GC14J05 Batty Box (Traditional Cache) in Yorkshire, United Kingdom created by Cache Bang Wallop

This cache has been archived.

Dalesman: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
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Many thanks,
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GC14J05 ▼

A cache by Cache Bang Wallop Message this owner

Hidden : 7/22/2007

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Well, we picked our spot, did all the necessary research, and placed our cache only to get home and find someone had placed a cache near the viaduct 2 weeks before us! Oh well, we think our cache is far enough away from the other one (‘GC148E6: Batty Moss Viaduct’), so here it is.

The cache

The cache is located on Batty Moss, a large wind-blown moorland overlooking Ribblehead viaduct. We would allow up to an hour to do the cache, and some stout footwear for the approximately mile long walk.

The cache is a large plastic lunch box, and was placed containing the following items:

-Island Hopper travel bug
-Disposable camera (please take pictures of yourselves or the views when you visit the cache and place it back in the cache: please do not remove this – we plan to develop all the photo’s that you geocachers have taken when visiting the cache).
-Chef pastry brush
-Football soap on a rope
-Disco tortoise (it’ll make sense when you press it…)
-Toy steam locomotive
-Toy railway carriage
-Age 2 birthday candle

The cache is located approximately a quarter of a mile east of the viaduct, and can be accessed by walking along the farm track from the Ingleton-Hawes road towards the viaduct and then bearing eastwards, whenever your GPS tells you to!

There is ample parking on the aforementioned road in several lay-bys either side of the railway bridge. There is also parking available at the Railway Station. The tea van at the road junction and the Station Inn offer welcome refreshment or retreat on those delightful Pennine days where the rain comes at you horizontally (which it often does up there…).

A word of warning

Firstly, please be aware that both the viaduct and several sites comprising material from when the line was built are Scheduled Ancient Monuments. The cache is not located in or near any man-made material, so please do not disturb any of this when hunting for the cache.

Secondly, there are several large and dangerous un-fenced shake holes dotted around the area, so please take especial care not to fall down any when staring at your GPS!

Ribblehead and Blea Moor: Some background

Batty Moss is the large moorland waste across which the viaduct spans. The rock of the area is typically limestone, and glacial drumlins dominate the landscape leading away north and east from the moss up to Blea Moor. 2 of the Three Peaks, Ingleborough and Whernside, tower over the viaduct, while Pen-y-ghent can also be clearly seen to the south.

The viaduct was constructed during 5 long, hard years between 1870 and 1875 (the date stone can be clearly seen on the parapet in the centre of the viaduct), by the Midland Railway company. With the 2 more obvious routes to Scotland to the east and west of the Pennines having been used, the company was forced to find a new way, for their London-Glasgow expresses. The 72-mile long Settle-Carlisle railway, driven through the hills, makes up arguably the most memorable part of that route.

In turn, the viaduct is arguably the most memorable part of the S&C. It has 24 arches, reaches 105 feet at its highest point and is a quarter of a mile long. What is often overlooked is that the viaduct is higher at its northern end, owing to the gradient of the railway at this point. Bear in mind that the viaduct is also on a curve, and that this was all done without computers, or even calculators, and was built almost completely by hand. Sadly, the cost to human life during its construction was high.

The line never had the level of traffic of the main western and eastern routes to Scotland, but nevertheless played an important role in alleviating stress from those routes. It escaped the Beeching axe of the 1960s, but faced its toughest challenge in its darkest hours during the 1980s.

The line, following years of neglect, was in need of severe overhaul, which given the expenditure required, British Rail were unwilling to commit to. Ribblehead viaduct itself was in a very sorry state of maintenance, and its crumbling state became arguably the greatest symbol of the line’s struggle for retention. However, owing largely to the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line, formed in 1981, the line was reprieved in April 1989. Shortly afterwards, the viaduct was given the overhaul it desperately needed, and is now said to be in as good a condition as when it was built.

Today, the line is an important secondary main line, carrying both passengers, and large amounts of freight, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Arguably overshadowing those mundane workings are the steam charters which still run over the line, having done so since 1978. If you are interested in travelling on one of these charters, go to: (visit link)

There is plenty to see around the area, and further north the main path up Whernside takes you to the lonely Blea Moor sidings, Littledale (where the stone for the viaduct was quarried) and Blea Moor aqueduct and tunnel –other major undertakings.

The day this cache was place, Cache Bang Wallop walked across the viaduct in a special fund-raising event run by the Friends, with ‘Batty Box’ in Wallop’s rucksack! We hope you enjoy the cache and the view of the viaduct it affords. Good luck!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Va n tevxr va n fcnefr nern bs Yvzrfgbar cnirzrag, pbirerq ol ebpxf. Qverpgyl bccbfvgr nepu 17.

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)