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Canal treasure hunt - geocaching
Route facts
Waterways:
Bow Back Rivers »
Hertford Union Canal »
Limehouse Cut »
Regent's Canal »
River Lee »
Distance: 6.21 miles / 10 km
Duration: Five hours
Difficulty: Easy
Starts at: Cache One
Ends at: Cache Six
The canals of London have long been loved for the hidden pathways they offer behind the capital's bustling streets, giving locals and visitors an insight into another side of London. We like the way you can discover a whole new aspect of well trod places by taking to the towpath and this has inspired us to create our 'curios of the canal trail'.
Geocaching
We’ve also been enjoying geocaching on and around the canals this year. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. Caches are hidden and tracked down using grid coordinates listed on the geocaching website, and hiders and seekers can feedback on their successes online. There are lots of caches to be found on the canals and rivers across the country and if you have a satellite navigation system either for your car or on your phone it's a great way to explore the waterways near you. Find out more on the Geocaching site.
We’ve listed our curios of the canal caches on the geocaching site too so you can go out and find them that way. However, if you prefer your trails a little more low-fi you can use the map and clues below to track down our hidden stashes.
What to do when you come across a cache
Our caches are the traditional variety which contain an item which cache-hunters can either just check out, or replace with an item of their own. If you are intending to do this, remember the cache containers are quite small so taking along something suitably sized (about 5 cm x 5 cm x 5 cm) would work best. The cache also generally includes a log book, so please use this to record your visit and any other thoughts you want to share with fellow cashe-finders.
Walking the East London Loop
The canal curio trail caches are located across the East London Loop – a ten kilometre circular stretch of waterway. It is possible to follow the towpath along the whole of this section, apart from at one point. North of Three Mills Lock you need to leave the waterway and rejoin it the other side of Stratford High Street. For the best way to do this, follow these directions.From Three Mills Lock: with the lock behind you, cross the green, turning right when you reach the waterway. At the end of the green, past the memorial, take the foot bridge ahead of you. Continue forwards until you reach Stratford High Street. Turn right onto the high street and use the pedestrian crossing about 20 metres down the road. When you reach the other side of the road turn left following the high street past the Porsche Garage. When you get to the end of the high street, at the busy junction, turn right onto the small footpath which leads back down to the canal.
From the River Lee: leave the towpath where it stops and leads you onto Stratford High Street. Turn left down Stratford High Street, passing the Porsche garage on your left. After another 50 metres, or so, use the pedestrian crossing to reach the other side of the road. Turn right and follow the high street until you come to the waterway. Turn left onto the waterway, keeping the canal on your right. You will come to the green which you head across until Three Mills Lock comes into sight on your left.
Getting there
Parking: Parking is not plentiful in this area. You are advised to travel by public transport or bike if at all possible.
Public transport: Tube stations, including Bromley-by-Bow and Mile End Park, are in easy reach of sections of the route. Limehouse DLR is also on the loop to the south and Hackney Wick is near the north section. Local buses include, Mile End: 25 / 205 / 277 Bromley-by-Bow: 108 / 323 Limehouse: 135 / 277 / 15 / 115 Hackney Wick: 26 / 30 / 236 / 276 / 388
Waypoints
Location: By following the flow of the Hertford Union Canal you can wash away all your gardening concerns or growing conundrums once you reach the kicking off point of the canal curios trail.
When you get there: Just above adult head-height, where the white and grey sections of the wall meet.
Co-ordinates: 51.539061 / 0.027891
Easting: 536867, Northing: 184083
Location: With waste routes converted for new green futures behind you and the spanking new stadium structure ahead, these two-storey storage spaces have been given some colourful camouflage.
When you get there: Behind the metal cabin on the left hand brick structure.
Co-ordinates: 51.536201 / 0.020344
Easting: 537399, Northing: 183779
Location: This structure is pretty spanking new, like many of the developments in the Olympic site, onto which it opens. Judging by the name of this mechanism you could be forgiven for thinking this had something to do with hair, a key or even a large Scottish lake, but this latest Three Mills landmark was designed to fill a much more functional role.
When you get there: Approach the lock with the House Mill behind you, arrive with the foot bridge on the left and the lock control building on your right. On the left of the footbridge, find where the railings meet the wall of the bridge and the cashe is behind the bridge side.Co-ordinates: 51.52860 / 0.00477
Easting: 538496, Northing: 183027
Location: If A is 1 and N is 14, W is 23, you'll discover this next find at the end of the 6 / 12 / 15 / 1 / 20 / 9 / 14 / 7 20 / 15 / 23 / 16 / 1 / 20 / 8
When you get there: At the Bow Locks end of the walkway, turn right, back on yourself, as you step onto the land. Look down between the black and white and the metal railings.
Co-ordinates: 51.52235 / 0.00919
Easting: 538196, Northing: 182227
Location: Correctly classify this cocktail of clues to learn the location of the next nest-egg.
1. Terraced, farm and counting are all types of these.
2. A green fruit, popular in pickles and chutneys.
3. Not a sink, bath or bowl: something similar, albeit, in this case, on a much larger scale!
When you get there: Behind the 'Dockland Life' information panel outside the Cruising Club building alongside the Limehouse Lock.
Co-ordinates: 51.51035/ 0.03650
Easting: 536377, Northing: 180861
Location: Past the sports park and beyond the bridge,
Yet not as far as the Johnson Lock's ridge,
I am now a museum, but was once a school,
Steps down to the towpath lead you to my...cafe.
Co-ordinates: 51.51885 / 0.03650
Easting: 536385, Northing: 181799
