GCQ6H2 The Three Castles (Traditional Cache) in Southern England, United Kingdom created by The Wilkerson Family

This cache has been archived.

Mr Hedgehog: Went along to have yet another look this morning, and found it very quickly, within 3 ft of where I left it some 6 years ago.
However, it is no longer there.
As people obviously can't be bothered to look properly, or mind the, very pleasant, walk with the possiblilty of a DNF, I've killed this one off.

GCQ6H2 ▼

A cache by The Wilkerson Family Message this owner

Hidden : 8/18/2005

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A nice walk along The Three Castles Path towards the route of the old Alton to Basingstoke Light Railway.

The Basingstoke to Alton Light Railway was intended to provide a route to Portsmouth. In 1887 a Bill was proposed to Parliament to build the railway Train line, but the Bill was unsuccessful. In 1897 the Bill was again put to Parliament, under the 1896 Light Railway Act, and this time the Bill was successful. The Light Railway Act meant that a line could be built cheaper as the line was only to be used lightly with lighter than normal trains and at reduced speeds. The maximum speed permitted on the line was just 25 m.p.h. This meant that cheaper materials could be used in construction of the railway lines. On June 1 1901 the railway was finally constructed and the line was opened. The line was famous for being the first constructed under the Light Railway Act.

The railway served many villages in the local area, although most of the stations were not particularly close to the towns. The railway was also famous for being the only railway closed during the First World War to have it's tracks moved. The need to move troops and munitions quickly resulted in the tracks being taken up in 1917 and re-laid in France. The line became overgrown during the war years, and it wasn't until August 1924 that the tracks were finally re-laid and the railway again opened. The reopened service, however, never made commercial sense as the distance between Basingstoke and Alton was too short. The journey took an hour to make, with all the stops at the different stations, and the distance between Basingstoke and Alton was only about 12 miles. Eventually on June 1, 1936 the railway finally closed for good.

The final use for the Railway was when the famous comedian Will Hay made the 1937 film "Oh Mr Porter" on the line. Cliddesden station was used to portray the fictional station of Buggleskelly.

The cache itself is a 2 pint sized sandwich style box containing a log book and the usual goodies. Please take care to rehide the cache carefully afterwards.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Va n ubyybj gerr fghzc nobhg svir srrg sebz gur genpx.

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)