Latimer is an archetypal English village on the Herts/Bucks
border. It's in the Chess Valley and is very popular with walkers
all year round. If you pick a good day it is really lovely. It is
dominated by the impressive Latimer House which is now a management
conference centre and is not open to the public.
The cache is a pretty standard 5-part multi with a total walk of
about 0.7 miles. I had to move the cache from its original location
due to a very inquisitive householder nearby! As you go from point
to point gather the digits required to find the actual cache
location. It IS possible to cheat somewhat with
some "Googling" but the whole point is to enjoy the walk so why not
do it properly?! This area is very popular with walkers so you may
have to be patient at the final cache location so you can search
without being seen. The box is a small blue topped plastic
container so small swaps only.
OK start by parking at the given location but be sure not to
block access to either track.
N51°40.743', W000°33.162'
David Beckham may have two, but how many are on the Crown? The
answer is A
Walk downhill along the footpath towards the river Chess
until you come to the bridge at:
N51°40.648', W000°33.330'
From here you get a great view of the house and of Neptune on
the top of the weir. Each side of the bridge is made up of several
wooden lattice panels. Take the number on ONE side of the bridge
and divide this by 2. The answer is
B
Now take the footpath running along the river and across the
field. Carefully cross the road and at:
N51°40.710', W000°32.972'
Look for 2 pumps on "stalks". What voltage to they run at? The
answer is 4 DE
Walk up the road towards the village green at:
N51°40.769', W000°33.010'
After admiring the lovely houses check out the TWO war
memorials. On the larger one, an Obelisk, look for the dates
mentioned: 1899 - 190F
Now look for the men from Latimer, how many TROOPERS were there?
The answer is G
On the smaller memorial look for the date the horse (!) was
brought to England 19CC
That's the hard work done, now do the substitution to find the
final location at:
N51°AC.(G+1)BD',
W000°BB.FD(E+1)'
OK, the walk now takes you uphill and look for the path
signposted "Chess Valley Walk". Once you get to the gate, turn
right along the road to get to the cache. Of course if you're
REALLY lazy you could return to the car and drive the few yards,
but surely you wouldn't. Would you?!