Discover Saddleworth’s Hidden Treasures

Tim Difford from Holmfirth has kindly sent in the following article with an idea of something to do in our area this spring. It’s a form of treasure hunt called geocaching, and sounds like a good way to explore the countryside around here. If you’ve got an event coming up or a local charity you’d like to promote on this website, send an e-mail by clicking on Contact at the top of the page and I’ll be happy to feature it.

“If you live in or around the Saddleworth area, chances are that you’re in love with the surrounding countryside. You might think that you know it pretty well too.

“So if you fancy exploring the local area and taking at look at things with a fresh pair of eyes, you could do worse than to discover geocaching. Geocaching is a global treasure hunt game and one of the world’s best-kept secrets despite having been established for almost ten years.

“Using hand-held GPS/Sat Nav units or many of the current range of smartphones which can also track your location, people set off looking for hidden treasures in rural and urban locations.

“These treasures or ‘caches’ range from tiny containers the size of your thumbnail to others the size of a bucket. Amazingly, they’re not buried or in private locations, but tend to be hidden in plain sight. You’d be amazed just how many geocaches there are and how near they are to you. You might even walk past one every day.

“Look at this map of all the caches in the Saddleworth area alone:

“Once you’ve signed up at www.geocaching.com, you can search for details of nearby caches and set off on your own little treasure hunt. When you find a geocache, sign the paper log inside and update the website with details of your find. There are often small items to trade within the cache itself.

“If you have an iPhone, there’s even a Geocaching app which lets you navigate to geocache locations and update details of your finds from the actual location.

“It’s worth taking a look. Children love it too. It gives them something to focus on if you’re planning on taking them out for a stroll or a bike-ride on the moors.

“Enjoy it but be patient. Some geocaches are very well hidden. There are one or two near the road over the tops from Holmfirth that I’m still struggling to locate!

“That’s the beauty of it though – it’s not a race and there are many more geocaches to be discovered, often in some very beautiful locations.

“Give it a try this spring.”

Author: Jude Gidney - Editor

If you would like to share an interesting story, achievement, photo or something you just want to happily shout about please send it in an email to hello@saddleworthlife.com We'd ❤ to hear from you!!