Harlton's village sign is very different to many, if not most in the country. Set at the corner of the High Street, Eversden Road and Washpit Lane the sign takes the form of a short triangular column which has carvings that represent the village and its history on each main face. The left hand picture shows the agricultural heritage of the village with a sheaf of wheat, grazing cattle and the greengage trees for which the area was once famous. The maypole dancers feature on the sign because Harlton and Orwell were the last villages in Cambridgeshire to dance round the maypole each year. They would meet at the top of the Orwell Hill and this is where they would dance (which is how Maypole Farm got its name). The Mullard Radio Astronomy Laboratory is largely in Harlton Parish and this image was chosen to represent the importance of the radio telescopes to the modern history of the village. The sign was carved by local sculptor Donald Oxer. The top of the village sign has a circular plaque with a map which shows the village as it was at the Millennium.
This is a mystery cache and IS NOT at the published coordinates.
The cache is a 5ml tube.
About Village Sign Caches
This cache belongs to the Village Sign Series, a series of caches based on ornate signs that depict the heritage, history and culture of the villages that put them up (generally on the village green!).
The signs can be made of different materials from fibreglass to wood, from forged steel to stone. They can depict anything from local industry to historical events. The tradition probably started in Norfolk or Suffolk and has now spread across most of the country so we thought we would base a series on them!
More information and statistics can be found at the Village Signs Website
If anybody would like to expand the Village Sign Series, please do. I would ask that you request a number for your cache first at www.villagesignseries.co.uk so we can keep track of the Village Sign numbers and names to avoid duplication.