I’d hummed and harred about booking a Geocaching trip with Chris Speed and Stephen Coulson for a few weeks. It needed to be somewhere halfway down the country and somewhere cheap. Chris is from Great Yarmouth, so it seemed a halfway point was fairer. The cost factor is mainly because we always seem to have something to pay out for.
Chris looked at the areas and travelodges to find the best value and eventually we chose Perry Bar. This was a Travelodge just outside Birmingham town centre, but only about 4 stops on the bus.
I looked on the Geocaching map for a nice circular route to try and get a decent amount of geocaches in a relatively short time. When we eventually worked out a suitable date it was Mid November, so the nights were cutting in and the temperatures were dropping.
Geocaching Dickens Heath
To make the most of our day out Stephen and I set off to meat Chris at Dickens Heath at 6.00am. There was ice on the windscreen of the car and the temperature outside was 4 degrees. With only a small detour at Durham (due to a road incident) we got there for Breakfast at 10.00am.
Dickens Heath is a new housing estate, with a historic feel. There is a lovely shopping parade with a posh pub / bar in the centre. We parked up, ordered drinks and swapped trackables. As the waitress arrived with a large Americano, I was admiring a strangely dress Playmobile character, but this isn’t the weirdest part of the weekend!
Our planned route took us around the perimeter of a christmas tree farm, and alongside a canal. It was a lovely walk and considering the time of year, the weather was perfect.
All the smilie faces are the one we found. Out of 20 possibles we missed out on 3, which isn’t bad going.
The weirdest thing about the route was the permanent Christmas feel from the Tree farm and the brick entranceway to a xmas tree shop. It was always going to be Christmas here.
As we were heading back to the cars a Barge chugged passed.
This is one of the things on my bucket list. I would love to go on a barge holiday, but am concerned about the teamwork required, opening locks etc. It looks so relaxing and cosy. Maybe next year.
We called it a day at around 4pm and drove back to the travelodge to check in. What I didn’t mention earlier is to keep the costs as cheap as possible, we’d booked one room. There’s nothing strange about three like minded nerdy men sharing a room!
As we checked in we were asked if we were staying over for business. Stephen said “Don’t say pleasure!”.
Our room was basic and as you expect from a travelodge. For £16 each we couldn’t complain.
We’d requested two additional fold down beds to the main kingsize. Probably to save space the two single fold downs were pushed together. So Me and Chris separated them for a little breathing space. Nothing had prepared me for what was about to happen!
Chris tested out his bed and as he rolled over… BAM
The rounded frame legs decided to eject hime from the bed. I’m glad mine was against the wall.
It was time for a a quick wash and venture into Birmingham Town centre for a meal.
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