GC4Q7QF AR24 Mandarin - Roger of Wendover the Early Years (Multi-cache) in Southern England, United Kingdom created by Aylesbury Ring Walkers

This cache has been archived.

Bash&Dodge: We agreed a long time ago to archive this series as it is showing signs of age. The rest of the Ring has already gone, so time to call it a day.
Thanks to all those who have done, and hopefully enjoyed the Mandarin and Tufted sections which we set back in 2013. Time for some new ones....

Happy caching!

GC4Q7QF ▼

A cache by Aylesbury Ring Walkers Message this owner

Hidden : 10/14/2013

Difficulty:

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Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

This is one of a series of some one hundred and forty caches set along The Aylesbury Ring, a circular footpath that follows a thirty mile route round Aylesbury.

Under development since the early 1980s, more details can be found here. A Bucks CC leaflet with further information and points of interest along the route can be downloaded from here.

For the purpose of these caches, The Ring is divided into seven sections (each named after a species of duck), and each section is designed to be done in a clockwise direction; if you choose to do otherwise, you will be causing yourself much unnecessary back-tracking.

Most of the caches are stand-alone, but within each of the seven sections is a bonus cache for which you will have to collect information from the other caches within that section. This information is in the format A=1. The bonus information is not interchangeable between sections.

In addition there is a Golden Egg Bonus cache. To find this, you will also have to collect information from all sections, although not all caches (and none in the bonus caches). This information is in the format 1=LZ. Refer to the Golden Egg Bonus cache page for what to do once you have all this information.

There is a mixture of cache types and sizes, and a variety of different hides. Some are straightforward, others a little more tricky, but not one is a 35mm film canister under a rock at the bottom of a post - although ivy may feature on occasions!

Once you have found the majority of the series and logged them online, you will qualify to go for the AYLESBURY DUCK GOLDEN EGG BONUS, set somewhere within The Ring.

Now, onto this cache:

Welcome to the Mandarin (Duck) section of the Aylesbury Ring series, running from a point along the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union canal to Wendover with a total of 24 caches.

This is the Twenty Fourth and last cache of this section, a Multi with several stages, taking you through the historic town of Wendover along the Aylesbury Ring route. Please note that due to issues with the placement of the original hide and then proximity issues with other caches in Wendover, the final hide for this Multi is a little off the Aylesbury Ring walk but remains on a recognised footpath.

Roger of Wendover – the early years

Roger of Wendover was an English chronicler who lived in the 13th century. Little is known about him, but it is thought he was born in Wendover and later in his life became a monk at St Albans Abbey. He is the first of the important chroniclers who worked at St Albans. His best known chronicle is called the Flores Historiarum (Flowers of History). Roger of Wendover’s work is, however, now valued not so much for what he culled from previous writers as for its full and lively narrative of contemporary events, from 1216 to 1235, including the signing of Magna Carta.

It is almost certainly a little known fact (and overlooked by Wikipedia) that for a few years in his early days in Wendover, Roger was known as Jolly Roger and was a now long- forgotten pirate in his luxury river boat cruiser on the Wendover arm of the canal. This was a brief period in his life, largely unsuccessful as he frequently had to dig his vessel out from the shallow waters of the canal.

As you follow the Aylesbury Ring footpath through the town, you will need to collect some information which you need to apply to grid below.

You will need to print out the grid and take it with you.

At the published co-ords you will find an attractive sign featuring a large blue kingfisher (the name of Rogers vessel). There are a total of six multi-coloured shapes on either side of the kingfisher….

1. What shape are they ? (don’t get mathematical!!) = 7 letters
2. How many birds are permanently perched on the fence opposite? = 4 letters

From here, follow the AR trail into Wendover. At N51 45.788 W0 44.486 ……
3. What creature is depicted on the sign at Lantern House? = 3 letters

At the clock tower (N51 45.770 W0 44.470)….

4. What is the third digit in the year that the clock tower was rebuilt? Answer = 5 letters

Just inside the door of the Information Centre is the spade used by Roger to dig out the Kingfisher when it ran aground. The same spade was more famously used by General Phillip Smith to turn the first sod of the Metropolitan railway at Wendover

5. In which month did this event occur ? Answer = 5 letters (This info can be retrieved even when the centre is closed)

The advent of the railway was a major cause of the cessation of piracy in Wendover and the end of the career of Jolly Roger, who fortunately saw the error of his ways and became a monk.

Go to N51 45.757 W0 44.575 where you will find two seasonal cottages

6. Which two seasons are missing? Answer = 6 and 6 letters

Now head to N51 45.716 W0 44.558 where you will see a pudding stone, known to the locals as the growing stone. It is made up of sedimentary rock of pebbles and stones and looks like a kind of natural concrete called conglomerate.

7. Who unveiled the twinning stones on 9th May 1992 ? Answer = 6, 4, 5 letters

8. What is the name of the town in Brittany twinned with Wendover?Answer = 6 letters
9. Look around and you will see a plaque to John Hampden. His family motto translates as “No Turning Back”. What is this motto in latin? Answer = 5, 8, 9 letters

Finally, go to the bench at N51° 45.734 W00° 44.574 and answer the following…

10. What was the surname of the Wing Commander and his Wife? Answer = 4 letters
11. What are the last two words of the Latin motto of the RAF? Answer = 2 & 5 letters

Now you have all the answers you need. Using the grid below, cross off all the letters which make up your answers. This leaves you with 10 letters. Change these letters into numbers in the usual way A=1 B=2 etc.

Now put these numbers in ascending order eliminating duplicates, and reassign them as A,B,C,D,E,F.

The final is at N51 BC.CEE W0 BB.B(F-E)(E-A)

Please note that due to proximity issues with other caches in the area we have taken you off the ring slightly for this final cache.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Lbh znl unir gb ebbg nebhaq sbe guvf bar! Pbirerq jvgu n fgbar/oevpx sbe cebgrpgvba

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)

This cache has been archived.

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AR24 Mandarin - Roger of Wendover the Early Years Multi-cache

This cache has been archived.

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Geocache Description:

Attributes

Inventory

Bookmark Lists