Warrington's Parks 1: Queen's Gardens Traditional Geocache
Iantitanic: time for something new..
Warrington's Parks 1: Queen's Gardens
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This is one of a series of caches that was started in the autumn of 2008. Whether you are from Warrington or elsewhere, the series is intended to encourage geocachers to discover (or rediscover) the town’s parks, gardens and nature reserves.
The cache is a nano, so please bring your own pen! The gardens can get very busy especially when there is a gig on at Parr Hall or during lunchtimes when the weather is nice, as the town’s workers come out to enjoy their sandwiches; stealth is required. Please replace the cache exactly where you found it in order to minimize the chance of it being muggled. When signing the logbook please only use one square - just add the date and your name and write small. When replacing the logbook please roll it up tightly and leave a tab sticking out so that it easier to pull out for the next finder.
Well behaved dogs are welcome in the park, but must be kept on a lead; please also clear up after them if they leave any little presents! Drinking alcohol, ball games, bicycles, skateboards, etc are all banned in the park, by law in some cases. Please also avoid feeding the pigeons.
Parking is available at Golden Square, for free on Sundays and on Thursday evenings, or any of the other town centre car parks.
The cache is located in Palmyra Square. In the early 19th century this area of the town was covered by small gardens, possibly part of the old friary that stood to the southwest. By the 1840s new streets were constructed in the area – Cairo, Egypt and Suez Street, which were named in honour of the local South Lancashire Regiment’s battles against the French in Africa. In the 1880s Palmyra Square was developed and the area was virtually surrounded by private houses. The houses did not have front gardens, and instead shared a communal walled garden in the middle of the square, which only residents held keys for.
The Parr Hall, a venue built to host meetings and concerts, was opened on the south side of the square in 1895.
In 1897, Queen Victoria celebrated 60 years on the throne, and to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee the town purchased the gardens in order to opened them to the public. £700 was spent converting the gardens (the equivalent of around £60,000 in today’s money). A cast iron fountain with a portrait of the Queen was added as a centrepiece. The gardens were named the “Queen’s Gardens” and opened on 17th October 1897.
In the early 1900s the development of Palmyra Square South was completed with the construction of the County Court (which stood in the spot that is now the Pyramid Arts Centre) and the Warrington Technical School to the right of Parr Hall. Meanwhile the private houses were gradually turned in to offices.
FTF honours go to PhilPamAndRob on 30/09/2008 at 12.55pm.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fgvpx nebhaq naq erfg lbhe yrtf