You can park free for up to 2 hours at N 52 24.706 W 001 46.300 (if you can find a space!). This should give you enough time to complete this short anticlockwise circuit of the historic part of Solihull.
There are several questions to answer along your route – be sure to keep a record of which numbers are represented by which letters.
STAGE 1 Make your way to the park gates at N 52 24.674 W 001 46.3012. The recreation ground was opened AB July CDEF
Now work out the co-ordinates for Stage 2 as follows: N 52 24.[F][A+E+F][F-C] W 001 46.{(C+D)/2}{D-E}{B}
STAGE 2 Head away from the park, passing Malvern House which became Solihull’s first ever school in 1560 where Edward Pole was paid £8 per year to teach English, Latin & Greek free to the sons of all Solihull parishioners. Arithmetic wasn’t taught until 1574!! You should eventually get to a spot at the church which tells you that ‘Liz the widow’ made a gift to the town in AD GHJK (Sometimes this is obscured by floral decorations so there are some directions the next stop as well plus a hint below).
Now work out the Stage 3 co-ordinates thus: N 52 24.[H][J+G][H-K] W 001 46. [K][H-J][A+C+E] or HEAD UP THE HIGH STREET AND LOOK ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE FOR THE NEXT STAGE AND YOU SHOULD BE OK
STAGE 3 You should now be outside Solihull’s oldest building which was built around 1LMN and was saved in 1MLN. Despite its name it was never the home of the lord of the Manor but was built by a famous Solihull family whose crest bore P greyhounds.
A shop two doors down the High Street also occupies an ancient half-timbered building. To get to stage 4 work out the co-ordinates and head down a side passage that is very close to stage 3: STAGE 4 is at N 52 24.[L+P][N][K] W 001 46.[M-P][N-P][J+L]
Touch wood, you should have passed the Council House and reached some sloping gardens, much used as a backdrop by the Registry Office nearby. A sign with a map (it's between lampposts 62 and 63!) suggests a two-digit number in its title. The first digit is Q.
To get to the next stage (almost where you were before!) go past the Registry Office and up a busy road. You have just walked up the “muddy hill” that gave Solihull its name!! You should have reached “The Square” (which is actually triangular in shape!) and St Alphege’s Church (which dates from the 12th Century). At N 52 24.[J+P][K+P] Q-A] W 001 46.[Q][Q+P+A][Q-L] notice the grooves and marks in the sandstone either side of the door – a reminder that in the Middle Ages attendance at church and afterwards archery practice was compulsory every Sunday morning. Here was where they sharpened their arrowheads. Along the western side of the church are R arched buttresses, put up in 19R8 to help support the walls and roof. This number should help you get to the penultimate stage (Stage 5)
STAGE 5 is at back in the park at N 52 24.[R+P] [Q+C] [R+A] W 001 46.{P}{P+R}{R/2} A fine statue greets you - it just shows what you can make from custard! Sir Alfred Bird (in whose honour the statue was erected) was the inventor of the recipe for Bird’s Custard Powder and his son, Oliver, inherited the business. The plaque mentions that his son, who has letters after his name, was a Captain and also a lofty *******. S is the position of the letter I in the word and T is the position of the letter E.
THE FINAL CACHE You now should have all the information you need to find the final cache.
It is to be found at: N 52 2[R].[R+T][S+T][S-R] W 001 4[2*T].[S-R][R+L][R+S] It should hopefully be well hidden under leaves behind some mesh. Please make sure you cover it well on top with more leaves before you leave as this is a very public park and it is very close to some houses.