The White Crow Traditional Cache
Hidden : 1/18/2007
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:


Centuries ago white crows were so prized that fowlers tried to change the colour of their baby crows by soaking them in various deadly formulas. Among the Celts, the white crow was the emblem of the heroine, Branwen. In North America, the Kiowas taught that the white crow turned black from eating snake eyes. A few years ago several national newspapers carried stories of a film, Gormenghast, being saved by the discovery, in Aberaeron Wildlife Park in Wales, of a very rare white crow. Similarly, American NBC news filmed crowds who gathered to see a rare white crow in India. We who live in Malhamdale have become used to such sights! A local, born in this dale, confirms that there have been white crows around here for at least fifty years and a farmer whose family have farmed here for generations gives a time span of nearer two hundred years. One nested in his barn recently and he recalls another nest containing one black and three white crow chicks. Sadly, a couple of local boys shot them as pests. Strangely, these white crows are fully accepted by ‘normal’ black crows and so their dynasty continues. I have seen a white crow locally hundreds of times but never more than one at a time. Sometimes I see it almost daily but then I may not see it again for a few months. I have seen it as far north as Malham, as far south as Eshton, as far East as Winterburn and as far west as Stockdale Lane, above Settle. But most usually I see it on either side of Scosthrop Lane which leads from Airton to Settle. I was going to call this cache “Kirk Gait”, as I intended to place it close to the old path of that name, along which the residents of Otterburn used to walk each Sunday to church in Kirkby Malham, a distance of about 1¾ miles each way. However, as I approached the cache site the white crow flew directly over the hiding place and landed in the next field. As I left the site it flew back and landed close to the cache! It seemed to be asking for recognition and so this cache got its name!
You might not, indeed you probably will not, see the white crow on your visit but bring a camera, just in case… but you will need a long zoom lens, it is extremely wary of humans. Parking is available in Kirkby Malham church car park [not during service times], or at the “O.K. Corral” [N 54° 01.911, W 002 10.416], on the road out of Airton toward Settle. Either route can be very wet underfoot [spare a thought for those Victorians in their Sunday best trudging along this path], and if you start out from the O.K. Corral note the lime kiln in the first field on your right. Surely one of the best preserved in the area. This cache is one of seven to be visited to gather co-ordinates for ‘A Malhamdale Meander Challenge’ multi cache. Part of the co-ordinates for that cache are fixed to the side of this cache and written on the cover of the log book.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Hcfgernz sebz gur oevqtr oruvaq n irel ynetr fgbar.

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)


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