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22nd November 2023
I have been to Edenbridge before to gather up one series of mysteries but a couple more have been published. I have come back this time for the Champagne Charlie series of 19 mysteries and some challenges thrown in, set by jazzyjessups, to the west of the town. There were a number of Little Bridges trads on route too.
I parked up in the designated area for the series only to find it adjacent to the ST - Hilders trad. This one took a bit of finding but I got there eventually. I also noted that the 1. Nifty Fifty County Challenge Cache was just down the road so I grabbed that one. I set off for the first one in the series and 01. bit the dust. The next cache was from another series but the Pinehurst No. 2 trad was also a quick find.
It turned out that a lot of the series covered the former Edenbridge Golf course which had been abandoned a few years ago. The going was very muddy and treacherous in parts. The last thing that I wanted to do was to fall over so I had to be extra careful. I reached 06. when I remembered that there were a couple of Challenge caches placed well off the path of the series. The trouble was that I had to re-negotiate the mud to get to them.🥴
It was about a mile over to the 1/2.5 Magnum Challenge cache but once I was safely through the mud, the going became firm to good. The cache was easy to spot but a bit of a reach. A bit further on was the 5/2.5 Life Blood Challenge cache. The CO reckons that 1.5/1.5 caches are the lifeblood of the hobby and this cache is dedicated to them.😀 However, to qualify for this one, you have to find 10,000 drops.🥴 I am over halfway there so I signed the log sheet in anticipation.🤔
I didn't fall over on the return journey and started again on the series. I worked my way around 10. and then the next cache was a departure from the series. I found the Little Bridges - Haxted and two Troy Town trads very quickly and a few minutes later, was back on the series having found .11. I had to dodge a few puddles whilst collecting caches up to the final cache of the series, .19. I had squeezed in the Champagne Charlie Challenge cache in this section and now had enough information to work out the coords of the 2.5/2.5 Bonus. Champagne Charlie which I found a little later.
It was a short walk back to the motor from here and I passed some straggly rams on the way. I emerged from the footpath which was just across the road from the ST - Hilders and spotted a couple of people acting suspiciously. They just had to be geocachers so I approached the chap and said "you are a geocacher and I claim my five pounds."😀 He introduced himself as The77Club and his friend was SeekingSalters. They were struggling with the cache so I pointed them in the right direction.😀 They were stopping for lunch so I set off towards Edenbridge.
I had to get a few caches on the way though. I found the Champagne Bonus and then the 4. Nifty Fifty County Challenge cache although I didn't qualify as yet. I drove down to the start of JJA series on Hilders Lane. I did a linear walk and picked up #2, #3, #4 trads as well as the 3/2 01. X Marks the date mystery and then headed into town for lunch.
I had been to Edenbridge before so I knew where I was eating lunch. I had one more cache to find in town and that was the LB - Edenbridge mystery that I had solved previously. As I planned a walking route out to that , I noted that there was a multi outside the cafe. I worked out the coords of Best laid plans, and all that... and it was on route. I had a walk out over very muddy ground to the caches and both were soon found. When I got back into town and I knew that I would be re-visiting so decided to call it a day.😀
1 Multi 8 Traditional 24 Mystery
#17792