Newbury GeoCache Series
After our recently placed GeoCache Series at Great Western Park, Didcot, we decide to place a few more caches in other parts of Didcot and surrounding villages, in order to honour local heros, and to reflect our rich local history, stories and heritage. We hope you will enjoy these new caches and may also learn something new when you are caching, thank you!
All our placed caches can be viewed at this public bookmark list: https://coord.info/BMFEC4E
Newbury #242 - River Kennet Little Bridge (Officially Known as Little Bridges # 3374 - River Kennet)
This little bridge over River Kennet near Chamberhouse Farm is a concrete vehicle access bridge located just south of Thatcham, Berkshire. It serves as a vital crossing point over a natural loop of the River Kennet for those accessing the farm and surrounding agricultural fields.
Key Details & Accessibility
- Location: Situated at National Grid Reference SU 519 655, spanning the riverine loop of the River Kennet directly adjacent to Chamberhouse Farm.
- Public Access: The bridge is a concrete vehicular bridge. While the access tracks directly leading off it to the south and east are private, it is a crucial landmark because it carries a designated public footpath/bridleway.
- For River Paddlers: If you are navigating this section of the River Kennet by kayak or canoe, this concrete structure is highly significant. The river here is entirely bordered by private land, and this bridge is the only point with a public footpath crossing where you can legally exit the water if needed.
- Walking Routes: It is a core feature of local trails, including the Living Landscape Wild Walk Two managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). The trail guides walkers down a gravel bridleway, across this River Kennet bridge to Chamberhouse Farm, and onward over a swing bridge to the Kennet & Avon Canal towpath near Monkey Marsh Lock.
Nearby Waterway Landmarks
- Chamberhouse Mill: Positioned further downstream [SU 529 661], where the river splits past private residential conversions and historic mill structures.
About this Multi-cache
At the published coordinates, you will be standing on the little bridge. Please look at the metal fences on both sides, where the metals make several "X" shapes. How many intact "X" shapes are there in total? Let it be AB (please do not count those damaged "X" shapes).
Now please move to Stage 2, where you will find a white sign on the wooden fence. How many letters are there in the first word on the top line? Let it be C.
The number of letters in the sixth word on the second line is D, and the number of letters in the fourth word on the penultimate line is E.
The final coordinates are a short distance away at:
N51 ( E - D ) ( C / A ) . ( C - B ) ( E + B - D ) ( B - D )
W001 ( C - B ) ( E - A ) . ( E - B ) ( B - A ) ( E - C - ( B / D ) )
The checksum of all the digits in the final coordinates is 31.
Please also note:
Please bring your own pen, and open & close the cache lid carefully so the cache and log book can survive longer. You might need a tweezer to help retrieve the log paper.
Please also replace exactly as found due to obvious reason, and please be careful with the possible thorns, stinging nettles, and overhead tree branches! Long sleeves, trousers, and gloves are recommended.
You do not need to cross any fence or enter any private land.
Thank you and enjoy GeoCaching!
FTF: Congratulations to sheep! for their FTF on 17 July 2026.
The Little Bridges series was started by Stanthews in 2009 to highlight small footbridges in remote parts of Wiltshire. Since then, the series has been expanded by others all over the country and starting to spread fast. There is a stats listing, so you can see how many Little Bridges you have found, you can find it here: - Little Bridges Geocaching Series (littlebridgesseries.co.uk). If you would like to add to the series, please go to this site, on the tab Get Involved click number request and fill in the form. To qualify, the bridge must be a foot bridge too small for vehicles, please make sure your title exactly matches “Little Bridges # xxxx then the name” including spaces so it will get picked up and added to stats list.