View source for Messing Visit 24 Dec 17

Here are the photos I took today. I'll keep them in order taken, and try to describe where I went in the woods. I doubt this will give us clues, since I didn't find the treasure, but since I went alone hopefully you'll feel that you understand the problem - there were a lot of trees!


'''Start: Messing village'''<br>

Walked up from the pub to the church, passing the old school/almshouse to my right (there was a lorry parked in front of it but I snapped the Messing arms!)

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The church, with which we are all now familiar.

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The Messing arms again, on the sign to the front and right of the church as you face it.

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Heading west from the church, out on the Kelvedon Road, I then turned left into School Road and this is where I found the first clue. The resident was just coming out of her house so I said hello and asked if I could take a photo of her interesting wreath/window (it turns out to be a solid white background). I told her there was a treasure hunt every year, and asked if she knew that it was one of the clues. She did - she said a man had asked her permission last year to photograph it :-) She was happy for me to take the pic; she was in a rush to get off and not all that terribly interested - but she didn't say 'Oh, not another one', so that's something!

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The Public Footpath sign was not far after that lady's house - it turns left off School Road. I took the close-up first, then stepped back into the road to take the general view, before starting to walk up it.

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'''Entering Conyfield Wood'''<br>

The footpath went up, then turned, then up some way along a field boundary; I then came to the edge of the woods and could see our landmark stile/gate ahead.

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I'd already spotted our distinctive tree beyond it - so far so easy... too easy!

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Not far up the path past the tree, I saw the blue post - these three images are as you get closer to it. The first shows a den that kids have been building. This is at the end of and to the left of the path I started on. The second pic shows the post once I had turned leftwards onto the next path (the junction was a T-shape - I didn't bother checking out the right-hand branch).

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A very short distance straight on, and I saw the pond to my left. This is the smaller of two ponds marked on the OS map, and it's closest to the path. I'm sure it's the same iced-over pond as on the blue-edged card. The first pic was taken from the direction of the path; I think that's the same direction our clue photo was taken from. For the second pic, I'd walked along the left side of the pond a little, then turned to my right to take the shot.

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I walked all round the pond a few times, looking in every tree with no joy. I then continued into the woods with the small pond and the path behind me.


'''The woods behind the small pond'''<br>

In the area behind the small pond were many trees but it's quite open. There was another larger pond there, and a copse of trees between the two ponds with many bird houses, and bird feeders (which had been filled). A dog walker I spoke to said a man comes and fills the feeders every afternoon - I wonder if this is one of our Hunt setters?! Thinking of the birds on one of the blue-edged cards, I really focused on searching this area but found no treasure and no Logica 'L' logo anywhere.

This is the bigger pond - very murky. There is a tiny island of trees in the centre; I got wet feet crossing over to it on some logs (the water's very shallow), but found nothing there.

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Bird box and feeder. I wondered how he gets the feeders down and then up again in the tree? Does this suggest we ought to look for a cleft that *is* high up?

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After an initial search in the bird box copse, I headed back to the path by the pond, walked along it (not back towards the blue post, but in the opposite direction). It's a wide path, and I soon came to a crossroads where there are many tall, straight firs. I turned right and walked to the end (where you see a field edge); I was looking at the trees for Logica 'L' logos and only poked around a few likely looking 'clefts'.

I came back to the crossroads and carried on over, on a path which then curved leftwards, taking me back to the area behind both the ponds. To the right of the path I was on, I saw a lovely clefty tree and had a really good poke about. I was really excited to find a small, camoflaged bag hidden away in the biggest root cleft, containing something hard! I took it out - it was a traditional camera (Minolta). It didn't work - no battery power - and the dial seemed to read zero. I have *no idea* why this was hidden in the base of this tree! I took some pics for good measure. I then put it back as I'd found it. If this turns out to be the treasure tree I shall kick myself - it did look very promising, and I could stick my arm/sticks very far into its various clefts. I searched it as thoroughly as I could!

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I walked back towards the back-side of the bigger pond and past it, so I was now between the two ponds again (in the bird box copse). There is also a magnificent fallen tree here. I've searched it really thoroughly - nothing!

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Here's the fallen tree from further back, followed by some misc. shots in this area.

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'''Leaving the wood'''<br>

So there's the size of the problem - it's a small area of wood, with a lot of trees. I doubt they've hidden the treasure up out of reach; I doubt they've hidden it where kids or dogs will disturb it. But I checked branch clefts AND tree root clefts. I checked any cut (cleft) trunks I could see, too. I finally gave up on this area again and went back to the path, and up to the crossroads with the fir trees again, for another look there (fruitless!) Here's the path, followed by the crossroads. If I'd carried on up the path straight across the crossroads I'd have got to a B-road (I didn't go quite that far).

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I turned around and headed back, past the small pond on my right, the blue post on my left, and then turned right at the T-junction where the kids' den was on the right-hand corner. I walked back to the village the same way I'd come.


'''End: back in Messing'''<br>

Coming back, I snapped the memorial by the church - I don't think this will be significant but it was a World War I connection. I didn't go into the church, but took a quick snap of the Old School House and then headed to the fantastic Old Crown pub!

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'''Approximate map'''<br>

This is the main quadrant I explored today.

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