The co-ordinates provided are for the Town
Centre which could be your start and finish point.
Loch Ken and the Galloway Hills
The Glenkens is one of the most scenic and
unspoilt parts of Scotland. In recognition of this, part of the
Glenkens have been designated an Environmentally Sensitive Area,
most of which lie within a Regional Scenic Area. The area also
contains several Sites of Special Scientific Interest of both
woodland and wetland habitats. Boaters, water-skiers, fishermen,
walkers and birdwatchers are all attracted to the area,
particularly to Loch Ken. The Loch Ken Advisory Management
Committee oversees the management of the loch with the routine
tasks carried out by the local Countryside Rangers. Anyone who has
a taste for adventure can find places of interest around the loch
by following the public roads and following this route cache.
Galloway is a peaceful and quiet place but has
not always been so. St. John's Town of Dalry, Kells, Balmaclellan,
Balmaghie and Crossmichael churchyards all have Covenanter's graves
dating from the "Killing Times" of the 1680's. Dragoons under the
command of Sir John Graham of Claverhouse (or "Bloody Clavers") and
Sir Robert Grierson of Lagg hunted down and killed many of the
Covenanters. These people were Scottish Presbyterians objecting to
the attempts of the Stuart kings to impose the English Prayer Book
and reintroduce bishops to govern the church in Scotland. The
Covenanting movement was particularly strong in the Glenkens.
:: New Galloway
The name - The New Town of Galloway was first recorded in 1682. The
quiet unspoilt and picturesque town of New Galloway lies on the
west side of the valley at the north end of Loch Ken. The actual
town of New Galloway is largely built around a single north-south
High Street that climbs up through the village with a pretty
waterfall burn at the lower end.
New Galloway the smallest Royal Burgh in
Scotland, had its charter granted to Sir John Gordon by King
Charles I in 1629 and was probably given to the Gordon family due
to the fact that they were large landowners in Galloway at the
time. But settlement in this area dates back even further when
Kenmure Castle, (which is now a ruin), situated on the edge of the
village, was fought over by John Balliol and the Lords of Galloway
in the late 1200s. Another historic feature is the Town Hall
situated on the high street in the centre of the village, with an
attractive tower, dating back to 1875.
There are a number of places to eat in the village - Kitty's
Tearoom (adjacent to the start point) and The Old Smiddy (near the
bottom of the Main Street) are both particularly good. You'll also
find a few other shops including a Post Office in the Main
Street.
How to find this Cache
It is intended that you might drive or cycle around Loch Ken to
find each of the following individual, but now 'linked' caches. You
can of course visit them in whatever order you wish, so long as you
finish near New Galloway - the final location of this cache.
Each of these caches now has a corresponding number written
clearly on the underside of it's lid. For example CACHEA might (but
it doesn't I'm afraid:-) have written A=7 and so on. Once you have
visited all 6 locations, you will be able to make the simple
calculations shown below at CACHEG to decode your final
location.....what could be simpler??
Print off these sheets, plus this one, before you start:
CACHEA - GC1EQ7J Kenmure Castle
CACHEB - GC1X636 The Port Road - New Galloway Station??
OR GC1EQ48 The Secret Cages
CACHEC - GC1EXQ7 S R Crockett Memorial
CACHED - GC1ETK8 Galloway Hydro - Glenlochar
Barrage
CACHEE - GC1EQ3K Maxwell's Burial Place - Parton
CACHEF - GC1EQ6J Dalarran Standing Stone
Good Luck!