PP01 - Haunted Hunt Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Cache Information
Haunted Hunt - Pluckley Plod #01
You are looking for a 0.3 litre clip-lock box.
Please ensure cache is well hidden and camouflaged afterwards.
Additional information
A series of over 30 caches which takes you for a stroll around the beautiful countryside of Pluckley. Some of the caches were already established here and have been incorporated into the series, so you may have already done them. Three cache owners have taken part in creating the series and we all hope you enjoy the walk.
An eSouvenir is available - add this code to your account profile to display the image.
<!-- Pluckley Plod Souvenir 2013 -->
<img src="http://www.cking.free-online.co.uk/GeoCache/PP_Souvenir.jpg">
Information about the caches:
Chris-King owns: caches #01 to #12 - [#01, #07 and #11 are adopted plus #16 and #21 also adopted]
MankyBadger owned: caches #13 to #22. [except as marked above] - taken over by Tia67uk.
Tia67uk now owns: (as mentioned above) and caches #23 to #30.
Allow about 3hrs to 3hrs 30mins to do the entire walk on foot.
Additional waypoints are given on my section to assist you with your route and where footpaths are not clearly marked in fields.
No precise mileage on just this series is known, although analysis shows it to be about 8 miles (approx: 12.87km). Please don't quote me on this!.
Parking waypoint locations are listed here, additional parking can also be found on: PP11 - The Antique Chest
If you are doing Chris-King's stretch of this walk in number order, this part of the walk will take you on a stroll from 'Pluckley Station' to 'Little Chart' around one of Kent's most picturesque villages.
Pluckley's claim to fame has most recently been through the successful television series The Darling Buds of May, the first series being screened in 1991, and it is this, rather than the reputation as, according to The Guinness Book of Records, the most haunted village in England that is cherished by most of the residents.
Pluckley is supposed to be one of Britains most haunted villages, and is reported to have twelve (possibly thirteen or fourteen) ghosts.
Pluckley's ghosts first surfaced in print back in 1955 when Frederick Sanders wrote Pluckley Was My Playground, this tells of a Gypsy woman and Highwayman - details below:
The Highwayman - At Fright Corner (once called Frith Corner), this relates to an unknown highwayman who was reputedly ambushed by either the law or other criminals and killed with a sword, pinning him to a hollow oak tree that once stood in this area. In some accounts there was a fight between the highwayman and his attackers and in others he was hiding in the hollow tree and was pierced when a sword was pushed into the hollow. According to legend, the ghosts appear a re-enactment of the killing is repeated. There is no reported evidence to support the legend nor has anyone heard of any witnesses to have seen the ghostly re-enactment. Ghostly Highwaymen and stories of this nature can be tentatively dated to the time when Highwaymen were active in the 18th Century.
Gypsy Woman or Watercress Woman - At the crossroads bridge, the apparition of gypsy woman has been seen smoking a pipe. Apparently she used to sell watercress which she found in the stream. The reason she haunts the site is somehow she accidently burned to death. One theory about her combustion was that she was ignited some alcohol she was drinking with a spark from her pipe. Witnesses have described her as being a misty figure sat on the bridge. It should also be noted that the area around Pinnock Bridge is apparently an area where natural mists form on a regular basis.
Further details of other ghosts said to haunt Pluckley can be found on the Mysterious Britain page.
It is a lovely walk with some great views, but some of the paths can get muddy so good boots are recommended. There are also some great places to stop for refreshments, so you can plan your walk accordingly.
Full information of the footpaths in Pluckley can be found on the following link
Additional waypoints are given to assist you with your walk where needed.
Directions are given for doing the series in number order:
From 'Haunted Hunt, follow the track to the left of the cache (along 'The Grove') until you reach the public footpath start. (See WP00).
MankyBadger, Tia67uk and Chris-King hope you enjoy the series.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va gur Urqren pbirerq guerr gehax gerr.
[Please camouflage well!]