A hi-tech treasure hunt

Summer holiday activities have been laid on by staff at Harcourt Arboretum, in Nuneham Courtenay, which is run by Oxford University.

These include Quest, a game which involves Geocaching, an outdoor treasure-hunt activity for family groups.

Those taking part used a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to locate boxes or ‘caches’ hidden around the arboretum.

Charlie Clutterbuck, 10, who lives near North Leigh, West Oxfordshire, took part in the hunt with sister Anna, eight, Hazel Bannerman, 12 and her brother Ross, seven.

Charlie said: “Once you found the boxes, there were various challenges in them and the whole thing took about an hour and a half — it was great fun.”

The Quest trails take visitors on a unique tour of the garden as they locate each cache. Caches contain a range of tree and physics-related activities to complete.

Express quest is a beginners trail for groups with children aged five to 10. Activities include decoding a message and making a paper helicopter.

Puzzle quest is an intermediate trail for groups with members aged 11 upwards, with activities including weather forecasting.

It’s free to take part after paying the entry fee, but a £40 refundable deposit is needed to borrow the GPS units. Quest is being run until September 5.