A group of cachers have gathered together to place caches along The Hertfordshire Way; a 194 mile circular route along public rights-of-way within the County of Hertfordshire. Rather than caches at every 0.1 mile we have tried to put together interesting hides with cool Bonus Caches.
Leg 3 stretches from Willian to Codicote for 11.8 miles. As you walk the path collect the information you need to find the Bonus Cache at waypoints along the route. We advise that you bring sturdy boots for very muddy terrain and a high visibility vest with you because a couple of short sections require walking along the road.
The duck pond at Willian
Cache Details
The village of Willian probably derives its name from a word meaning 'willows'. It appears in the Domesday Book as 'Wilie' and was one of the original villages around which the new Letchworth Garden City was formed. The original parish church of All Saints has a tower displaying clocks on three sides, but keeps the fourth side bare. It is thought this was to prevent farm workers from knowing when to clock off.
Leg 3 of The Hertfordshire Way starts in Willian and you can either park in the village, where you will find a couple of eating and drinking establishments, or at the car park close to the posted coordinates.
At the posted coordinates you will find a wood carving sculpture of Telford Morton. We could find very little information about the man, other than he came from Letchworth and he "had a deep love for the countryside". Read the plaque beneath the great man's effigy and count the total number of lines of information. (Count every line.) Use this number for X in the following.
N 51 57 . (X-2) 2 8 W 000 13 . 2 (X-1) 7
These coordinates should be a short walk away, where you will find the cache.
Bonus Waypoints
The following Bonus Cache waypoints can be found close to this cache and en route to the next cache.
BonusA - N51 57.685 W000 13.151 - The Willian memorial to the fallen of the Great War is over the lychgate to the church. The Bedfords regiment lost BonusA men from the village.
BonusB - N51 56.887 W000 13.900 - If you're having problems with this basic function then help is at hand on 756BonusB
To the Next Cache
Follow the Hertfordshire Way south from Willian, initially along a metalled road, but soon onto tracks beside fields. Make a right turn towards Wymondley Wood and meet Willian Road. This is a dangerous, winding stretch, so please take care. Just before the road take a right turn northwards and follow the track until you are opposite a green double gate. Cross here with care. Then take the permissive path south into Great Wymondley, walking along the field margin. At the end of the field cross the road carefully and walk into the village using the field margin on the other side of the road (after climbing a bank). The last small stretch into the village is along the road, so please be very careful.
Other Caches On The Way
The Hertfordshire Way already has plenty of caches hidden along, or close to, its paths. The following can be found between this cache and the next one in the series:
- Enigma Series - 2 - ZigZag (GC267A3) 2/2 Mystery by Baldy_Bazzer
- Pedal Power 8: Transforming The Countryside (GC30AXB) 1.5/2 Traditional by Baldy_Bazzer
- A Boxing Day Walk (GC43BTK) 2/2.5 Traditional by Earthsound
- Pedal Power 6 Reborn: Marking The Route 12 (GC30AWZ) 1.5/1.5 Traditional by Baldy_Bazzer
There are even more caches in the area, but those listed above should not be too much of a diversion (if any) from the main trail. All caches on, or close to, Leg 3 of the Hertfordshire Way can be found on this bookmark list.
Read more about the Historic Geocaches Campaign