When I began caching, Elvi5uk's were some of the very first caches I found. They may not have been the most brilliant of caches, but in the beginning almost every cache is somewhat "magical". Given the paucity of caches near where we live, I felt the urge to resurrect Elvi5uk's archived caches. In most cases, they have received a wee tweak, and once the Elvi5 series has been completed, there is a brand, spanking new (bonus) cache to find. This cache was originally listed on GC.com here, and is also a waypoint for my Cache 22 terracache.

The first thing to note is that, as above, this was originally set as a GC.com cache. As such, think GC.com when looking for the cache. The second thing to note, bearing the first thing in mind, is something rather obvious, but even more obvious when you discover the cache. You MUST discover the cache before logging a find. On GC.com it therefore went without saying that if you logged a find, and had not discovered the cache, I would delete the found log. (As I say, it is obvious, but even more so when you discover the cache...) On these new OC soils, a confirmation code takes care of that, and of course that is obvious in more or less the same way.

And now, onto the cache itself, which is on the Icknield Way path near Herringswell. Much of the village of Herringswell itself is on the Icknield Way, but unless you are trekking along this ancient path, Herringswell is not a place you pass through. For a start, the village street is a dead end, and the road it comes off of is not particularly on the way to anywhere. It is worth the visit though, hence my placing a cache here - now that Clock & Fishes has been archived. The village street is a combination of large houses set back from the road and Victorian terraces. The church is in the village street, but there is a farmyard beside it and fields with horses beyond the churchyard wall. I planned and placed this cache over two moonlit winter nights. It was very cool and crisp, but beautiful. There was a full moon, and I didn't need my torch at all until I struck the mud and used the the beam to navigate the least muddy path. The sky was full of stars, there were no street lights, very few house lights, and very little light pollution from nearby populated areas. I can highly recommend the night-time experience, but feel free to find it in the daylight. Either way, I hope you enjoy your visit to Herringswell, and along part of the Icknield Way path.

(The Icknield Way path is unique among long distance tracks in the United Kingdom, because it can truly claim to be "the oldest road in Britain". Extending from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Norfolk, it consists of prehistoric pathways, ancient even when the Romans came. Dotted with archaeological remains, it survives as tracks and lanes along the chalk "spine" of England. A word of warning - some of these tracks and lanes can be quite muddy!)