GC2MFZ5 Westcliff Stairs (Traditional Cache) in Gauteng, South Africa created by Team

This cache has been archived.

Knagur Green: Due to no response from the CO after the request to maintain or replace the cache, I am archiving it to, stop it showing on the listings and/or to create place for the geocaching community.

The Geocache Maintenance guideline explains a CO's responsibility towards checking and maintaining the cache when problems are reported.

Please note that if geocaches are archived by a reviewer or Geocaching HQ for lack of maintenance, they are not eligible for unarchival. This is explained in the Help Center

If the CO feels that this cache has been archived in error please feel free to contact me within 30 days, via email or message via my profile ,quoting the GC number concerned

Thank you for understanding

Knagur Green
Groundspeak Volunteer Reviewer

GC2MFZ5 ▼

A cache by Team_vdlo Message this owner

Hidden : 1/16/2011

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Roadside cache in the heart of Westcliff. Please park in Woolston Road.

Westcliff forms the West end of the Parktown ridge, which is shaped like an amphitheatre and affords glorious views across the sylvan Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg all the way to the Magaliesberg Mountains on the horizon. The Gold reef, it was soon discovered, ended along the southern flank of the present CBD, so the natural advantages of the ridge were soon exploited as being residential land of great value.

The first people to build along the summits of the northern ridges were the aristocracy of the early mining industry, at the start of the 20th century. A plot on the ridge soon became a must for the very rich and the truly influential, and the ridge became very exclusive.

IIn 1902 a new section was proclaimed as a township and advertised for sale, Westcliff. When Gold was discovered, 1896, there were no trees on the ridge, only sparse grass and succulents around bare and prominent Quartz rocks. As soon as the new residents settled however they competed in planting large or fast growing trees in their gardens, even if it meant dynamiting holes into the ground and importing earth. Trees were of the essence then, and still lend a very seductive arboreal atmosphere to present day Westcliff. In fact, many of the old koppie-stone garden walls, and the stone facades of most of the old residences, seen under the dappled shade of the trees, seem to be covered by a patina of age, offering a most endearing and durable impression to the visitor, especially if on a walking tour. In fact, although it is practically next to the city’s concrete conglomeration, Westcliff can be almost remote and even eerie in a countrified way, thus creating a wonderful contrast. And the past is never too distant.

The residents of present day Westcliff still have much pride in their suburb, and by and large still include many of the well to do, but the days of the mega rich Randlords and the Empire builders who first settled there are long gone. The first Randlord to settle in Westcliff was important in Rand Mines Ltd. known as the Corner House Group of companies. This was Raymond Schumacher, for whom the still magnificent ‘Pallinghurst’ was built.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Zntargvp - Va gur svefg cbyr

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)