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FU5 ¿A Spanish Princess in Finchampstead? Multi-cache

Hidden : 1/1/2009
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

A very quick and simple multi-cache. It's only a multi because it was impossible to hide a cache at the actual location. Should take between 5-10 minutes to do. Please note:- Although marked as wheelchair friendly, you will need to be able to stand and take one or two steps to get to the cache. If in a wheelchair, I would approach the cache container from the South. The difficulty rating is due to the poor GPS reception at the final location.

If you head to the coordinates specified at the top of this page, you'll discover whether there was indeed a Spanish Princess (Infanta) in the middle of Finchampstead. The Princess in question was Katherine of Aragon, and from the information you'll find, you'll see she was due to marry Prince Arthur. However most school books tell us that Katherine of Aragon married Prince Arthur's brother, Prince Henry (later Henry VIII). Well the sign is actually right, she did marry Prince Arthur, but in fact she actually married both brothers. Katherine first married Arthur, but when Arthur died shortly after the wedding, King Henry VII (father to both Princes) was in a dilemma. He didn't want to return the Spanish dowry, so what could he do? His answer was to marry her off to his younger son Henry (some years later). Katherine was the first of Henry's six wives (he later divorced her, due to her perceived inability to bear him a surviving son). Katherine's parents were joint heads of state in Spain (Ferdinand and Isabella). They are widely acknowledged as being amongst the greatest of Spanish Monarchs. They sponsored Christopher Columbus to go and find the New World, they reconquered Southern Spain from the Moors, but they are also remembered for creating the Spanish Inquisition (and nobody expected that...). Another piece of trivia here is that Aragon is in Castilla, Spain. "Castillo" means Castle in Spanish, "Castilla" means "land of castles". Katherine was therefore the "Infanta de Castilla". Whilst she was waiting to marry Henry (after Arthur's death), she was forced to live in London. It is a widely held belief that "Elephant and Castle" in London was named after her. The local population couldn't quite get to grips with the "Infanta de Castilla" title and erroneously Anglicized it to "Elephant and Castle". Anyhow, to find the cache, you'll need to find out: The year this historical event took place ABCD The year the tree was cut down EFGH The year the information was placed here IJKL The final cache is at N 51° 21.H[J-H]L W 000° 51.L[L-B]F Ideally you will park at 51.21.714, 000.51.744, walk down to the Petrol station, and walk down the footpath right next to this petrol station. It's possible to drive right up to the start coords, but please respect the locals access and don't do this as the road is very narrow.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

5-6sg hc va n ubyyl gerr jvgu vil ba vg

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)