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Grwyne Fawr Traditional Geocache

Hidden : 10/5/2003
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Grwyne Fawr cache, located next the Grwyne Fawr reservoir in the Black Mountains of South Wales. The reservoir itself is retained by an impressive dam, and was originally constructed to supply the inhabitants of Abertillery with a good water supply. The walk to the dam is simple enough although it can be cold and windy so sensible clothing, footwear and waterproofs are needed, the cache is located close to the western end of the damn, but is fairly well hidden in a hollow under some stones.

This cache is located close to the Grwyne Fawr reservoir, and was inspired by a book 'Stone and Steam in the Black Mountains' (ISBN 0-9510444-1-9 by David Tipper and published by Blorenge books).

The book tells the story of the construction of the reservoir, a task that took over 18 years to complete, and included the building of an 12 mile narrow gauge railway line to transport men and materials to the site.

The area looks much different now, the workers village at Blaen-y-cwm is gone, and the railway burried under the road. The dam remains and impressively heads the valley, a tribute to the many workers who had a hand in its construction at the turn of the last century.

The cache is a black BDH container containing the following :

Bath and shower gel, emergency dressing (just in case!), spare batteries for your GPS, a Karibina, bike reflector, box spanner, lanyard, Silva compass, screw driver, selection of pin badges, several exclusive Gwentrek patches (the event took place not a million miles away recently), a selection of coins, a camera to take a picture with, and last but not least Woggling Away TB.

The cache is located near the western end of the dam, located in a hollow that looks like it used to be part of the foundations for a small building, youll have to dig under the stones a little to find it!

Parking is available at N51 56.978 W003 05.311, and the dam can be approached either using the road up the valley, and a steep climb up to the top, or a track up the right side of the valley which ends up at the eastern end of the dam, either way its about a 3km hike.

Good hunting!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Sebz gur gevt cbvag yvxr fgehpgher ng gur jrfgrea raq bs gur qnz, ybbx sbe bar naq n unys gerrf fgenvtug nurnq, gur pnpur vf whfg oruvaq.

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)