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Banbury Road (Geocache Walk)

Today I, mum and Jennifer (My sister) parked up on the grass just at the beginning of a bridleway. After we got ready we went towards the bridleway we saw a very long grass track with trees and bushes at the side with the sun pelting down it looked very enjoyable. As we walked along the grass track I saw through the trees a sea of yellow rape seed. We came to a gate and went through into a wide open field with rape seed on both sides and a wide grass track with telephone poles running down on the left. When we got to the end of the track we went through a 2nd gate on to a footpath crossroads we carried on in to a wide grass field and kept going towards a farm house. When we got to it we went across the drive and crossed the road into another field with a slight hill and at the top we saw a gate with a grass 
field behind we went through and then through another gate on to a tarmac drive and passed some garages and walked next to a pond and then went over a wooden foot bridge and through the first gate but not through the second instead we walked along river Dorn and we got to a very big foot bridge but went through the gate leading into the field and then in to a nature reserve (Keep dogs on leads) as we went through the gate and got past the massive hedge row and came to a brilliant view of hills of green and the village of Wootton nestled between the hills to the far left and seeing a small river through the middle of the reserve. When walking along the nature reserve stick to the top path but if you take the bottom path there are stairs through the gate further on. After we got out of the nature reserve we went in search of a geocache. Found the cache after quite a search
 and walked along the wide grass track, Jennifer couldn’t handle Lucy (Little dog) she accidently let go of the lead. We then came to another gate that went down some stairs into Wootton, on to Horseshoe Lane. We headed over to a very nice bridge took some photos and went over along the road until we saw a footpath sign hidden behind a bush that pointed along a drive way we went along and came to another gate (Quite a few so far. More to come)that lead into a wide open field and we could see where we were in the nature reserve so we got a view from both sides still very nice we went round a slight bend and searched for another geocache after finding it we carried on to another gate on to a road and turned right following the

 road all the way down and over another small bridge and on the corner of the road there was another footpath sign. We went through the gate and into the woods and let the dogs off so Floyd could play in the river after he finished we went up a dirt track on our left Jennifer went off a bit further to find the geocache at the top and a short time later me and mum heard her shout found it so we signed the log and went on to a small farm track and turned right then a few feet down turned right again into a small wooded area and not long after that turned left in to a field with just blue open sky all around us and a green field in front of us. In the green field there’s a big yellow strip looks as if someone painted on the land scape with a massive brush we followed the yellow grass road for quite a long time until we got to a hedge row and looked for a geocache (List available at the bottom). We found it and then went through the gap in the hedge row and carried on following the yellow grass for a while again and then reached cycle route 5 we followed it until we got to a cross roads in the cycle route and footpath looked for a geocache and followed the off turn into a wooded footpath following it all the way back to the begging of the walk and completing it by buying a drink and some crisps at the sturdy’s castle inn. We took about 3 hours to complete this walk and the weather was great except for the end when it started raining

Post Code: OX5 3EP

Google Maps: 51.869603,-1.328905

GPS: N 51 52.176 W 001 19.734

OS Grid Reference: SP 463 192

Track: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=jmzktapdlcsktmab

Geocaches:

No. 1 – A Sturdy Walk, No. 2 – A Sturdy Walk

No. 3 – A Sturdy Walk, No. 4 – A Sturdy Walk

No. 5 – A Sturdy Walk, The Gecko’s Perch

No. 6 – A Sturdy Walk, No. 7 – A Sturdy Walk

No. 8 – A Sturdy Walk, No. 9 – A Sturdy Walk

No. 10 – A Sturdy Walk, No. 11 – A Sturdy Walk

Bonus – A Sturdy Walk

Oxford Canal, Banbury (Canal Walk)

This is a very short post as I haven’t put anything on lately. Also because I’m trying out a new site to show the route I took which should be a bit clearer then me drawing it on the computer and offers more detail of the route information. We started our near the Southham Road and headed for a nearby tractor crossing bridge once on the other side we walked along the side of it towards the canal and then turned right and walked along just taking a peaceful stroll we came up for a railway bridge with the occasional train going over. We came up to a lock and just walked up the side and carried on towards the motorway and then on to a small bridge and turned back because we had enough it was a miserable day grey cloud covered the sky.

Google Maps: 52.078434,-1.336296

GPS: N 52 04.706 W 001 20.178

OS Grid Reference: SP 455 424

NEW: Trimble Link: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1587579

East End (Combe) (Roman Villa)

Me and my mum parked up across the road from the drive leading down to the North Leigh Roman villa. The driveway is a bit rocky and could be quite hard going if you don’t have proper shoes on. A short walk down and you will come across horse stables so you will need to keep dogs on leads until you get past them after that it’s okay to let them off. After enjoying a short walk down the drive enjoying the view as we went we found a geocache (Villa View (GCXWEX)) quick sticker in the log and then carried on. We arrived at the ruins and took a few pictures (Which can be seen further down) luckily for is it was a very sunny day. We got a tennis ball out for Floyd and I tried to kick it for him but the kick didn’t go well and I missed my mum’s ear by a hairs width literally she said “I heard it hit my hair it was so close” for a little while we couldn’t stop laughing I wish I recoded it. To the right of the field there’s a small building which inside is a mosaic floor. When we left the field with the roman villa ruins we headed towards a  

forest but on the way to the forest Floyd decided to go in to the river Evenlode for a swim and drop the tennis ball in it. We carried on towards the forest and walked up a slightly muddy hill and saw a fallen tree which I climbed up and sat in. After a quick rest we carried on through the woods and found a tree growing over a wall and mum decided to have a look underneath. Carrying on we found a rope swing and decided to have a go mum went first and then me but Floyd decided he wanted a go with me still on it did not go well I was in a bit of pain having a rope yanked between my legs (For a laugh watch the video further down) I managed to get off and Floyd carried on playing with the rope swing for a little while and Lucy just stood there barking at him. When he finished we carried on back to the car. On the walk back I was having a bit of an explore round and mum lost sight of me she thought she saw a shadow of me a little further on when I got back to her I said “ That wasn’t me that was a horse” she mistook a horse for me. All in all a great walk for family’s and dog walkers with wonderful views and easy parking can get busy on weekends.

Geocache: Villa View (GCXWEX)

Related Sites: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/north-leigh-roman-villa/

Google Maps: 51.832496,-1.427675 

GPS: N 51 49.950 W 001 25.665 

OS Grid Reference: SP 395 150

Hanwell (Forest Walk)

We walked from the house today instead of driving to this walk which we done almost every day before I got my driving license. We got to an overgrown field and found the gate locked which it has been for a while because gypsies kept breaking down the fence and camping here but they don’t come here anymore. So we followed the fence round and found a tree with a swing which Floyd likes playing with and a little further on we came to a gap in the fence and turned left towards the small wooded area with small trees be careful of low branches. When we got in to the field and walked along the forest it was quiet a foggy morning and looking through the trees and a gap in the hedge at the back it looked as if the world just stopped. Carrying on we went through a gap in the corner of the field and into an empty one walking along the edge we got to a another gap in the hedge on our right and followed it through into another field and carried along coming up  to a split track we took the one heading to the woods on a slight angle and came to a metal gate we went through and into the woods the slope in was a little slippy but when you’re on the level ground it’s not too bad we got to a small bridge with bits of wood nailed on top so be careful you don’t trip on them it’s very boggy underneath and on either side so don’t let the dog in there unless you want to give them a bath later on. A bit further is another bridge crossing a small stream after crossing that we turned right and followed a small path leading to the valentines bridge stood on top of it looked like it was about a 4-5 foot drop but Floyd still decided to go down the bank and play in the water after he got out we carried on up and saw a fallen tree we got a bit closer and realized it landed on another smaller tree and I thought it was fascinating how the tree shredded almost (Better off looking at the picture of it lower down). Following the footpath we got back to the track and headed back. All around the forest there was peaceful silence and soft chirping from birds. 

Google Maps: 52.080731,-1.360784 

GPS: N52 04.844 W 001 21.380 

OS Grid Reference: SP 4390 4267