Once again time for my annual camping trip to Norfolk (see caches 52-59, 620-630, 1299-1303, 1912-1941 and 2708-2747 for previous years) Last year to avoid the tedium of traditional drive-by caches I drove down concentrating on the non-signing types, Virtuals, Earthcaches and Survey Monuments, this year, as there were none of those left to do on the way I decided I would only go for Church Micro caches, and planned my route to suit – which took a bit of doing as there were about 40 to choose from that weren’t too far from the direct route – I certainly drove a lot fewer miles than I did last year, though in the end it took longer because I stopped at 6 more caches than last years journey down

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5636…Brodsworth GC52RGM – cache #3335
I struggled with getting the co-ordinates for this one because I was being too literal with the clue – it said look for a crypt – The GPS seemed to be leading me to an overgrown chest tomb, so I ignored it and wandered all around the Church building twice looking for the entrance to an underground crypt, and failed (because there isn’t one…)
Eventually I had some numbers and sat on a convenient bench to work out the cache’s coordinates, put the numbers into my GPS and came up with a point about two and a half miles away in the middle of nowhere… so I checked again and realised I should have had the 9th number minus the 10th, not the 9th minus the 8th !
This gave me a much more likely set of coordinates so off I went and quickly found the cache.

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5622…Marr GC52MG3 – cache #3336
Worthy of the favourite point I’m giving it for the cunning hiding place – though it is obvious where it’s going to be and visible from a long way off !
(as you can see in the headline picture)

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5227…Doncaster – St Peter GC4YBPW – cache #3337
Fortunately I am familiar with the area (as my parents both grew up, met and got married in Balby) so I knew to turn in at the Winning Post pub to be able to park for the cache on the Eastbound side of the dual carriageway, right by the pedestrian crossing to the church

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5697…Loversall GC53KWR – cache #3338
Found in a surprisingly dark corner on a bright sunny day – maybe the dark glasses didn’t help !

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5142…Oldcotes GC4XJTK – cache #3339
Finding the cache was a lot easier than finding somewhere to park on a busy lunchtime

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 4858…Blyth GC4VZ5C – cache #3340
Found the cache by the noticeboard then wandered up the drive to have a look at the church and take a photograph

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 6033…Ranby GC – cache #3341
Normally you can navigate to Church Micros by looking for the spire or tower of the church and heading for that, here I drove right past and didn’t see a church at all, only when I realised I had gone too far, turned round and came back did I see the post box that is the hint and from stopping there and looking round I found the church up a steep banking

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5831…Eaton – All Saints GC55C3Z – cache #3342
Not the easiest to get to with the roadworks on the A1 meaning the junction I had planned to use was closed off and I had to follow a diversion.
I will confess to not actually visiting the bench for the numbers, I worked out where the cache was almost bound to be by working out the possible numbers for the formula, and went straight to where I assumed I would find the cache, found it, and then visited the churchyard on the way back to take a photograph

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5800…Gamston GC54YH2 – cache #3343
From the previous two cachers DNF’s I was half expecting this cache to be missing, but it was a straightforward find in an obvious place

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5833…Rockley GC550DY – cache #3344
It’s a little short narrow dead end road past the church and I went down to the end, turned the car round and headed back to the church just as the people who live right next door to the church pulled up in their camper van… put standard disguise No. 1 into operation pretend to be on the phone… I got some odd looks from the driver as the passenger got out, unlocked their gates and directed the van as it reversed into the drive, then I got a head popping around the corner to peer at me from both passenger and then driver.
Only when the coast was clear did I go for the cache

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5835…West Drayton GC54XYQ – cache #3345
I could have walked down the Public Footpath over the bridge and one field from Rockley, but as I appeared to be under ‘neighbourhood watch’ surveillance I drove round instead

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5417…East Markham GC501FH – cache #3346
A straightforward find though the person who cuts the verge may not have liked me parking on the grass really !

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5419…Weston – All Saints GC504H4 – cache #3347
A narrow path that starts off looking like you are heading into someone’s garden and then is hedged on either side by brambles and 8ft high nettles made getting down to the cache something that to the next cache I would recommend be done with a machete !
Easy find though !

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 3010…Sutton upon Trent GC4Z8W8 – cache #3348
A difficult church to get to as half of the roads in the village are closed due to roadworks, so it was a trip around the houses to even get there.
It is a multicache with the clues on a gravestone in the churchyard, I located the grave easily enough and sat on the (incredibly steep) steps to work out the co-ordinates… within walking distance so off I went and found the cache

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 2847…Carlton upon Trent GC4Z7R9 – cache #3349
An easy find right next to where I had parked.

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5331…North Muskham GC4ZEFD – cache #3350
16th CM of the day … And my 100th Church Micro find – I am now a Vicar – Yay !

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 3650 South Muskham GC4B2EB – cache #3351
As with just about everyone else who has gone to this cache from the North Muskham cache I had to wait at the level crossing for the East Coast Mainline train to pass. From the posters stuck on telegraph poles around there it seems they may be going to close this road off to remove the crossing, then this cache will not be anywhere near as easy to get to

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5306…Wigtoft GC4Z3H0 – cache #3352
As I have said on many caches before, I love a cache with a convenient bench on which to sit and sign the log !
I then went into the churchyard to take a photograph of the church for my records and managed to crack my head on a low hanging branch that the brim of my hat had hidden from view

After this I didn’t find GC4WK4P Church Micro 4933…Fosdyke
Three places that match the hint one old and now disused on the main road and two newer ones just around the corner – but none of them had a cache, the stones from the hint, or anything else behind

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 5108… Tydd St Mary GC4XE81 – cache #3353
Surprising how many cars zoom down this road at 5:30pm on a Friday, cache easy to find

25th July 2014 – Church Micro 4951…Fenlands GC4WQFJ – cache #3354
Twentieth and last of the Church Micro finds on my journey
And the cache that takes me over 100,000 CM points in the day and enables me to claim GC523W6 – Church Micro 100k Challenge
(CM points are calculated as one point for each number of the CM, so this particular one got me 4951 points – obviously easier to get points doing newer caches !)