Driffield Ring geocaching series

We had a free afternoon one weekend earlier this month and thought we'd do a local geocaching series.

This was a circular series about twenty minutes from home. This is a quick summary in case it's helpful for anyone else considering the series.

Name: Driffield Ring
First cache in series: GC2DCHB
Number of caches: 11
Distance: Approximately 3 miles
Location: Starts from Driffield, Gloucestershire
 

We parked on the main street next to the church and headed back up the street to start the series.

Driffield is off the beaten track, but really pretty with lots of Cotswold stone.

The going was good underfoot!

We headed up a track to pick up the first cache, then instead of carrying on up the track, we backtracked and took a different path behind the nearby houses for the next cache.

Barney did some sightseeing whilst we looked for the next geocache

The next geocache took ages to find, but we eventually managed to narrow it down to the right tree stump. It gave Barney plenty of opportunity to explore the woodland.

The face of a puppy who has discovered every sticky bud in the woodland

We struggled to find a direct route to the next cache, and had to take a detour out into the neighbouring field to avoid a fallen tree. When we eventually found it, we dropped off a travel bug which we'd picked up on holiday in Dorset.

The wood cover made the GPS ping around a bit but we eventually located the next geocache in the next wooded area.

Beautifully planted trees

The next cache took a while to find, avoiding the spikes on the hawthorn and brambles. From here we headed across a wheat field to the next.

Hurry up, guys!

We picked up the cache on the other side of the field and then the cache on an offshoot which was part of the Little Bridges series. From there we made our way back across the field and skirted past a farm. Our luck ran out with the next cache. The clue didn't make sense and with the light fading we failed to find the cache in an overgrown area next to a ford. It wasn't a complete waste though, as Barney waded so far out into the ford, he'd have been swimming if he went any further.

We only suggested he might like to dip his beard for a drink...

We headed down the path to the final cache, which we found fairly easily, although we did almost lose Barney down a hidden ditch.
From here we headed across a field and back to the village.

Barney winding his way home

We popped out of the field next to the church where we'd parked.

So, compared with our plan at the start of the day, this is what we did:

Number of caches: 10

Distance: Approximately 3.2 miles. The map below from my GPS shows our route

Time: 3.25 hours, this shows that some of the caches were a bit of a pig to find, and includes Barney's wade across the ford

Terrain: Fairly flat. A combination of farmers tracks, paths and roads. Dry when we walked it in August, but I'd imagine it could be muddy in parts.

Wildlife: There were sheep in one neighbouring field but no need to enter the field. 

Facilities: None

I'd definitely recommend this series if you're in the area.