Margaret Thatcher



Iron Lady

Monday 30th August 2010

It appears in the gap from last year to this year google have now introduced a stats bar which can tell you which country people are looking at your blog from. It appears that we now have a small following in Slovenia, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. It is appropriate then that we give these lovely visitors to our blog an introduction to a woman that shaped the UK. Yes team Shiltonpig were caching in the home town of the first female Primeminister in the UK. Margaret Thatcher.

Wheres Wetherspoons?

Now before we tell you where we actually are. Do you know where Margaret Thatcher was born? Well ok then seeing as you are being so nice, we will tell you...Grantham in Lincolnshire. Of course when she was born in 1925 it still would have been another 75 years before geocaching would have been invented. Grantham is one of those strange towns that seems to have a lot of weird and wonderful facts about it, for example the first place in the UK to have female police was here, Isaac Newton went to school here (more on that later) and it was even the first place in the UK to have its own tractor, (Josh would love that, as you all know he is a big fan of tractors). But team Shiltonpig started the day in the only way we could have and thats with a Wetherspoons breakfast. I really think we should get some shares in that pub as we have enough breakfasts there!!! I challenge anyone reading this to tell us where you can get a better breakfast....

Mr Shiltonpig and his beautiful son

We did about 6 caches in the area, the first two were easily found near the centre of town. We also attempted another one called Wyndham Wandererer...and to be honest the cache proved true to its name. For some reason we ended going around the whole of the town finding all the places we wouldn't have normally seen, including as you will see in the picture Isaac Newtons school. Finally as we approached the cache co-ordinates we realised it was in a field. Sounds easy enough right? well a gate had to be climbed, and so Mr Shiltonpig volunteered to jump over, cache now showing as 500 feet away. Mr Shiltonpig starts to run, faster

Isaac Newton wos 'ere

and faster, 450 feet, 400 feet, 350 feet, you can now start to smell the cache....300 feet, 250 feet and then horror. The cache was a mere 220 feet away and yet Mr Shiltonpig now could see that there was a fence in the way and despite all his attempts he could not make his way through. He thought about becoming a badger or rabbit and burrowing his way through but was unsure how the local residents would have taken to that....so sadly we had to give up on this one. Mrs Shiltonpig and Josh gave Mr Shiltonpig the beating of his life when he got back and admitted he didn't get the cache. Team Shiltonpig does not accept failure!

Don't jump Josh...don't jump!

After getting over the stench of failure and the beating, we drove up the road and attempted 4 caches near the canal. A lovely walk if ever I could say so, it was peaceful and tranquil....just the way we like it. Nice and straightforward 3 caches which a bonus cache for collecting some extra co-ordinates. After these it was time to head home, while Grantham has lots of history, it does have a terrible road system which we hope not to encounter anytime soon! And to think Isaac Newton went to school here, perhaps without him we would not have geocaching today....now theres something to think about!