Recommended parking is at N 51° 25.000 W 02° 15.300.
The first two waypoints will take you near a couple of prominent buildings, which you will see from a different perspective later.
[Update: September 2011. If you study the new waypoint SHORT/S0 listed below, it is possible to answer Q1 and Q2 in one fell swoop; it's up to you!]
The published coordinates take you to the waypoint for Question 1.
Q1. Discover here the saint's name of the church, St -/-/-. Add up the number of letters in the three missing words. There is no need actually to visit the church for this cache, but if you have time, why not explore this fine little church further?
Answer = AB.
(The oldest parts of the church are said to originate from the ABth century.)
Now walk on to the next waypoint, for Question 2, at N 51° 24.943 W 02° 15.105.
Q2. There has been a school in the village for over 300 years, but our task here is to calculate the year CDEF from which the present Victorian building originates. We shall do this in a circuitous way, using only clues from the prominent clock tower!
How many bells can you see on the tower? (Nothing relevant is hidden from view for C.)
Answer = C.
Check out the gargoyles below the clock. Total up the number of gargoyle WINGS (you should be able to see round the tower sufficiently, although symmetry can be employed).
Answer = D.
Find a golden triangle. Along its horizontal base only, count the number of gold (diamond-like?) shapes.
Answer = E.
The tall arched window below the clock has how many panes?
Answer = F.
Well done, you have found this school building’s foundation year: CDEF!
Please take care crossing the road, but backtrack slightly to the next waypoint, N 51° 24.911 W 02° 15.150 (no question here, just keeping on the right route).
Proceed to the waypoint of Question 3 at N 51° 24.811 W 02° 15.088. Again, take care crossing the road.
Q3. How many miles to travel to take the waters? Answer = G.
Proceed to the stile at the next waypoint, N 51° 24.684 W 02° 14.914, passing the old Toll House on your left (no clues there, just for interest; by the way, did you notice that the Toll House has its own cache dedicated to it?).
Following the public footpaths, make your way to the waypoint of Question 4 at N 51° 24.636 W 02° 14.615.
Occasionally in the winter, mist can get trapped in this valley, making it quite an eerie place; in our family, we refer to it as Sleepy Hollow!
When you arrive at the waypoint, examine the exterior (there is no need to enter).
Q4. Looking at the door’s exterior, identify the upper-left quadrant and add up all the studs that make its perimeter. Answer = HI.
Proceed to the waypoint of Question 5, N 51° 24.634 W 02° 14.551.
Q5. Find the holey slab bridging the water. At the most western end of the slab, count how many larger, square-shaped holes are positioned together; ignore any smaller holes. Answer = J.
Continue on the path, turning left/WNW at the next waypoint, N 51° 24.692 W 02° 14.429 (no clues here, just routing again).
Now head for the last clue, a micro at:
N 51° 24.D(I-B)(J+H) W 02° A(B+C).G(H-A)(I+B-E).
From here, weather permitting, there is a good view of Box village and the surrounding countryside. You should be able to pick out the church and school that were the subject of the first questions. There is also a good view across the valley to Colerne village.
You are looking for a micro that will provide you with the final cache coordinates. This area is fairly popular with dog and horse muggles, but if you are alert, you should be able to switch swiftly to view-admiration mode!
Once you have the final cache coordinates, you should be able to continue your way on established paths until you get reasonably near GZ. I have experienced variable accuracy there (suspect tree cover), so there is an encrypted hint within the micro that you may wish to copy down in case it is needed (please don't take the original with you!). Make sure that you have some means of deciphering the ROT13 code in the field.
The woodland you are entering is a fascinating area, whose features are well described by a couple of other nearby caches. I will just add that this is an SSSI, due to the many species of bats that use the underground mine system (particularly the rare Greater Horseshoe Bat); so please respect the area and CITO if you can. This cache has been placed with the kind permission of both the landowner and Natural England.
The final cache is a good sized ammo can, with plenty of room for trades and trackables. On release, it was well stocked with the usual goodies. It also included a paperback book that both Mr and Mrs Abanazar have enjoyed recently. It would be great if anyone who is tempted to trade for the paperback would leave another in its place, and so on, so that there is always one in there for a bookworm cacher. I do not know how sustainable this limited library will turn out to be, but it will be an interesting experiment! I have not tied our initial book in with bookcrossing, but there is the potential here for anyone who is a more active bookcrosser.
Again, the general area of the final cache is popular with animal-walking muggles; also, mountain bikers frequent the wood, so just keep a look out.
After the cache, there are various ways you can return back down to the village; for example, you could cut straight through from this wood on to Quarry Hill road, as there are several openings. Or you could be tempted for 'just one more cache' and spend some more time up here in the 'highlands' of Box -- I hear that these woods are home to more beasts than just those bats (eg see GC20FKE It's not so Grimm in Box) ;-)
But here is a suggested return route. Navigate the woodland paths to waypoint N 51° 24.941 W 02° 14.637.
There is another good view here of the village and surroundings. Continue downhill on this path and it will emerge onto a lane which you should descend. Turn left at the bottom of this lane (now on Quarry Hill) and continue past a remaining piece of village industry: the rubber ball factory. This was once a candle factory which flourished during the building of Box Tunnel. Just past the factory buildings is a junction; this the earliest part of Box, originally the hamlet of Townsend. Heading WNW there is a descending footpath. Take the path, carry on past the old Box Brewery (sadly no longer active and quite hard to spot, tucked between the engineering works and the village butcher) and climb up one last incline. You should end up near the waypoint where you started.
Lodging Residential Geocoin (February 2015)
Amberel kindly made one of his Top Cache geocoins for one of my neighbouring caches, It's not so Grimm in Box (GC20FKE). The coin is called The Singing Bone. It is usual for me to keep such coins RESIDENTIAL in the relevant cache, but It's not so Grimm in Box is too small. So instead I have chosen to keep the coin in Highs and Lows of Box, which is both nearby and plenty big enough to home the coin, which is attached to the logbook. Complicated? No, I'm sure you'll figure it out if you're keen on discovering it. Remember to feel free to discover it, but please do not remove it. Thanks.