This cache was placed in honour of my littlest companion, who has rambled these woods for many hours. She is enraptured with nature and loves to stare up through the branches, she runs along the paths, scrambles off-road to hidden dells and isn’t afraid to climb these hills, even in pouring rain. The indomitable, this cache is placed in celebration of her third birthday.
It’s our first cache so I hope it will be up to scratch! You’ll need to aim for a path called Granny’s Ride, which stretches all the way from Stoke Pero, a remote moorland hamlet, to the village of Horner in the valley far below. The path is a lovely walk or mountain bike ride in itself. It skirts around the top of Ley Hill and the cache is located within woodland, not far from the top of the hill and the open moorland. If you are able to find Horner Gate on a map, you won’t be far from it. In Porlock (and other places!) you can pick up some really excellent walking maps. I will see if I can get permission from the creator of those maps to share a little bit of one here, because the names of the paths are fascinating. If you already have one, you are looking for the top of Rey Combe, where Granny’s Ride crosses the top of the combe; forming a west-facing bend in the path.
I apologise in advance for the instability of the GPS. Once at ground zero or thereabouts, stand on Granny’s Ride and look uphill. Within 32 paces of the path (over grass, no bush-whacking required), there is a tree that looks as though it has grown its own mossy skirt. It’s a bulbous sort of shape, thanks to the growth of a burl / burr (these typically form as a result of stress to the tree such as an injury or a viral or fungal infection). If you make the short climb to it, you’ll find it forms a perfect seat, a lovely place to rest and enjoy the view. I believe the tree is actually dead but it’s hard to tell, especially at first glance, and when it’s branches mingle with those of other live trees.
The cache is a camo-coloured ammo tin (with military markings covered in black paint), 35cm x 17cm x 85cm. It contains a smaller black plastic clip-top box with log, pencil, swaps and a prize for the first to find. The ammo tin is quite tricky to open at the moment, it is stiff but feels nicely watertight. Having unclasped the catch, give the lid a really good tug upwards to get in.
There is a National Trust car park at Horner, which is a pretty place to enjoy a cream tea or an ice cream. However its quite a slog from Horner to the cache, being all up hill. If you’d like to save your legs but also enjoy a pretty walk, aim to park at the spot I have way-pointed. It will still involve a walk taking about an hour (or more if not rushing) but it won’t be so hard on the legs. I do not recommend trying to bag more caches on the same walk; those at Webber’s Post look nearby but are on the opposite side of the Horner valley and traversing the route between here and there is not for the faint hearted (my littlest would manage it but she is something of a force of nature).
The land was owned by the Dyke Acland family until 1944, when the huge area of 9,848 acres, was passed to the National Trust. To date this is one of the largest donations of land given to the Trust. The Holnicote Estate, as it is known, is made up of many picturesque villages, which include Selworthy, Bossington, Allerford and Horner. On the estate there are 14 tenant farms and 168 cottages. This cache is placed with the kind permission of the National Trust's Holnicote Estate. We are particularly grateful for allowing the use of this location, in a nationally-famous site of special scientific interest. Horner Woods are home to a myriad of fascinating and often rare species, please take good care of this beautiful environment when visiting.
Many of the paths here are named after the Acland family and their friends. Our particular favourites are Granny’s Ride, Cat’s Scramble (named after Lady Acland’s horse, if you walk this path look out for a memorial stone under a really impressive oak tree), Cabinet Walk and Lord Ebrington’s Path. Boy’s Path leads you through one of the prettiest parts of Exmoor. Near the cache, and on the way back to the car (if you left it at the way point) is Pentley Seat. This stone seat was placed by the wife of Charles Thomas Dyke Acland 12th Baronet, who died in 1919. It makes a great place to pause, if you fancy a short detour, to take in the particularly stunning view towards Selworthy Church (and the caches of North Hill!).
Good luck!