2012-08-17 51 0

Location

In a recently-ploughed field, just off a footpath, in Clavering, Essex.

Participants

Benjw

Expedition

I'm not sure why I went for this hashpoint in particular; it's been a while since I've attempted any at all, and this one isn't even in my home graticule, but I just felt like it. So the previous evening, I jotted down a list of coordinates for the hashpoint and a few nearby geocaches, and once I got home from work on the Friday afternoon, I threw GPS, batteries, camera, several bottles of water (the temperature was nearly 30 degrees) and myself into the car, and set off.

I went round Cambridge on the motorway, and my first stop was a level crossing in Duxford where I noted down some information for a multi-cache. Then I carried on to the pretty market town of Saffron Walden, and parked, conveniently, in a free space on the main street.

I'd forgotten how nice Saffron Walden is. There is a very large number of shops -- it has been a market town since 1197 or thereabouts -- and I enjoyed half an hour of wandering around. I did some window shopping and collected some more information for a different multi-cache. After that I headed to the town's main park and enjoyed walking round the turf maze there. It's a simple labyrinth cut into the chalk soil, and has been there since at least 1699. It's 1.5 km long and it took me 14 minutes to walk to the middle. Then I headed out of the town on the Harcamlow Way footpath (via a housing estate because I got a bit lost) to find another geocache. It heads up onto a small ridge, and the views are splendid.

After all that wandering round I was starting to run out of afternoon, so I ignored the rest of the list of caches I'd thought about finding, and headed straight for the hashpoint. The drive out to Clavering was very pleasant, through rolling fields and leafy country lanes, and I enjoyed it immensely. In Clavering I parked the car on a wide verge about 250m from the hashpoint, and strolled along the side of a field on a footpath.

Thirty metres from the hashpoint I needed to leave the footpath and step out into the field. The crops had been harvested and the field ploughed, so there wasn't much of a problem with this. The hashpoint itself, of course, was easily found and photos were taken. I strolled back to the car, paused long enough to take a photo of a nearby pub-restaurant which I understand is run by Jamie Oliver's parents, and set off for home.

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon spent out and about.