Trains and Planes (Long Ago)

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N/S ? ??.??? W/E ??? ??.???  [] In Eastern England, United Kingdom

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This cache is located near the former Stow Maries Halt (now a nature reserve managed by Essex Wildlife Trust) on the disused Maldon - Woodham Ferrers railway line. Opened in 1889, the passenger service was withdrawn 50 years later and the goods’ service ceased on 1 April 1953.

Stow Maries (or Stow St. Mary as it was known) airfield was used by 37 (Home Defence) Squadron Royal Flying Corps from 1916 until late 1919. The graves of three WW1 pilots can be found in the parish churchyard (see below).

The reserve is reached via Church Lane, which connects the B1012 with the road through Stow Maries village. There is a small lay-by almost directly opposite the entrance at N51º 39.667´ E000º 39.115´, or park on the grass verge on the bridge a few yards further up the hill from here.

Remnants of the platform are still visible just inside the entrance (but you have to look hard to find it). Four species of fern – wall-rue, maidenhair spleenwort, black spleenwort and hartstongue – grow on the bridge parapets.

This section of the dismantled railway line became a bridleway in August this year (2005): it is not yet marked on OS maps.

The cache itself is a 0.33 litre plastic storage box containing (when first placed):
Toy clay;
Bottle opener;
Minotaur;
Polish national park badge;
Garfield book.

You can retrace your steps from the cache, or for a circular walk (quite short, five stiles to climb), make your way to the church of St. Mary and St. Margaret at N51º 39.799´ E0º 38.997´ and enjoy the views over the Crouch valley.

Additional Hints ( Decrypt ) 

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)

tb abegu ba gur sbbgcngu cnfg na byq tngr naq pbapergr tngr cbfg [see spoiler], ng gur ynetr gerr jvgu n jnlznex ba vg ghea yrsg (Decrypted Hints)

Find...

• ...other caches hidden or found by this user

Long ago

Spoiler!!!!

Roughly 10m past here, down to the left.
The platform - honest!

Logged Visits ( 112 total. Visit the Gallery (19 images) )

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Cache Logs

November 15 by stevkel (70 found) Easy find on a lovely sunny day, took WDD coin, left nothing, (Need to start somewhere) TFTC [view this log]

November 2 by mel-ray (301 found) Tried night caching with this one. Totaly different game, armed with torches, headlamps, wellies and a golf stick. Don't ask... TFTC. TCLC [view this log]

October 26 by Stumpydog2009 (43 found) Nice spot for a short walk, we saw sheep which now roam in the woods. The dogs had a great time (especially Stumpydog) and not too muddy! The clue was spot on. Left John Lennon GC. TFTC [view this log]

August 25 by FENDRAGON (101 found) Another well placed cash in a pleasant area for a walk. Picked up the Pink Panther who will be dropped near Heathrow at the weekend, hopefully a step closer to Paris! Left a stretchy Frog [view this log]

August 10 by dadjack (26 found) Dropped of this travel bug. Sorry its not gone far, we took it to Wales on holiday. We could not find a cache we tried for there and then we could noot look for any more. Dropped it of here yesterday. [view this log]

Current time: 11/22/2009 6:40:18 PM
Last Updated: 11/15/2009 1:33:58 PM
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum