to indicate likely attendance. Further information will be posted as details are finalised over the coming weeks, so you may wish to place the event on your watch list. If anyone has individual queries about the event, local accommodation, attractions, etc, please contact us by email: we’ll do our best to help.
Additional Hints
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