This is the final cache in the GC Gedling Colliery series. To find it you'll need to solve GC Deep In The Woods and GC A Wooden Tree
Please don't include spoilers in your logs or photos.
26-12-2010 FTF honours to Baira & Darkfonz (16 joint finds including the final) and RoPeHe (2).
20-3-2011 Congratulations to Nuts in May and lindylou2 who were first to find all 18 caches in the series in a single day.
This series is placed on the site of Gedling Colliery (1899-1991), and has been placed by kind permission of UK Coal.
You can find many more photographs of the site here.
The site is really popular for dog walking, but you'll also see people mountain biking, horse riding, sledging, kite flying, (illegal) off roading and occasionally even hawk flying and playing ice hockey. Much of the former spoil heap has been grassed or planted as part of an eventual plan to create a country park. It's a great place to explore, with fantastic views and plenty of bird life.
Access is permissive and the many footpaths aren't official; some are extremely well established while others can disappear without warning into a clump of trees or a nettle patch. The ground can be rough, boggy, muddy and/or steep in places (wellies are highly recommended October to March). You'll also find the hazards you might expect on an abandoned colliery site (various industrial debris, uncovered drains, random holes etc.), so it's not a great place for very young children and I haven't included any swaps. It's a great place for dogs (as long as you don't mind bathing/hosing them when you get home).
Unless you get badly lost, the series will keep you away from:
- slurry ponds
- the rubble around the pit head
- above the really dangerous drops
- areas marked as closed to public access (some of the Arnold Lane side of the site)
Feel free to comment on this series and the difficult/terrain ratings I've chosen. Enjoy...