Well well well....the legend of Griffydam

Monday 29th March 2010

England is known for many things...and today it seemed that April had come early as the showers were in full force, well not to be put off we decided to do some caching using the automobile instead....commonly known as cache and dash. However we were in for some surprises today as we encountered dracula...in the photo to the left and a hobbit a little later. But first up we have a legend to tell you....one that goes back many years...the legend of Griffydam. drumroll Now it is said that a griffin lived in the area and guarded the nearby well...

Now the villagers were so frightened by this that they had to walk miles to the next nearest water source (obviously they hadn't heard of home shopping in the 13th century otherwise Tescos would have delivered). One day a knight (a Mr Shiltonpig ancestor I'm sure of it) came along and said for a cup of water he would get rid of the griffin, he took out a bow and arrow and killed it. The villagers kicked themselves and thought why didn't we think of that, we could have saved ourselves all that shoe leather. The reality is that Griffydam is named after Griffiths Dam....but which would you rather believe? Its like all those nay sayers about the Loch Ness Monster.....the Griffin did live and Mr Shiltonpigs ancestor killed it....and thats all we have to say on the story....today at the site of the well, there was another animal like creature looking for a cache.

So where else did our merry little adventures take us today? We mentioned the other day about a series of caches based around a human touch, this took us to a level crossing, we thought about tying Josh to the railway line, but thought the local residents might complain so we kept him with us. Another cache made us look for holes in a wall...sound easy not to us....there must have been like a zillion holes in this wall, and Mrs Shiltonpig looked, Mr Shiltonpig looked, Josh looked, even the car came out and helped us...and then we spotted it in the wall and wondered how we could have missed it in the first place...the trickiest cache of the day...(Spacemarine....curse you lol)

So its worth mentioning at this point everybodys favourite Josh? The photo to the right shows him looking a little spaced out...he was a good little boy today, not only did he keep quiet during the times we were looking for a cache, but he waited till we got home to fill his nappy! Another cache took us near Blackbrook (couldn't resist another link) which we will definitely be back to explore the area again on a nice day..it looked like Dartmoor in parts with a splash of the Peak District thrown in for good measure...the cache in question did take us to a pond with a fake heron...though I don't think the resident geese really gave any thought or notice to be honest.

So as promised at the start here is a picture of a hobbit standing next to a small church...some of you may be disappointed thinking this is actually not a hobbit but Mrs Shiltonpig. However Mr Shiltonpig can give you personally his "100% honest guvnor seal of approval" that this is a hobbit, you should have seen how hairy her feet were!! The cache was a sea shell, which was a little unusual...especially as we are pretty much as far away from the sea as you can get in the UK...another cache was near the base of the tree...nearby was an empty vodka bottle, we think that the cache owner must have been up to some late night drinking even though we know he is under 18! Don't worry the police are coming now!

So the final chance of the day gave Josh the chance to pick up as many cigarette butts as he could and then after he finished with those he attempted stones, and finally sticks. In the meantime we were finsihing off a cache in Ashby. For once you can read it yourself...just click on the photo and it enlarges itself. Mr Shiltonpig laughs at the comment that Ashby failed to gain success in its fashionable status....erm then how come house prices are so much higher than 5 miles down the road? So if Griffins, Hobbits, Dracula were not enough for you...then I suggest you hold your breath and wait for tomorrows exciting episode of Shiltonpigs Geocaching Adventures (said in a deep echoey voice).