Entyrley Land Locked Letterbox Hybrid

A short walk around historic Tyrley Locks near Market Drayton in Shropshire.

In case you have not worked it out, the cache name is a play on the name of the locks and the fact that they are in Shropshire, which is a land locked county.

History

The Shropshire Union Canal was one of the last canals to be built. Originally it was called the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal and was clearly intended for long distance traffic. Thomas Telford was the engineer behind the building of the canal, which opened in 1835.

Tyrley Locks are at the end of a level stretch of canal seventeen miles long (known as a "pound" in canal terms). It consists of 5 seperate locks, each stepping the canal level down before the canal passes Market Drayton. Between the second and third locks you should see a short post on the other side of the canal to the towpath. This is a boundary marker and shows the extent of the canal company's property. There used to be stables at the locks for horses who hauled the boats.

The buildings you see at Tyrley Wharf (also featured on the cover of the latest Ordnance Survey Explorer map of Market Drayton) were built by the Twemlow family of nearby Peatswood Hall shortly after the canal opened.

The Cache

We decided to make the cache a Letterbox Hybrid as there are none in the surrounding area and it's a chance for other cachers to get the icon whilst hopefully having some fun finding it on the way.

Your journey starts at the car park just by Tyrley Locks. From here it is a short walk down to the towpath and Stage 1 of your search. Follow the instructions in the sections below to complete the cache.

Apart from some steps down to the bridge at the start, all the paths are level and not muddy so this should be a welcome change. You do not need to stray off the path to complete the cache.

As this is a Letterbox cache, you will find a stamp in the cache box. Please do not take the stamp - use it to stamp your logbook and feel free to stamp the cache logbook with your own stamp. The stamp is self-inking so no need to bring your own inkpad.

The cache contains First, Second and Third to Find postcards (certificates).

Note that as it's a Letterbox cache, you are only given the co-ordinates for the start of the trail (see Stage 1 below). You then have to complete the rest of the cache in true Letterboxing style by ignoring your GPS and following the instructions below.

Stage 1

N 52° 53.318 W 002° 27.662

The houses on the left that you are looking at are featured on the cover of the Ordnance Survey Explorer 243 map.

ABCD = the date of the end of the main house, above where it says Tyrley Wharf.

Stage 2

Continue along the towpath, under bridge 60 to 'No C'.

Sit down at the obvious place and take a rest for a moment, taking in the view of the locks. If you can see William and Kathleen Jack you will be in the right place.

E = number of letters in the second word of line 4

Stage 3

Continue along the towpath to to 'No E'.

F = 2nd digit of the obvious year at this location.

Final Cache

In the true sense of letterboxing, the final cache is (F-3)B paces south of Stage 3. Hint: my paces are quite long (something like 90cm at a guess) - think John Cleese in the Germans sketch in Fawlty Towers .

e.g. if F=4 and B=2 then it's 12 paces south.

Please be careful not to be spotted by boating muggles at the final cache location.

Hall Of Fame

If you are unsure how to rate this cache just click on the `Rate this cache icon` above and follow instructions.