The Tattoine Incident: 1 Multi-Cache

WE WERE WARNED...

This story relates to an Incident that occurred in Tatton Park, Cheshire in 1953.  I am reluctant to spread the details too widely because of the alarm it may cause.  However, I must somehow share it in a discreet way as the implications of the event, and our subsequent failure to understand its significance, have been devastating for Humankind:

I had an uncle who had a distinguished career serving in the RAF.  By the time of this Incident he had risen to the rank of Wing Commander and held a senior position in a secretive department of the Ministry of Defence.   A few weeks after his recent death I received a package of documents in a sealed container marked ‘Eyes Only’ with a covering note:

"I have never breathed a word of this to anyone but something serious happened at Tatton Estate on the night of 14th February 1953.  Later the following day I was suddenly tasked to lead an investigation into an encounter with Unidentified Landed Objects (ULOs) in the Estate. This subsequently became known as ‘The Tattoine Incident’.  During the investigations we found a Device, the purpose of which was unexplained at the time but has since proved to be the genesis of a very bad idea. I have bequeathed to you an illicit copy of my report which is still classified as Top Secret.  I feel it is the only way I can alert Humankind to the Incident.  Take care, there are dark and sinister forces that are taking control of our daily lives. Beware ‘The Device of The Dark Side'. Beware 'The HA-HAs of Tattoine'."

The documents I received comprise the 10 page report compiled by my uncle.  I have no evidence that it is genuine other than his word, the proof provided by the obvious features apparent on the ground in Tatton and of course the subsequent events that have increasingly plagued our travels for the past few years.

I thought the best way to share this story would be to lay out a secret trail in the form of a Geocache.  This provides a guided tour around the events of that night and explains the origin of some of the more unusual features visible in the Estate.

Aerial photograph of Tatton Estate taken on the afternoon of 15 February 1953

The cache comprises 3 stages on a 2.5 mile walk around Tatton Park between Tatton Hall and the Old Hall.  Pages of the report have been placed at each stage:

The website also contains a lot of supporting information which will help you with the explanation and interpretation of The Incident after you have visited the cache.

Each Stage 1 is enclosed in a black plastic tube in a camo bag. Stage 3 also contains a log book for you to record your visit and various other bits and pieces.  There is some reading required, especially at Stage 1, so you may need about 3 hours to do the cache to fully understand the detail and implications of the Incident.  There are places where you can sit down and discreetly read the documents near each stage.  The cache is reasonably straightforward with no puzzles involved.  Please leave the pages of The Report in the correct order in the containers in which they were found.  They are still classified as Top Secret and must not be removed.

Tatton Park is a beautiful part of Cheshire with lots to see and do so it is well worth a visit in its own right.  It is open all year round but is closed on a Monday on the off-season (October to March).  There is a charge for car entrance but you can get in for free on foot or bike.  Details can be found on the Tatton Park website: (www.tattonpark.org.uk).  I would recommend parking in the Main car park next to Tatton Hall.

For those who would like to make it a full day in the Park there is a very good Pieman cache 'The Cache of Death in The UK' which starts down at the Knutsford gate.  However, if you do plan to do both I would you recommend you do this one first as there is great risk involved with 'The Tattoine Incident' and it may be the last one you do...

I am grateful to Brendan Flanagan and his team at Tatton Park for allowing me to unburden this on you.  He is sceptical but I suspect he is aware that the Estate harbours a dark secret.

THE TATTOINE INCIDENT SERIES

The main cache is 'The Tattoine Incident: 1'. This will take you on a 2-3 hour journey around the original landing site and describes the incident that occurred in Tatton Park in February 1953. There were a number of related caches placed showing further examples of the activities of The Dark Side but unfortunately most of these have had to be archived now due to events beyound my control.  I have left the link to the old caches below to aid your research. 

There was a drive-by cache nearby called 'The Tattoine Incident: 2- Further Evidence' (now archived) where you once were able to inspect at first hand the first Earthly application of The Device.  If you still aren't convinced that there are things going on that we should be seriously bothered about, then visit   'The Tattoine Incident: 3- & What's Going On Here?!' (now archived).  Here you will see evidence of a large Earth monitoring system and an abundance of mutant creatures. 'The Tattoine Incident: 4- Wormhole' (still active) and 'The Tattoine Incident: 5- Wormhole Approach Beacon' (now archived) will help explain why this part of the country is of such importance to The Dark Side.  I adopted a cache at 'The Tattoine Incident: 6- The Bongs' (now archived) where there appears to be a Dark Side training facility and finally there is a large object which will cause you extreme alarm clearly visible at'The Tattoine Incident: 7- OMG! WMD?!' (now archived). 

To complete your research there was a Wherigo cache called  'The Tattoine Incident: 1- Wherigo'.  This is was an interactive geocache which was developed using the Wherigo system. The tour took you around the original 3 stage multi-cache and provided you with additional information about Tatton Park and The Incident but has also been archived as frankly the Wherigo system is too compicated to maintain properly.

Good luck & 'May The Force Be With You'...