PLEASE KEEP TO THE WELL TRODDEN PATHS. Chobham Common is an important National Nature Reserve, so please do not give Geocaching a bad name: do not go thrashing through the heather. This is more difficult than most of our geocaches but you should be able to find the large tupperware box, including log book, goodies and camera, without too much trouble - and you will be able to do it without straying from the footpaths. Allow at least an hour, including over a mile of walking, and a little thinking time :-)
YOU WILL NEED A PRINTOUT of these clues, and a pencil, in addition to your GPS. Your mission starts by locating two virtual caches. The first virtual caches is at the lat/lon above of N 51° 22.854 W 000° 36.868. The second virtual cache is f2g metres from it, away from the road. The "f2g" has to be converted to a number using what you saw at the first virtual cache. You use what you see at these places to decrypt this:
N 51° aa.bbc W 000° de.bga = N 51° _ _ . _ _ _ W 000° _ _ . _ _ _ ? This lat/lon will take you to a clue ticket hidden in a mossy stump.
The first virtual cache answers these questions:
How Many Troops ? - 1000 = bf2c, so b = _ , f = _ and c = _
How Many Parishioners ? = 4gg, so g = _
Reigned how many years ? = ed, so e = _ and d = _
Distance between the two virtual caches = f2g metres = _ 2 _ metres.
The second virtual cache has the word "Main Ref" on it. What is the Main Ref ? = Ga4, so a = _
If you can't find a clue ticket in the mossy stump, there is an identical ticket hidden nearby at the side of the path, behind a post.
You'll be glad to know that's all the "thinking" work done. The clue ticket from the mossy stump guides you to another hidden clue ticket. That clue ticket guides you to the cache itself. Have fun :-)
Chobham Common is the nearest the locals of Sunninghill get to a bit of wilderness. Its only a few miles across, but is not a bad mixture of forest and areas of heather broken by dusty trails. This patch of common, between Sunningdale and M3 Motorway is skirted by the railway and the Ministry of Defence Research Establishment that the locals have called "The Tank Factory" for years (heard of Chobham Armour ?). It is big enough for a nice walk, and is popular with ramblers, horse riders, model flyers, and dog owners - so watch where you tread ! :-) There is an even bigger area of common, even more popular, on the other side of the Motorway, south. Go south from the monument, left at the first roundabout, staying parallel to the motorway, right at next roundabout (before tank factory), over the motorway, and turn right into the free carpark.
The following material is taken from theSunninghill page of my web site:
The "Chobham Treacle Mines" is a local legend, dating back to the 1930's. It was then that a local person discovered a spot on the Common where there was large quantities of treacle welling to the surface. Within a few days, scores of them were coming to dig deep pits, into which the treacle oozed, and could be scooped up by the bucket-full. I don't know what they did with it when they got home, but I suppose it could have been strained through cloth then boiled to make toffee or something. For years people spoke with awe, and in hushed whispers about the "Chobham Treacle Mines" :-)
Alas, as with many such stories, a rational explanation eventually surfaces. In this case it surfaced when some of the enthusiastic locals dug their pits deeper and struck something - well several somethings - in fact hundreds of giant wooden barrels of mollasis. These had been there for some years, and the wood had started to fall appart and let the contents ooze out. So who put the barrels there in the first place ? The clue is in the picture at the bottom (that's me at the bottom controlling the aircraft !). The monument in the background is on a small hill overlooking the Common. It was erected near the turn of Century to commemorate Queen Victoria reviewing the troops going off to fight the Dutch in South Africa during the Boar War. Tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry were transported in by railway (which runs through the Common) - and the thousands of horses had to be fed. The barrels of mollases were used to 'spice up' the horses feed, but at the end many were surplus to requirements - so they were buried ! - the barrels that is: not the horses :-)
This picture was taken, maybe 20 years ago by one of my model aircraft - that's me in the bottom of the picture operating the radio gear :-)
You will find more Lovelock caches onwww.gpss.co.uk/geocacheIf you wish to contact Robin and want a reply, please email him direct on gpss@compuserve.com If you do this through a geocaching web site, please make sure you include your email address. Robin regrets that he may not reply to those who seek to hide who they are. Please include at least your name and email address.