Resistance is Futile!

Monday 15th March

Believe it or not the photo that you see to the next of you is the location of the cache that we found today....this cache is by far the hardest of the caches we have ever looked for as it has taken us 3 attempts to find it...

The clue for this cache relates to finding a certain tree and then looking for a fallen tree. Problem being is that the gps bounces all around due to the tree cover, next trying to find the spoiler tree is impossible and there are hundreds (and for once I'm not being sarcastic) of fallen trees everywhere! Hence the reason we couldn't find it....using the local geocaching website we were able to get some more clues, which included

being told that the cache was hidden under a large flat stone....it turned out to be a kind of pinky orange type stone under an Everest proportion monutain sized bunch of leaves! But not to worry the fact is that we finally found it and so once and for all we could turn around in a Jean Luc Picard accent and say to the cache "Resistance is futile!"

Of course like all good geocaches the area also required some exploration, we went around Willesley Wood. In 1943 coal mining ended in the area and like a lot of the National Forest it was reclaimed for woodland. One of the beauties of this particular part of the world at this time is the fact snowdrops cover the woodland in parts and as soppy as this is to say, it really is beautiful....like a land of little fairies lives nearby....(no I haven't been drinking!!)

The walk takes you past loads of bullrushes (Mr Shiltonpigs favourite) and then you head to Willesley lake which is a private lake full of man eating fish....well ok perhaps not man eating but big enough to eat Josh..we kid you not!

http://www.fisheries.co.uk/willesley/index.htm

The lake has apparently been here for 200 years after it was founded by the Hastings family and is now a pleasant walk although part of it means you have to dodge golf balls from the nearby golfers.

It was at this stage in the walk that the obligatory chocolate and juice came into play, with Josh eating a 3rd of the chocolate bar? How come someone so small still gets to eat so much? All of a sudden the winds started picking up and the cloud became darker than black itself. Quickly team Shiltonpig made a run for the car....when I say run I mean jog.....and when I say jog I mean walk....and when I say walk I mean leisurely meander back.

We all agree that this is the nicest walk in the vacinity that we have done so far....the National Forest is not well known outside the local area and that is a shame, as we are beginning to feel a connection to the land....we are not saying that we want to go out and hug a tree or anything, but it is nicer than its given credit for.

On the way back we came across this sign...seems that local geocachers have been getting so mad at not being able to find the caches in the area that they have taken to shooting.....

So this ends another afternoon of caching, on the hardest cache we have come across yet....but walking always seems to make the world seem better...not sure why but it does....you can go out the angriest people in the world and yet come home feeling as if you love every person on the planet.....

Challenge to the readers...next time you go for a walk, just how many species of tree can you name correctly?

"Cache"by de la Zouch

Saturday 13th March 2010

Yes, yes, yes its the dreaded town of Ashby de la Zouch again...why dreaded? Because we always come here and can't find the caches that are hidden.

First up was a cache that we couldn't find a couple of weeks ago, up a place called poo lane...well that wasn't its official title...but considering that there were around 30 piles of poo in just a short 100 metre stretch what else are we to imagine...why do dog owners not pick it up and take it home? Rant over! We found the cache, we didn't find it the other week because of the snow...thats our excuse anyway and were sticking to that!

Next up was a cache that is part of the Ashby Round series....as previously explained, you find the caches and collect clues to a final bonus cache. We found our first clue the other week and have just picked up our second....of course poor old Mrs Shiltonpig picked up a knock to the head while she was getting the cache. Plastic flowers hid this particular cache, but didn't really fit in at this time of year as everything is dead!!

Next up was yet another do not find, we were looking for a cache in Ashby centre but there was an annoying "hoody" that just wouldn't move as he was sitting where we expect the cache to be...so another must come back later. This will then

mean we have found all the caches in Ashby itself....but there are always new ones appearing left right and centre!

We carried on to one on the outskirts of Ashby that was different to ones that we had found before...the cache was covered in velcro and stuck to the top of a post. It was around this point that our very own beautiful son who I might add isn't even 18 months old turned around and said "baa baa black sheep" all by himself....starting to worry his vocabulary will soon outgrow Mr and Mrs Shiltonpigs and he will be teaching us!!

We then started driving the back roads out of Ashby and parked up by a newly hidden set of 3 caches in a woodland called chestnut woodland. Very very pleasant it was indeed, there is nothing nicer than walking out in fields by yourself enjoying the peace and quiet which was beautiful. The National Forest may only be 10-15 years in the making but they have made a good start and some of the places like this one are well worth a visit to enjoy a nice afternoon stroll.

First up of the 3 was a cache near a nice pond with Mr Shiltonpigs favourite feature...a bullrush.

Mrs Shiltonpig is posing next to the pond although it doesn't really look ike a pond from

this photo. Anyway the wind was really picking by now and as we entered the field and although the gps was saying that the cache was 0.2 miles away, we guessed where it was even from that distance...why because there was only one thing to hide a cache in the whole of the field...a tree! Surprise, surprise we turned out to be right and much to Mr Shiltonpigs delight picked up some trackable items as well....one from the good U S of A that wants to see sports (so why was it in the middle of a wood?) and another was a gingerbread man...shame it wasn't a real gingerbread man as Josh would have liked one of those very much.
The last of the 3 caches in this section took us to back nearer the road, and poor little Josh was hiding behind Mr Shiltonpig to protect himself from the wind...although he still found time to warm his small fingers in daddys mouth!!

6 caches this afternoon making 21 so far this month....we are on course for a record at this rate...and we all have been ill this week! Lovely quiet peaceful walk this afternoon....going home to some bacon, eggs and sausage...does life get any better than this???

G'day Mate put a shrimp on the Barbie!

Sunday 7th March 2010

G'day mate....Boomerangs, Kangaroos, Koala Bears....yes thats right we were in Melbourne.....ok, ok, ok perhaps not Melbourne, Australia, but Melbourne, Derbyshire. Though believe it or the two are connected as you will see from the portrait to the left. Though I am sure Mr Lamb might have a few things to say about his portrait being covered in bird muck!!

Team Shiltonpig has all been ill in one form or another this week and today was a gentle drive and walk around some local spots to get away from the cabin fever that had set in.

First up though was a place called Breedon on the Hill....of course there is a church at the top of this hill and you can see it for miles and miles around...but now has the added memory that we found a cache there as well. For avid readers will know by now that Mr and Mrs Shiltonpig have a competition to find the oldest grave stone in a churchyard. This time it was Mr Shiltonpig that had the honour of winning this particular match finding a grave from 1702....., this was around the time Mrs Shiltonpigs mother was born. Weird to think that people have been living on this hill for over 2000 years and there has been a church on the site for a 1000 of those years. The views on this particularly sunny day were great, you can see East Midlands airport nearby and Josh (well ok Mr Shiltonpig as well) enjoyed seeing the planes coming in and landing...just wish we could be on a plane taking off to a hot sunny location!

The cache in question is found in the church wall...not quite sure why but it is...and Mrs Shiltonpig had soon found it after some expert advice from Mr Shiltonpig....nothing exciting...but well worth visiting for the views!

Oh and another thing about Breedon it has it own beacon, which is occasionally lit as part of the nations beacon set...the last time it was lit was 5 years ago to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar...the nearby notice says that the next time it will go off is on a day of national importance....like today for example Joshs first curry!

After Breedon we headed to Australia (oh sorry have already done that joke to death) and ready for a couple of caches. Melbourne is the type of place Mr Shiltonpigs mom would like...picturesque village, nice walk, tea rooms and antique shops and craft rooms. Probably the nicest place in the area so far visited (sorry Swad, you are just not posh enough lol)

It was a lovely sunny day...families out enjoying themselves and there was one disaster no ice cream shops were in the nearby walking vacinity!!! Aaarggghhhh.....

Anyway apart from the man that Melbourne took its name from...Melbourne also has another famous man born here...one that we all have heard of....Thomas Cook as in "Don't just book it, Thomas Cook it" I kid you not....for a small tiny village it sure has some important people born here.

The two caches in question were easily found one next to a lions den (well ok a large container with a lions security sticker on it) and one by the lake which was failry straight forward to find although Mr Shiltonpig was on his knees again trying to find it. This last cache will be remembered for something else though, Mr Shiltonpig was off
getting an ice cream when a small rowing boat appeared on the lake. Mrs Shiltonpig was watching them when all of a sudden a large scream from the boat, and suddenly all 4 people in the boat were in the water....the boat had capsized! Everyone was ok so it seems perfectly ok that Mrs Shiltonpig burst out laughing.....Mr Shiltonpig returned ice creamless to say "what did I miss?"

Will definitely be back here again in the summer as it really is a beautiful place...hopefully some more caches will be here next time as well! Toodlepips for now...

You must have your 5 a day!

Thursday March 4th 2010

Another spring day....another day of caching....yes we really are on a roll at the moment. In 2 days we have found half of what we found in total last month....and last month was our all time record!

So how come Mr Shiltonpig is hanging around a telephone box? Well read on and you will find out....

So today was another area we haven't really visited yet...Bretby park. First up took us to a cache full of a field of the cutest lambs you have ever seen...cuter than cute itself! So finding the cache was easy but cache 101 will always be remembered for one reason and one reason only....wee. An animal had knawed open the top and done its business inside and poor Mrs Shiltonpig had to pour all the contents out on the ground....think its fair to say that this cache needs maintenance!

The footpath that ended abruptly took us over the field and onto the next cache.....the cache again was easily found, and not very memorable with the exception of something in it. It was the first trackable marble we had come across, it was in the form of a globe and was pretty cool to say the least...our favourite trackable item so far.

Next up took us to a pretty woodland and why do we call it pretty simply because there were snowdrops everywhere...at first we had thought we had come across another trackable item but no a local cacher uses halfpennys as there trademark item when leaving things behind.

Josh by now was doing his usual trademark....he decided to fill his nappy. We are starting to wonder if he goes caching just to help his stomach movements! This meant a detour to the car and a quick pit stop. We drove to the next cache....and again found this one quickly. However this was a lot more memorable due to the nature of the cache....the cache was some flowers....and took Mrs Shiltonpigs mere seconds to spot it. Mr Shiltonpig had seen them, but just thought they were just large snowdrops....d'oh! However to make amends he got down on one knee to say sorry...he knows that every girl just needs some flowers!

It was then that we drove past the remarkable quiet village of Bretby and came across the red telephone box...still operational I have to say. Must mean people still use it? Do people in Bretby not have mobile phones? Anyway it was a great tourist photo type thing and perfect for this blog.

The next cache took us down a country lane that had more holes than a teenager recovering from acne. The gps bounced around like Josh on a bouncy castle and Mrs Shiltopig found her 4th cache of the day....she was on a roll (Mr Shiltonpig would like to remind Mrs Shiltonpig that it was he who found the marble....quality not quantity my dear!!)

Last and in this case least we drove around to attempt a 6th cache....we bumped into a lady who said "You won't get far with that footwear, its muddy down there" Mr Shiltonpig would like to point out he paid almost £10 for those trainers...top quality merchandise!!!! The aforementioned footwear did make it to where we needed to go, however the cache pointed in directions that didn't make sense, so we had to call it quits...for another day. But we will be back!

Finally 100 Caches....and a reward!

Wednesday 3rd March 2010 Evening

On a hot summers night on the 18th July in 2007, a Josh free team Shiltonpig set out on their first geocaching adventure. It took hours of preparation to find the cache in question in the North West part of Stoke on Trent, but we found it and were on our way to lots more geocaching adventures....

Our adventures have taken us to the canals of Cheshire, down dark unused railway tunnels in Staffordshire, climbed mountains in Spanish Catalan, around old castles in Leicestershire and to Swadlincote, Derbyshire!!! We have tripped, slid, scratched, fallen, broke fingernails, born a child all in the process of the next 2 years and 8 months...but finally the wait was over 100 caches milestone was finally achieved on March 3rd 2010 at roughly 6.35pm.....it wasn't without its problems though.

We had planned a long time ago that we would go for a slap up meal on our 100th cache and sure enough that is where we were heading tonight, it helped that there was a cache at the pub we were going to.....when we arrived Mr Shiltonpig forgot that he had brought the gps....aaarrrggghhh! So we deciphered the clue anyway and started driving around a carpark trying to find a cache, much to the amusement of some Eastern European lorry drivers....we couldn't find it....disaster. However Mr Shiltonpig had a back up plan and sure enough started driving down the road to the next cache, again deciphered the clue and started looking. It was cold, it was dark and we were getting hungry.....

But when all seemed doomed, Mr Shiltonpig turned over the last stone quite literally and found the cache....100 cache finds! Hooray to us! So we could now rightly go and have the most amazing carvery and most amazing cakes at the most amazing pub in the area....if you don't believe us have a look at the website below.

Of course Josh has joined us along the way and has completed himself 56 of the 100 caches, not bad for someone that isn't 18 months old yet....so he too had his reward, a play in the adventure playground and you can see him here enjoying Bob the Builder!

So there was only one last thing left to do and that was present to ourselves our "100 finds achievement geocoin"....gimmicky yes, but we deserved it and will have pride of place somewhere in the house....

To some people geocaching is all about the numbers, how many caches can they find....they miss the whole point of the sport. Its about having a good time and making happy memories...and we have had plenty!!

Oh and the pubs website....check it out if you haven't already (and if the owners ever read this and want to treat us to a free meal, we would be much obliged!)...http://www.cherrytreefarmpub.co.uk/foodanddrink.htm

Old McDonald has a....

Wednesday 3rd March 2010 PM

So what did this motley crew of dubious geocachers get up to this afternoon? Well bump into all kinds of assorted animals and even ended up on a beach....even though were 80 miles from the coast!

So first up was a visit to the little village of Hartshorne. According to history Hartshorne has been around since before Mrs Shiltonpig was born and thats old! However in more recent times was a royalist town in the English civil war in the 17th Century. So much so that after the war was over, watchers were employed in the church to keep an eye on the fields on certain religious days.

So today was a Wednesday and nobody was keeping an eye on the fields, so team Shiltopig decided that it was time to go grab a cache...in which case it meant tackling a horse...or Mr Ed as we liked to call him (SpaceMarine - you will have to look that one up!) and then tackled a field of sheep. The sheep were timid and Josh scared them all away....cache was found as it was sticking out for all to see. However it was fairly high up and even Mr Shiltonpig had a job to reach this one.....dropped off a TB from Sweden, some kind of Thor like hammer which has some mythical meaning.

Well next up we drove to Foremark Reservoir and tackled a few more caches, that is after we tackled the 21st century pay and display bollard....

Foremark reservoir was constructed in the 1970s and provides a beautiful walk around woodland and the water of course. Some parts of the reservoir have sandy beach alcoves as the one you see Mr Shiltonpig standing in and sure enough there was a cache in one of them in a tea cup? How bizzare....next time we will bring our bucket and spade for Josh to play in. Sun was shining down and spring is in the air.

Next up was a cache through a long walk in the aforementioned woodland.....you may remember a few weeks ago we came across a cache in the form of a bat. Well Batty has a cousin, Ratty to which Mrs Shiltonpig is holding up. Just so there is no confusion the rat is the one without glasses!!!!!

Team Shiltonpig are fans of this particular cache owner as his hides always prove to be something interesting and fun! This is where it started to get interesting, Mr Shiltonpig realised that the next cache was up a large hill and trying to push a pushchair up a hill when his trainers have no grip and the hill is muddy and slippy is not an experience he wishes to repeat in a hurry, in fact one point he was sliding further downhill than he was going uphill. Once they had got to the top of the hill they realised that the cache was further downhill and set across a path to get where they thought it was, then to make matters worse, they realised they were still off course and had to climb over a fence to get to where they needed to be....once that had happened cache found in seconds!!

It is worth saying here that we have seen all manner of animals today hence the title of the blog, the most of note though was team Shiltonpigs 1st stoat! There we were respecting Her Majestys speed limit of 30 mph when as quick as a flash the stoat ran out (and survived) across the road carrying some kind of dead rat or possibly its baby in its mouth....

So back to the car and we now had 98 caches in the bag...so in order for our plan to work we needed one more cache this aftternoon. We drove around to the other side of the reservoir and attempted one cache the other side....

The final cache took us right into the countryside and suddenly it felt as if we were miles and miles away from home....welcoming signs were all around "Trespassers are in danger of being shot" and other such signs helped make us at home.

Again an easy find for us today.....making 99 caches.

Thoroughly enjoyable day today, warm weather, sandy beaches, good company and Mr Shiltonpigs sense of humour to keep everybody happy.....

Oink Oink!

Wednesday 3rd March 2010

What a great cache! On Saturday night we came across a brand new cache about a mile from our house...sadly Josh was ill so we didn't go out at pm at night to go hunt for it.....to be honest Mr Shiltonpig was a little disappointed about this...but with hindsight, he is glad he didn't. It meant that we could come to this cache in the day and are we glad we did...

It was a nice crisp morning and to be honest the cache was easily found...but what caught our attention was the pig stys just to the right of the cache. Josh hasn't seen many pigs before and so we took the opportunity to show him....it was great.

The name of the cache is called "Oink Oink"...we didn't really take much notice of the name of the cache, but to find a pig twice the size of Josh was great.

We were careful not to say the words "sausages, bacon, ham and gammon" too loud for fear of hurting this dear little piggies feelings!

There were several pig stys and when we came across the pig below it was fast asleep and tucked up cosy in his (or her) sty.

So after what would be the best cache of the day, we then went to what is quickly becoming the most hated cache in Mr Shiltonpigs opinion.

This cache GC761B Heart of the National Forest.

This is our second attempt at this cache and this time, we took more clues and even had a picture of the tree that would help us get to where we needed to be. But could we find the cache? No and to make matters worse we couldn't even find the tree.

We were able to get pretty much accurate co-ordinates for the cache, but this really is impossible trying to find a cache under a fallen tree in

woodland that has zillions and zillions (no word of lie, it is zillions) of fallen trees and to top it all off has more leaves than you can ever want.

Of course we left empty handed but we were now on 94 caches found, a new annual record and 1 closer to that elusive 100 caches.

Joshs hat decided to play up again and jumped off his head....this is the 3rd such occasion in just a matter of weeks..mmmm we will have to keep an eye of this hat!
Righto off for some lunch....bacon sandwich anyone?