CC14 Caerphilly Common (RVR14) Traditional Geocache
Write and Mane: Cache retrieved, following our planned withdrawal from owned caches. This one was serviceable - sadly, the owners are less so!
CC14 Caerphilly Common (RVR14)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is the fourteenth of a series, the "Caerphilly Collection", that will explore the whole Borough Council area. This cache is also the fourteenth (and last) of a subset along the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Footpath. The cache is in a circular plastic tub (turtle). Expect an overall walk of about ½ mile, but it can be muddy and the final approach to the cache is steep and may be hard to find, through bracken, in summer.
The Caerphilly Collection is distinguished with a unique CC number and is made up of 50 caches. The caches vary in difficulty and type and usually have other "C" word connections - castle, cheese, coal, canal, etc. There may even be Cryptic Clues for Clever Clogs! The current Caerphilly unitary authority grew out of the former Rhymney Valley and Islwyn Councils and stretches from the outskirts of Cardiff and Newport in the south to the Brecon Beacons, north of Rhymney. Despite a past dominated by coal and heavy industry, it has a diverse history and varied and dramatic scenery. We hope you will enjoy exploring it with us.
Towards the end of the Collection is CC48 The Accumulator, the location of which is given in coded form. The translation details of the code are distributed around the whole Collection, but only about a third of the caches will contain a piece of the code, which is on the back of the Log Book. To do the Accumulator, you will need to keep a note of each piece of code that you find. Unless you are very lucky, you will need to find the majority of the Collection in order to do the Accumulator. The Accumulator cache is hidden in an area of difficult terrain and demanding navigation, with a 5,4½ rating.
CC14 is also the last of a subset of the main series around the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway (RVR) Footpath. Surprisingly, this long distance path by-passes the top of Caerphilly Mountain - hence the title adopted, which conveniently gives another CC meaning! Don't let this quirk stop you from visiting the trig point at the summit for a bird's eye view of the town. The RVR Footpath is poorly defined across the southern part of the Common on the OS map - but you don't have to take our word for this, you can always try following the line on the map! It would have been easier to find "B" rather than "C" words here. Before the bracken takes over, there is usually a good display of bluebells in the spring: where the bracken has not taken hold, the summer brings a good crop of bilberries: and much of the Common is pock-marked by bellpits. Even if you don't want to tackle a Mountain Monster or a Sizzling Steak at the Mountain Hut, parking is available beside it - but please take care crossing the busy main road.
This may be treated as a quick cache-and-go, but we are encouraging exploration of the long distance path, perhaps by linking this cache with CC1 and CC2 in a 3½ mile circular walk, returning via the forests of Wern Ddu and The Warren. If you do this, watch out for the air shafts on the Rhymney Valley Line tunnel at N 51 33.704 W 003 11.546 and N 51 33.858 W 003 11.732.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)