So, the easiest way to do 90 caches in 4 days was to without too much walking would be to do 18 sets of Lab caches – the theory being that as long as they were not too far to walk, and then I could have a sit down and rest the back/leg in the car before reaching the next set

31st July 2022 – Pointy Pirates flash mob GC9RQFC – cache #5903
Gather together in a suitable square, in your pirate dress, point in the direction of the campsite and shout Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fortunately there were benches around the edge of the square (though it was really a circle) for the less carried away to sit on

I had looked at the Lab caches in the area and decided one set called ‘Magpie Mine’ looked very interesting, so I planned to do them, on the way there (almost) I had to pass through the village on Monyash – where there were another set, so I headed there first

31st July 2022 – Monyash Village Meander Lab Cache – St Leonard’s Church – cache #5904
The church was on the way in so I could stop right outside

31st July 2022 – Monyash Village Meander Lab Cache – The Bull’s Head – cache #5905
Then it was park by the village green for the next two

31st July 2022 – Monyash Village Meander Lab Cache – Old Market Cross – cache #5906

31st July 2022 – Monyash Village Meander Lab Cache – Fere Mere – cache #5907
The village pond was a little way from the centre so I drove

31st July 2022 – Monyash Village Meander Lab Cache – The Pinfold – cache #5908
And this final one took me three goes to drive past before I could stop for a couple of seconds and get the answer

31st July 2022 – Magpie Mine Lab Cache – Path In – cache #5909
The Magpie Mine was the last working Lead mine in Derbyshire and has been kept from falling down by the Peak District Mines Historical Society

31st July 2022 – Magpie Mine Lab Cache – Signs, Caution! – cache #5910

31st July 2022 – Magpie Mine Lab Cache – Horse Gin – cache #5911
A replica horse gin has been erected to show what power the mine would have had back in the 1700’s

31st July 2022 – Magpie Mine Lab Cache – Gunpowder Store – cache #5912

31st July 2022 – Magpie Mine Lab Cache – Trawler Winch – cache #5913
The winch was used to bring the ore bearing rock out of the mine, being up on top of the hill there was no need for pumps to prevent flooding – a drainage tunnel goes off to the river where 5 million gallons of water a day still flow out of the mine (it must rain an awful lot round here)

Then it was on to Buxton, two sets of labs here, and a stop for lunch as well

31st July 2022 – War Memorial #1300 ~ Buxton Lab Cache – The Stone of Remembrance – cache #5914

31st July 2022 – War Memorial #1300 ~ Buxton Lab Cache – St James’s Church – cache #5915

31st July 2022 – War Memorial #1300 ~ Buxton Lab Cache – Bennett St Memorial – cache #5916

31st July 2022 – Buxton Bimble Lab Cache – The Crescent – cache #5917

31st July 2022 – War Memorial #1300 ~ Buxton Lab Cache – The Slopes – cache #5918

31st July 2022 – War Memorial #1300 ~ Buxton Lab Cache – Buxton Town Hall – cache #5919

31st July 2022 – Buxton Bimble Lab Cache – Buxton Town Hall – cache #5920

31st July 2022 – Buxton Bimble Lab Cache – The Devonshire Dome – cache #5921

31st July 2022 – Buxton Bimble Lab Cache – Buxton Opera House – cache #5922

31st July 2022 – Buxton Bimble Lab Cache – Pavillion Gardens – cache #5923

There was still plenty of time left, so I headed for the nearby picture postcard village of Tissington, which was very busy as it was the Village Open Day, but I found a parking spot and wandered up and down the main street – well the only street really in the village

31st July 2022 – Tissington Village Tour Lab Cache – Duck Pond and Village Green – cache #5924

31st July 2022 – Tissington Village Tour Lab Cache – St Mary’s Church – cache #5925

31st July 2022 – Tissington Village Tour Lab Cache – Hall Well – cache #5926

31st July 2022 – Tissington Village Tour Lab Cache – Tissington Hall – cache #5927

31st July 2022 – Tissington Village Tour Lab Cache – Hands Well – cache #5928

From Tissington it was on to Ashbourne for some more Labs, it was turining out to be a good day for getting the caches needed towards my 6,000th

31st July 2022 – Ashbourne Walk Lab Cache – 3 – Tissington Trail and Tunnel – cache #5929
The Tissington Trail is an old railway line converted to a recreational hiking / cycle path, this Lab cache location was located neither at Tissington or Ashbourne, but was by a parking place so I pulled in, and found the answer before moving on to Ashbourne town centre

31st July 2022 – Ashbourne Walk Lab Cache – 2 – Royal Shrovetide Plinth – cache #5930

31st July 2022 – Ashbourne Walk Lab Cache – 1 – Ashbourne Park – Catherine Booth Bust – cache #5931

31st July 2022 – Ashbourne Walk Lab Cache – 5 – Market Place – cache #5932

31st July 2022 – Ashbourne Walk Lab Cache – 4 – St Oswald’s Church – cache #5933

From Ashbourne it was along to Wirksworth for some more Lab caches

31st July 2022 – Wirksworth: In the footsteps of ‘T’owd Man’ 🥾🥾 Lab Cache – 5. ECCLESBOURNE VALLEY RAILWAY. ! – cache #5934
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is one of the many smaller heritage railways in the area (I was staying right by another the Peak Rail)

31st July 2022 – Wirksworth: In the footsteps of ‘T’owd Man’ 🥾🥾 Lab Cache – 1. Bar Moot 🏦 – cache #5935

31st July 2022 – Wirksworth: In the footsteps of ‘T’owd Man’ 🥾🥾s Lab Cache – 3. CRUCK COTTAGE. 🏡 – cache #5936

31st July 2022 – Wirksworth: In the footsteps of ‘T’owd Man’ 🥾🥾 Lab Cache – 4. ST. MARY’S CHURCH. ⛪! – cache #5937

The crows on the lamp post are not real, they are sculptures

31st July 2022 – Wirksworth: In the footsteps of ‘T’owd Man’ 🥾🥾 Lab Cache – 2. STAR DISC. ⭐ – cache #5938
After doing the labs in the town centre it was a steep drive up a narrow winding road to about a mile and a half outside town – I am glad I wasn’t walking

31st July 2022 – Solstice Sunset GC90KPX – cache #5939
I met some other cachers here who pointed me in the direction of the cache, which was just a few feet away from the Star Disc

It was just past 4pm now, the evening event at the campsite wasn’t starting for 4 hours, so I had enough time to go and do one more set of Lab caches in Matlock, this would be the most walking of any of the sets of Labs as it was on the slope above the river so was all walking really

31st July 2022 – Matlock Bath – Lovers’ Walks Lab Cache – 3 – Lovers’ Walks – cache #5940

31st July 2022 – Matlock Bath – Lovers’ Walks Lab Cache – 4 – Wildcat Crags – cache #5941
Up to the very top of the slope for Wildcat Crags, as the name implies the slope is actually a cliff at some points

31st July 2022 – Matlock Bath – Lovers’ Walks Lab Cache – 5 – The Cascades – cache #5942

I met Martin (Shiggaddi) here who had already done the caches the correct way round and so had all the numbers needed for the Bonus, so we went off together to find it

31st July 2022 – Matlock Bath – Lovers’ Walks Lab Bonus GC8MN5R – cache #5943
It was over the bridge from the Lovers Walk, in Derwent Park… and took a while to find, because we had no GPS accuracy under the trees at the bottom of a steep valley
and also because the hint was not particularly descriptive

31st July 2022 – Matlock Bath – Lovers’ Walks Lab Cache – 1 – Derwent Gardens – cache #5944

31st July 2022 – Matlock Bath – Lovers’ Walks Lab Cache – 2 – Jubilee Bridge and the Band Kiosk – cache #5945
The Jubilee bridge took me back over to the Lovers Walk side of the river, and from there it was just a walk along the riverside path back to the car park

31st July 2022 – Lovers Walk GC5F425 – cache #5946
This one was stuck on the back of a metal box so was easy to find

31st July 2022 – 1 Salt Route GC9VE3K – cache #5947
The Piratemania campsite gates held this cache which I thought I had better find as I had driven through them about 10 times

31st July 2022 – The Pirate Quiz night GC9RQG4 – cache #5948
Our team were doing well until the round on American State Capitals… we knew none of them, others knew them all and won