GC15J16 Secret Scotland - Hawklaw (Traditional Cache) in Northern Scotland, United Kingdom created by Kryten

This cache has been archived.

Deceangi: As the Cache Owner has failed to action a Needs Archiving Log, I'm Archiving this cache for Non Maintenance.

Please avoid geolitter by removing any remaining traces of your cache or contact a local cacher to do so for you. If you are having difficulty doing so then please contact me via my profile and I will try to get someone to assist. This is particularly important if your cache appears to contain Travelbugs or Geocoins.

Deceangi Volunteer UK Reviewer

GC15J16 ▼

A cache by Kryten Message this owner

Hidden : 8/31/2007

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is one of a series dedicated to secret places of one kind or another.

It is located to the north of Cupar on Hawklaw Hill because it was here in 1937 that the British Government instructed the GPO to construct a secret radio listening station. See www.secretscotland.org.uk for other secret places of this type.

This station was part of a network known as "Y" intercept stations which also included Brora, Whitchurch and St Albans. During the early months of the second world war, the staff here were tasked with locating what were known as "meacons" which were thought to be Luftwaffe navigational beacons installed at secret locations within the UK. In this they were entirely unsuccussful because the meacons did not exist. The Germans were using elecronic navigation systems to guide their bombers but the transmitters were located on mainland Europe.

The station then moved on to the task of intercepting German Enigma traffic and in this they were considerably more successful. Shifts of local women were recruited and trained to receive and transcribe morse code twenty four hours a day, seven days a week three hundred and sixty five days a year. Their training was faster than that of other radio operators because they did not have to learn how to use a morse key, they would never transmit. Although this building has masqueraded for fifty years as a Post Office high frequency radio station it has never transmitted anything and has always operated as a listening post for GCHQ and it's predecessors.

After the war the station was incorporated into the American Signal Intelligence (SigInt) network and began to concentrate on the reception of machine traffic such as telephone, telex, radar, telemetry, and other signals emanating from behind the Iron Curtain. Eventually in 1988 the United States moved over to intelligence gathering by satellite and the building became redundant.

There have been various attempt to develop the site with successful planning applications for a children's centre and later an old people's home, but these were never followed through. The latest application for ten houses was refused, so here the building sits, behind it's 20 foot high fence, abandoned for over 20 years, but still in almost perfect condition. Is it really abandoned, my contacts say yes but then they would say that wouldn't they. Come and see what you think.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Pbeare ebpx

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)