The Lady of the Woods Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Cache Description
The Lady of the Woods
The cache is a small(ish) sized clip-lock box suitable for small trackables.
Please also ensure cache is well hidden and camouflaged afterwards.
Location Information
Located just off a public footpath in the woods, not difficult to walk along although a bit muddy in places.
There are three entrances to the path, these are also marked as separate waypoints.
Path entrance one is found at N51 13.923 E0 46.562 and used to be for fans of old cars and broken junk
Path entrance two is found at N51 14.428 E0 47.238 is for the discerning train/mining enthusiast
Path entrance three is found at N51 14.449 E0 46.707 alas has neither.
Parking is restricted but there is space at path entrance two, however please ensure you do not block access, elsewhere parking is not so good, so park up tight against the hedges.
Update: 30th March 2018
Sadly there has been a lot of clearance on the paths to the Lady, the old cars and broken junk have been removed, and on todays visit, even the old "Beware of the Trains" sign is no longer there.
The level crossing is still there as are the tracks which can be seen when using entrance two.
Some facts related to the railway line:
Research shows that the line ran from Nutshell Farm to disused pits. The trackbed is composed of concrete, inset with large square wooden blocks to which the steel rails are fixed. The railway was known as the "Otterden and Boardfield" and was laid by Mr Granville Wheler, 1929-2004, (a keen railway enthusiast) of Otterden Place as a method of extracting timber from his woods on the estate. The motive power was horse-drawn.'
Some facts about 'The Lady of the Woods'
A local legend has it that she was carved some time during WWII by an Eastern European soldier (possibly Polish) who was stationed nearby at Otterden Place with the Tank Regiment. She has a very 'Eastern European' look about her, being tall and very slender. Also you might notice that she appears to be pregnant. It seems quite feasible that a serviceman from Poland, missing his sweetheart at home, might carve her. In any case, she would now be quite elderly !
Further to the legend - which is a nice story - facts dictate - It was probably carved in the mid 1970s; the carver was a secretative chap who did the carving whilst temporarily staying locally. Apparently he has done others elsewhere in the country - it is what he did on a summer vacation, he worked on it on-and-off for a couple of months. He hid when anyone came down the track, and very few people actually saw him, so it appeared as if the figure came out of nowhere! At the time it was taken to be a representation of the Virgin Mary.
Further information is from a cachers log which I have added seperately to the gallery.
The Lady of the Woods stands a few feet off the path in the forest, you will know when you have found her, she is very old and very beautiful.
Follow her gaze a short way and you will find the prize.
Congratulations on FTF at 4:19pm on 16/03/2014 by Mankybadger, Tia67uk & TheHurks.
This cache is a direct replacement for one originally placed by Pobblepop' in 2010.
This is a fascinating site and it deserves to be visited.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)