Seventeen of us assembled at Stork Lodge Tea Rooms on Sunday 11th July for our 6th annual Treasure Hunt. Mick, Lisa and Tracey were acting as event control and handed out our instructions and clues to the various mystery destinations. This year we also had to collect various items en-route, which would be tallied up for points at the end - a proper treasure hunt !!!
After studying the instructions we set off in 6 different teams, at 10:00 to find our first destination. The question was "If your pet was this colour you would be upset and probably take it to see a vet". The answer was Red, after Redcats on Horbury Road. However, not all of us got the correct answer as a BP garage was just down the road, and BP's corporate colour is green, and you are often described as green when you are ill.
The next destination was further along Horbury Road. "A white building, but this far inland, that can't be right". The answer was the Ship Inn. Our next question was "The five rises you wont find here", which was the Bingley Arms at Horbury Bridge (Bingley Five Rise Locks, get it ?!?!).
Left along Netherton Lane where the question was how many speed humps do you count. The answer was a quite unbelievable 34 (all along a stretch of road little more than a mile long !!!).
We then passed a saw mill which provided our next question "Who started a job in 1860". Job Earnshaw Sawmillers was the answer. Turning left at the end of Stocksmoor Road at Midgley brought us to our next mystery destination and the Black Bull pub, which nicely answered the "Name the Bovine Beast" question.
We now had to turn sharp right, counting how many posts in the dark shine white. The answer was six, as it was only the ones with reflective white strips on. These questions were starting to get a little tricky !!
Our next question was what stands tall upon the hill, and the answer was Emley Moor TV mast, which you can see for miles around. We now had to find the house where pets reside, which was Bretton Cattery & Kennels. We then had to find a church with a steeple and name the chap who used to speak to the people - the Rev J Cousans did, at least before the church was converted to a house !!!
Our next question was which three of the alphabet are carved in wood, "CPW" being the answer. Onward to our next destination which was the local Spar shop in Woolley, where we had to name the opening times (7:30 - 10:30, every day). We now crossed the M1onto A637 and into Bretton Park. The winter gate lock time was our next challenge (5:30). The naked man statue (looking to his left) , difference in parking cost between car and coach (£6) and the place to purchase a Mr Moo ice cream (Information Kiosk), provided our next batch of exciting question and answer challenges.
We now skirted past Delta Force Paintballing Centre (another answer) on Denby Dale Road, and onto the Navigation pub, where we had to find out the cost of the Pink Gaga tribute band, playing in August (£10). Heading back towards Wakefield City Centre now, taking in the famous chippy (Kingfisher), Cedar Court Hotel, the bird of prey on Denby Dale Road (The Red Kite) and Hampsons Garden Centre. We then had to 'venture on past the tip, and into the estate we must slip' .... Groan ..... naming the building where you can learn a trade, which was Wakefield Skill Centre.
Now it was time to head back to Thornes Park to be marked and present our collected treasure. There were several items to collect en-route including a map of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, lolly pop stick, a nail (metal pin, striking with a hammer variety, or, of the human hand variety, which most folks seemed to provide), portrait of the queen (seemingly difficult to find but of course every stamp, bank note or coin has one), teeth (provided by a comb mostly) & a dandelion, all for a total of 6 bonus points.
The scores were totted and the results were:
Our prizes came from some of the non-raffled items from the party night and the entry fees made us a profit of £13 (pretty much the first time the treasure hunt has made any money).
A cracking ride out was had by all, and a profit for MAG was made to boot, does it ever get any better than this ? Oh, and Steve the Meerkat would like everyone to know that they won !!!!!
