The route following the clues to the cache and back to the start is just under 3.5 miles over hilly terrain. If playing the game you could walk a 5 mile route which will pass all the stones providing you know where they are, but you should expect to cover quite a bit more ground searching for stones – it’s not easy. That said, what better place for a day out?
To find the cache you need to visit 8 locations. At each site you answer questions to collect the clues you will need to find the cache - you’ll need a notebook and pen to record the clues. The cache container is hidden at the final location. Be warned, satellite reception is very poor in parts of the woods where the canopy is dense so you may have to use a variety of navigation skills to solve this one. You may even see fellow cachers wandering around holding their GPS units away from their bodies or wearing them on their heads to maximise reception!
The Game
There are 2 types of boundary stone in these woods – the larger "Manor of Congresbury" stones and a smaller version bearing two carved initials. By the time you reach the third clue you will have seen both types. There are many of these boundary stones hidden in these woods. To win the game you need to find the most stones. You can approach this in either of 2 ways: activists will prefer to visit and search the pathways discovering many interesting finds on the way. Those of a more reflective nature may prefer to do some research before visiting to try and narrow down their area of search – the only clue I’ll give is to remind you that they are ‘boundary’ stones. All of the "Manor of Congresbury" stones and most of the smaller stones are on the well marked paths – none are in residential properties or their gardens, within fenced off mine workings or other areas marked as out of bounds.
Scoring
- For each of the larger "Manor of Congresbury" stones found award yourself 5 points.
- For each of the smaller stones you find, score 2 points.
To verify your score record each stone’s location using your GPS. You should also record what is carved on each stone. The "Manor of Congresbury" stones are numbered; the smaller stones bear initials. At the end of your trip when, you log your visit on this page, record your score in the log as “Boundary Stone score = XX” - geocachers are trusted not to cheat! If you have a higher score than is recorded on the leader board below, email me your list of found stones, listing the type of stone, its marking and its coordinates; I will verify your score and add your name to the board. Send your email using my profile link at the top of this page. I will try and answer all emails within 24 hours unless I am away caching. As the GPS signal not good in the woods I will be liberal when interpreting coordinates, where you can’t get a fix give a bearing and approximate distance from another stone – don’t forget to pack a backup magnetic compass.
| --- Game Winners - can you beat them? --- |
| Position |
Name |
No. of points |
Date |
| 1st |
Maple Leaf & Paradiddle |
120 |
27th & 28th April 2007 |
| 2nd (joint) |
Hugh Jampton & Chaotica_UK |
110 |
9th May & 11th June 2006 |
| 2nd (joint) |
rh5528 |
110 |
5th & 13th November 2006 |
There are still several more to find though!
The Rules
- Only King’s Wood stones found within the red shaded area marked on the map below will count towards your score.
- Do not enter residential properties or their gardens as no stones are located here.
- Do not enter fenced off mine workings or other areas marked as ‘No Access’, again no stones are located here either.
- You can accumulate your finds over more than one visit if you wish – log each trip on this page with your total number of finds to date. If you email me to log a high score after a subsequent visit you will need to include all your accumulated finds in your list of coordinates.
- The game is suspended on 1st February each year and no logs will be accepted on this date to respect the wishes of the Vincent Wildlife Trust (see 'The Area' below).
Access There are several routes into King’s Wood, the suggested route is from The Star Inn, Rhodyate Hill on the A370. The manager has agreed that geocachers can park here. In return please feel free to use this pub for your après cache refreshments – the Star does excellent ‘two for one’ meal deals and you’ll deserve a meal after this cache!
Enter the woods at the ‘Public Footpath Woolmers’ sign immediately across the A370 road from the pub - you may wish to waymark the pub in case you get lost in the woods! The waypoint for this cache will direct you to the first clue.
Clues
NB: Additional hints are encrypted below for some of the clues where the canopy cover is likely to hinder navigation
Clue 1: - N51 22.805 W002 47.530 – This shows 2 Public and 1 Permissive, but how many vowels are there on this post? = AB
Clue 2: - N51 22.804 W002 47.258 – What No. is this MoC stone? = CD
Clue 3:- N51 22.798 W002 46.929 – What No. is the MoC stone? = EF
Tip: If you like to keep the numbers sequential and want more game points try travelling nearly line of sight but keeping on the path towards the last Clue, it’s not very far to find the missing one.
Clue 4:- N51 22.847 W002 46.776 – a).What should you do with the old mine workings? b) Now change this instruction into numbers using the code on a mobile phone key pad: ABC = 2; DEF = 3; etc.. c) total these numbers = GH - your answer should be a round number.
If you are only interested in finding the cache then go straight to Clue 5. However, if you wish to up your game score and find a series of the smaller stones, proceed to N51 22.991 W002 46.756 then from here go eastwards for several more.
Added Note: Added as some logs show that a nearby sign caused confusion for those going directly to the Clue 5. Retrace your steps for a few yards from Clue 5 and follow the GPS heading from here. This should take you on a track to the RIGHT of the ‘No Access’ sign. The sign only refers to the wood to the LEFT of the low fence.
Clue 5:- N51 22.658 W002 46.197 – To climb this tower you would need to do it from inside. How many rungs are there? = J
Clue 6:- N51 22. 497 W002 46.141 - What No. is this MoC stone? = KL
Game players will note that you have several missing. A circular walk back to the last clue might help, but which way and how big a circle? To fill the blanks will add a mile to your journey!
Clue 7:- N51 22.453 W002 46.668 – You must recognise one of these by now - what number is this one? Now check that you have interpreted the clues correctly - they should total 36.
The Cache:- Using these clues you can claim the cache which is located at:
North JE KK.F(N - K)(D + M) West HHK G(D x K).(A + D + E)(B + N - G)(3 x D). You’ll be glad to hear that after all the fun of poor GPS reception in the woods there should be no problem at the cache.
Having found your spoils follow a course along paths to Clue 1 then return to the Star Inn and well earned refreshments!
The Area
King’s Wood is made up of many smaller mediaeval woodlands: King’s Wood to the north with Urchin Wood, Ball Wood, Lower Wood and Corporation Woods making up the southern strip. Please note that the Vincent Wildlife Trust close King’s Wood on 1st February each year. You are asked to respect this ban and not enter the wood on this date – the Trust is very cooperative by allowing permissive paths the rest of the year.
Because of its charm you may choose to make more than one visit to the area to try and find all the stones in these woods - Spring is particularly glorious as the woods are carpeted in wild garlic then bluebells around late April through May. As well as boundary stones the woods have many interesting features that will reward your repeated searches. There are many deer, woodland birds, lime kilns, mine workings, pheasant breeding facilities and many more attractions. A large part of the wood is managed by the Vincent Wildlife Trust as a reserve – please keep well clear of the numerous bat and bird boxes you come across. Other areas are kept wild to facilitate pheasant rearing.
WARNING: Please take extreme care around the old mine workings - the larger workings are securely fenced but several smaller mines, which are not far below the surface, have collapsed – keep away from the edges! On no account enter these workings as they are extremely unstable; they also provide roosting sites for bats and other wildlife. Young children must be closely supervised around these areas.
Ticks – deer ticks live in these woods and have attacked geocachers. Whilst ticks are not dangerous in themselves they can carry Lymes disease so you are advised to keep your arms and legs covered especially when brushing past bracken and other foliage – shorts are not recommended! Lyme Disease Action advice
Further information:
- The Vincent Trust
– an independent charitable body engaged in wildlife research and conservation. They are owners of much of the land in King’s Wood
- The Star Inn
- Return their kind offer of parking with a visit; excellent food at reasonable prices
To see an Ordnance Survey map showing the parking options copy the coordinates (below) and paste them into this website
