TUMBLEDOWN Multi-cache
espargosas: I thought I had archived this cache long ago. But it seems to have slipped by. The final stage was muggled by old roof tile collectors who have been removing tiles from country ruins in the neighbourhood.
Espargosas
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This four-stage cache is easily accessible and within close proximity of Lagos and Odiáxere
The first location provides the key to what follows.
#16 ERMIDA E TANQUES DE SÃO JOÃO BATISTA (in Lagos)
Religious architecture from the 16th-18th Centuries. The chapel’s origins date back to medieval times (12th Century). Bear in mind that it was in 1249 that King Alfonso III captured Faro from the ARABIC-SPEAKING Moors, thus ending Moorish occupation of the Algarve. It was renovated during the first half of the 16th Century. In the 1755 earthquake most of it was swept away by the waters and only the chancel from the Renaissance building remained. The building is octagonal and the pillars that define the corners and cupola end in pinnacles. Some reconstruction work was carried out in the 19th Century, mainly for practical purposes. The nave walls were raised and the sacristies were built but these were redesigned in the 20th Century to become private houses.
By the nearby mural note the words of Vierira Calado in ‘Lagos Ontem’ (execto) Edição de Câmara Municipal de Lagos. This provides the format for ‘The Mural Code’.
Reading from the first word to the last, delete repeat letters and allocate numbers in sequence to each remaining letter starting with 1 and ending with 21. Thereafter, allocate the following numbers to those letters not contained in Vieira Calado’s words: J=22, K=23, Q=24, W=25, Y=26.
Now decrypt:
7-18-15-10-13-10-11-6// 3-14-1//1-11-15-11-1-3-25-15-20-10-18-1//6-15-//3-15//11-15-8-3-14//3-14-10-8-3-26//2-1-18-1-11//13-1-6-8-1-1-2//21-1-8-15//1-10-6-14-3//19-15-10-11-3//21-1-8-15//11-10-11-1//11-10-11-1//9-10-11-5-3-1-2//25-1-2-3//21-1-8-15//21-1-8-15//1-10-6-14-3//13-1-6-8-1-1-2//3-14-10-8-3-26//1-10-6-14-3//19-15-10-11-3//20-15-5-8//2-10-17//20-15-5-8//9-10-11-5-3-1-2///
Clue: You will find no one at home. But within the walls the boot may be on the other foot!
Using the mural depiction as your geographic guide note the ‘kindly words’ to those arriving and leaving, above the portals of the first place.
Reading from the first word to the last, delete ‘repeat-letters’ and allocate a single digit number to each of the first ten letters remaining, starting with 1 and finishing with zero.
You will need this code as you progress towards the final cache. It is referred to hereafter as ‘The Welcome Code’.
You may also want to take note of the following:
(a) Date of chapel reconstruction
(b) Number of women, children and men in the mural
(c) The number of the house that is clearly visible in the mural
(d) The number of buckets in the well
(e) The number of spokes that radiate out of the three window protection screens in the chapel
Note: The above questions do not imply that the answers are necessarily critical in the search for the cache.
The initial contents of the cache, apart from a notebook, pencil and sharpener, were:
Hong Kong Geocoin
Festival of Britain Commemorative, boxed, 1951 silver Crown piece (This is not a geocoin but it would be in the spirit of geocaching if it was to circulate nevertheless).
‘Anna’ folding pen
International postage stamps
Mushroom sticker
Toy motorcar
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
FIRSTLY MORE THAN SMOKE GOES UP CHIMNEYS SECONDLY THIS CACHE IS NOT AN INVERTEBRATE