Yesterday I kept losing it!

Yesterday I went to the little known (to me anyway) village of Wigmore and explored the castle there. I had a brilliant time walking at my own pace up from the designated car park to the church first and then onto the castle. I had first thought the church was the castle as that was the only old building I could see from the village centre... so when I got to the church and realised my stupidity, I looked around for the castle - nothing visible to me at all. Strange, I thought, have I lost it! That became a bit of theme because as I approached the castle I lost it a couple of times when the path swerved a bit or dipped down. Once I got there, I decided to walk all around it and so followed a path to the right and lost it again. This time I found myself in the woods with no sight of the ruin at all. Luckily, my sense of direction is reasonably accurate and eventually after cavorting like a mountain goat I found a ruined wall, climbed round it and ended up in the centre of the old Great Hall!

There is a wonderful sense of history about the place and I could visualise the grandeur of the Mortimer family and their connections with royalty and looking out over the tumbled down walls at the views over Wigmore cemetery you can see for miles and miles. There are several information boards dotted around (useful for clue writing), and I came away feeling I'd learnt a lot in a relatively short space of time. The site is managed by English Heritage and I think they've got the balance of wildness and information just right.

I had a fab time, helped of course by the wonderful spring, actually, almost summer-like weather! My head was full of the views I'd seen and the stuff I'd learnt and the creative parts of my brain were coming up with fiendish and sneaky clues for a new Treasure Trail. Turns out I haven't lost it after all.

Significant Birthdays : 50th

Unfortunately, I am past my 50th, but we have created two lots of challenges for people who were celebrating their 50th birthday... one was in January and one in February. Here's what they thought - in their own words.


"I cant thank you enough for the treasure trail that you put together for my birthday in Herefordshire, we had such a fantastic time and it was a brilliant way to see the surrounding villages. Two teams did the trail on bikes and the third team wimped out and did it by car. It all got very competitive which was really funny particularly when Ken was marking it! We were very lucky with the weather, and despite the fact that it started snowing after lunch, this didnt cause a problem, it added to the fun and made the log fire, tea and cake all the better when we returned to the Lodge. I think the mix of clues from buildings etc in the villages and the items we had to find or buy was perfect and all of those who participated have said what a brilliant way to spend a day."


"Well what can I say. We had the time of our lives at the weekend,even in the rain. What a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon. We all really enjoyed the treasure trail. We all got the murderer and weapon right,most of us managed the shopping and photo challenge (even a man in drag!) and dingbats. Thank you so much for all the work you put into the challenge. I will be singing your praises from the roof tops and recommending you to everyone I know. Once again Thank you."


We are currently working on a 30th and a 70th...... will report back when I get their feedback!