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.