Little Bridges #660 Huckford Quarry Multi-cache
Little Bridges #660 Huckford Quarry
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
There are a number of routes to this location. Park up on the road (Bradley Avenue) and walk down the steep steps, park at Damson Bridge (Winterbourne Down) and follow the Frome Valley Walkway along the river, (Flat ish) or from Frampton Cotterell at Nightingale Bridge and follow the river downstream (Flat but longer walk)
At the beginning of the 20th century, Huckford quarry provided stone for the Wotton Bassett to Patchway railway line (now part of the main London to South Wales line) and many buildings in the area. It has not been used for quarrying for 65 years and today the site has become overgrown with plants, forming an important wildlife habitat. It was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1993.
The quarry offers a variety of different habitats for plants and animals. It is deep, damp and dark throughout much of the year, making it ideal for ferns, mosses and lichens. Polypody, harts tongue and lady ferns can all be found among old quarry boulders and the shaded woodland banks. If you look up at the quarry face, you can see various layers of rock – mainly sandstone, with layers of shale and silty mudstone.
The woodland area along the River Frome contains an impressive display of native woodland flowers, including stitchwort, bluebells, violets, foxgloves, yellow archangel and wood anemone. On the slopes grow woodspurge, woodsage, wild arum and wild strawberries.
Go under the impressive Winterbourne viaduct, to the north of the reserve, into One Acre field. This tiny field floods occasionally, leading to an interesting range of flowering plants.
The site is on the Frome Valley Walkway, which links the centre of Bristol to the Cotswold Hills, the Cotswold Way national trail and other popular routes.
To find the cache, find the following and work out:
Third flower down = how many letters in the name =A
First plant across, second word, how many letters in the name = B
Sixth plant across, second word, how many letters in the name = C
Fourth flower down, second word, how many letters in the name = D
N51º 30.(B+5)(A-C)(D-1)
W002º 29.(A+1)B(C-C)
The Little Bridges series was started by Stanthews in 2009 to highlight small footbridges in remote parts of Wiltshire. Since then the series has been expanded by others all over the country and starting to spread fast, Damian from Winter Foxes has created and updates a list of cachers who has found 10 or more little bridges and can be found here, if you would like to add to the series, please contact Stan here and he will give you a number for your bridge, to qualify, the bridge must be a foot bridge too small for vehicles, please make sure your title exactly matches “Little Bridges # xx then name” including spaces so it will get picked up and added to Damian’s list.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fubhyqre urvtug. Cyrnfr oevat lbhe bja cra.