Great Scott Traditional Geocache
Professor Xavier: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it. Please note that as this cache has now been archived by a reviewer or HQ staff it will NOT be unarchived.
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Regards
Ed
Professor Xavier - Volunteer UK Reviewer
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This cache is the first in a series of caches planned to celebrate great explorers.
The cache is a magnetic Nano, placed less than ten minutes walk from a powerfully inspiring memorial erected at Mount Wise in Devonport, Plymouth, to commemorate Capt. R. F. Scott, C.V.O., R.N. and his comrades. The view is spectacular.
Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) was born in Plymouth and is nowadays referred to simply as "Scott of the Antarctic."
As a British Naval officer and explorer, he lead two expeditions to the Antarctic regions, the second in 1910-13 became the ill fated Terra Nova Expedition. The aim expedition was to explore the part of Antarctica around the Ross Sea. They also wanted to find out more about the animals, weather and geology of the Antarctic. Dr Edward Wilson, the zoologist on both Scott's expeditions, collected embryos of Emperor penguins so that he could study the birds more closely.
Scott reached the South Pole on 18 January 1912 to find that a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had got there before them in an unsought ‘race for the Pole’. On their return journey Scott and his four comrades all perished, due to a combination of exhaustion, hunger and extreme cold. Tragically, they were only 11 miles from the next food and fuel depot.
Critics have described Scott and his Team as ill prepared but after their deaths, the expedition's meteorologist remarked that in nine years out of 10 they would have survived. Scientists now recognise that nobody could have foreseen the exceptionally cold temperatures on the Ross Ice Shelf in March 1912. Finally, whilst Amundsens party were intent on the Pole alone, when Scotts sled was found, it was half full with rocks collected for scientific study. In his last hours Scott wrote;
‘We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last [...] Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale’
News of the tragedy only reached Britain in February 1913. A huge memorial service, led by the King, was held in St Pauls Cathedral soon afterwards. The memorial at Mount Wise was the work of the sculptor Albert H Hodge (1875-1918) but he unfortunately died before the memorial was completed.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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