Newton by the A1 - Travel Bug Hotel Traditional Cache
Newton by the A1 - Travel Bug Hotel
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A quick-ish drive by cache (and now a Travel Bug hotel as Bud's Alnwick Travel Bug Hotel has gone AWOL) to break your journey going North or South on the A1. PLEASE note this cache CAN NOT be reached by stopping on the main A1 even though the co-ords are close by. You MUST get off the main A1 to find the cache site. To stop on the main road would be EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
Why Newton by the A1, well I already have a cache called Newton by the Sea so …………
Newton-on-the-Moor is a village 6 miles south of Alnwick and 13 miles north of Morpeth, where the road from Rothbury and Longframlington dips to meet the original route of the A1, now bypassed just to the east. The cache is situated on the old A1 road course.
The village of Newton on the Moor started its life in early medieval times, built on the north-east-facing slope of Swarland Hill as it slopes down to the Hazon Burn, a tributary of the Coquet. Although the village is fairly high (c.145m) its position to the lee of the hills makes it relatively sheltered. The geology, Yoredale Series limestone with thin coal seams, has contributed to the industrial growth of the settlement, there are no mines these days, but there are remains of old quarries, lime kilns and early fortifications dotted around the village.
In the village centre there is a drinking fountain known as a “Pant”. This was built by the estate tenants in 1914 and is significant as the only public monument, this is now dry. There is also powerful chalybeate spring near the village, but I have not been able to find it or much about it except that the word "chalybeate" is a word meaning "containing iron". The water contains a significant level of dissolved mineral salts, with iron and manganese contributing to its characteristic flavour.
Early in the 17th century, chalybeate water was said to have health-giving properties and many people have promoted its qualities. English physician Thomas Sydenham prescribed chalybeate waters for hysteria in 1693. Princess Victoria, later Queen Victoria, drank the waters every day during her stay in Tunbridge Wells in 1834. She and her mother, the Duchess of Kent, would pay a visit to the spring and then enjoy a stroll along the “Pantiles”.
Maybe the Spring and the Pant where one and the same thing? Who knows ?
Enjoy the break from your journey and by the way the local hostlery, The "Cook and Barker” serves a nice pint.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ABG va gur zbfg boivbhf cynpr