Barnstaple Treasure Trail

My friends daughter was given a Barnstaple Treasure Trail for her birthday. It is set up like a murder mystery - Simon Snodshaw, a local cidermaker, was found floating in a vat of prize scrumpy, police have revealed he was murdered before being thrown in there - and you have to follow the clues given to reveal the murderer. The booklet contains a list of suspects and murder weapons and the aforementioned clues.

We started the trail in the Square outside the Tourist Information Centre. The children ran enthusiastically to the first clue. It was quite easy to unravel the clue and eliminate our first suspected weapon. We then rushed eagerly from place to place around Barnstaple, along the river front, into the High Street, until we came to the church square shown above. Here the clues are slightly more tricky to find and a small falling out ensued. Nevertheless, we grown ups continued, and soon we were racing over to Roack Park for some of the final clues.

This all took us about 2 hours to complete, at a leisurely stroll, with stops for snacks and take away hot chocolates built in. I think these are a great idea and ideal for getting kids to notice more about their locality. I suspect we will do a few more. Look on their website, there are loads for areas all over Britain, some are walking ones, others can be done with a car. When you discover the murderer you can email the answer to them for a chance of winning a prize.
www.treasuretrails.co.uk