Family Tree Virtual Cache
Gruffalo: Archived to avoid damage to new fencing around the cache location.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(virtual)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This virtual cache is a Sorbus torminalis tree (a.k.a. Chequer, Wild service-tree, Maple cherry, Surry Tree) planted in the mid 1990s. To prove you found it, and not just any tree (we're in a wood after all!) you need to email me the answer to the question "What is the first name of my mother?". Please assume your answer is correct and post a find unless you hear back from me!
I suggest you leave your car, bicycle or horse in the car park at: N50°43.690 W002°23.436. The cache is a 10 minute walk from here on a good path that gets muddy in Winter and has a couple of short steep stretches.
The co-ords I have given are not at the tree itself but at a gap in the vegetation giving a fine view southwards across the rolling Dorset countryside. After you've finished with looking out, turn your back on the view and proceed 15 metres in the one'o'clock direction to find the tree.
The Wild service-tree is native and bears edible fruit. Pubs called "Chequers" are thought to be named thus due to these trees being in the area. John Clare wrote an 1830 poem entitled "The Surry Tree":
Tree of tawny berry rich though wild
When mellowed to a pulp yet little unknown
Though shepherds by its dainty taste beguiled
Swarm with clasped leg the smooth trunk timber grown
& pulls the topmost branches down
Tis beautiful when all the woods tan brown
To see thee thronged with berrys ripe & fine
For daintier palates fitting then the clown
Where hermits of a day may rove & dine
Luxuriantly amid thy crimson leaves
For more information about this species, I recommend Flora Brittanica by Richard Mabey.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gurer vf na vafpevorq fgbar cynprq jvguva n zrger bs gur gerr. Lbh jvyy svaq gur nafjre gb gur dhrfgvba ba vg.