The Big Hole! Traditional Cache
gasman2857: Will return when the work finishes
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A cache overlooking Europe’s largest man-made hole
Aberdeen has always been known as the Granite City due to the extensive use of Granite as a building material for much of its public and residential building. But where did this granite come from?
One of the principal sites was the Rubislaw Quarry in the west-end where excavation began in 1741. In 1778 the City Council sold it to a local businessman as it doubted it would be a source of good building material. In the following near 200 years, over 6 million tones of Rubislaw granite were extracted, not only building Aberdeen but being used to build two of the world’s then most important docks at Southampton and Portsmouth docks and exported all over the world as far as Japan.
By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 127 working quarries in the Aberdeenshire area, supplying both pink and grey granite to the world.
In addition to providing financial benefits to the area, granite was seen as an attractive stone to work with and two architects in particular, John Smith and Archibald Simpson, were responsible for the large numbers of impressive granite structures which still grace the city today.
John Smith learnt his trade in London but took on responsibility for public works in the City of Aberdeen in 1807. His most famous works include the former North Church (now Aberdeen Arts’ Centre), Trinity Hall and the entrance to St. Nicholas's Churchyard.
Archibald Simpson was also London-trained but had studied in Italy. He established a private architectural practice in the city at Bon Accord Square in 1813 and whilst working with Smith initially went on to be his principal rival in reshaping the city. Simpson was responsible for much of Union Street, including the city's famous Music Hall, several churches, including St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral, and the old Royal Infirmary at Woolmanhill.
However perhaps Simpson’s most famous building is Marischal College, the second-largest granite structure in the world, after the Escorial Palace near Madrid. Founded in 1593 by the 4th Earl Marischal as a protestant alternative to King's College it underwent extensive work at the hands of Simpson between 1836 and 1844 although it took until 1906 for the building to reach its current size and the 279 feet main tower and granite facade to be completed.
During World War II, radioactive material from the X-ray department at the then new Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was stored in a 50 metre deep bore hole at Rubislaw thus keeping it safer but still close to the hospital as Aberdeen was seen as a prime target for air attack. Nevertheless a direct hit on the store would have had dire consequencies.
In recent years Granite has become a much less popular building medium although it has been used for certain civic buildings or to help new buildings fit in with their granite surroundings. Aberdeen’s Bon Accord Shopping Centre was built with Chinese granite and Kemnay granite was used for the new Scottish Parliament building. Whilst cost has undoubtedly had a part to play in this there are also concerns about the perceived health risks of granite buildings as granite contains uranium and radium, which can release radon gas. Aberdeen has been identified as having a high prevalence of radon which apparently is the second-largest cause of lung cancer in the UK
For many years Rubislaw Quarry was one of the must-see sights for visitors to the Granite City. Indeed I can remember being taken there in the mid 1960’s while on holiday in the city and still have a souvenir piece of Aberdeen granite at home.
The quarry closed in 1971 but at 150 metres wide and 90 metres deep remains the largest man-made hole in Europe. In addition, as it is now filled with rainwater, it also counts as one of Scotland's largest man-made lochs! It has become a haven for wildlife and whilst fenced off from the neighbouring area it is overlooked by a couple of office blocks and a select modern housing development with perhaps one of the best but most unusual views in Aberdeen. Just climb up to the fence surrounding the old quarry and take a look.
The cache is a 35mm film canister. Please take your own pen / pencil. The cache is accesible from outwith the quarry perimeter fence and you do NOT have to enter the quarry area itself. Tree cover in the area gave me an accuracy of +/- 7 metres in placing the cache so you may have to use the clue.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Onfr bs srapr cbfg