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the Preston Penny-Farthing Letterbox Hybrid

Hidden : 6/6/2010
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

A Letterbox-Hybrid cache close to the pretty Gloucestershire village of Preston

So – here’s your chance to pick up one of those funky envelope icons for your profile

We decided to make this cache a letterbox hybrid as there are so few of them around here, we had plenty of room in the good sized container, and Mrs Chaos has a bit of a thing for rubber stamps

This cache is located close to the village of Preston, a couple of miles South East of Cirencester. It is a pretty village, with a picturesque church. We don’t know an awful lot about the history of Preston, other than that it originally belonged to a priest named Reinbald, chancellor to Edward the Confessor. If any local cachers or history buffs can further enlighten us, we’d be happy to add some more details to this listing.

The walk to the cache itself from the recommended parking spot is a pleasant stroll of just under half a mile each way, on well maintained, fairly level public footpaths. The route isn’t wheelchair or buggy accessible, but shouldn’t be too taxing on foot.

The parking spot has space for around three cars, the signposted public footpath which will take you to the cache location starts a short way further up the road on the right.

Are you wondering, what is a “letterbox”, and how does this cache differ from traditional geocaches?

Letterboxing, although similar to geocaching, predates our hi-tech hobby by about 150 years. It began on Dartmoor in Devon, and nowadays there are thousands of letterbox containers hidden on the moor, accessible via clues and puzzles, and many more worldwide.

Letterbox containers usually contain a rubber stamp and a visitor’s book. Letterboxers also typically have their own rubber stamp and personal logbook which they carry with them.

When a box is found, the finder stamps the letterbox’s visitor’s book with their personal stamp, and then takes an impression of the stamp from the cache in their own book. Still with me?

So that’s what makes this cache a little different.

Yes, it looks just like your average regular geocache. And it has all the usual trade items inside for swapsies (including a Signal The Frog FTF pin for the first finder, with our compliments). And it has a log book just like in any other cache, which you can sign just with your name and date, no problem, if you don’t happen to have a stamp of your own.

But, it also has its own rubber stamp, and ink pad – these are NOT for trade and must NOT be removed from the cache. And we have also put in some plain pieces of card in case you would like to take a stamped image away with you but don’t have your own letterboxing journal.

We hope you enjoy finding this, our first letterbox hybrid cache, as much as we have enjoyed getting it ready and placing it out in the field.

The Chaos Crew.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ng whapgvba bs sbbgcnguf, sybbe yriry oruvaq vil pbirerq gerr.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)