Welcome to Findon Sheep Fair...Part Deux!
The original Findon Sheep Fair was placed four years ago in May 2008. I was inspired to set it after laying in bed one Sunday morning, and reading "Sussex" by Peter Brandon. In the chapter on sheep, there was a list of 24 essential items of a shepherds gear, taken from a list drawn up by Barclay Wills in 1927. I decided that I would try to place 24 'small' caches around the village of Findon where they hold an annual sheep fair.
I had no idea at the time what an impact it would have. It was before the days of the power trail, and caches around that time were fairly sparse. This lot of densely packed caches, although fairly small by todays comparison, attracted cachers from far and wide. It also became the talk of the village. Findon is not the sort of place where comings and goings go unnoticed! The locals soon became aware of what was going on, and as many cachers will attest were often asked if they were here for the "treasure hunt"! It was greeted very positively by almost5everyone.
After four years I felt it was time to make way. I want to give people some fresh caches to do and another chance to visit the area. So, here we have...part deux!
This time rather than being scattered around the village, they form a circular. The walk will take in a fair part of the village, plus it will take you up on the hills where the views are excellent.
There are five different icons to be found in the area. There are 38 trads, 2 letterboxes, 3 multis including a church micro, 3 mysteries and and earthcache. Most of the containers are 60ml watertight containers with a few smalls for trackables. There is a large ammo box at #26 that will hopefully be filled with goodies. If you have a child with you, by all means let them help themselves to a prize. Please don't be greedy! The mysteries are all in the village and can be picked up either on the way round or as drivebys before or after. The total length of the main trail is a little over 6 miles.
Most of the time the paths and trails are pretty good and firm under foot, but like everywhere, they can become muddy after rain. Of course, there will be hills, but you shouldn't find the gradient too steep. All of the caches should be fairly straightforward finds. I have tried to mix it up as best I can, but in places the hide options are limited. There were also existing caches to take into consideration. Please stick to the path, and if you have a dog, please keep it on a lead where advised. There is plenty of on street parking around #01.
You can start anywhere, however I would advise you to stick to numerical order, unless you want to back track for the multi's.
You will be walking past farms and stables. Please DO NOT attempt to do this by torchlight.
Have fun, and good luck!