The Hatfield & St. Albans Railway was built with the support
of the GNR and opened on 16th October 1865. It carried both
passengers and freight, but was closed to passengers on 1st October
1951, by the infamous Dr. Beeching. A little freight traffic
continued on the line until 1969.
The local station serving the Camp Road area of St. Albans was
originally called ‘Sanders Sidings’ because of
the sidings built for a company called Sander & Sons that grew
exotic orchids in large greenhouses next to the track. The sidings
were also used for loading straw hats destined for London. Many
years later, after wooden platform had been built, the station was
renamed ‘Salvation Army Halt’, because it was
mainly used by staff working at the Salvation Army's printing works
on the corner of Campfield Road. The remains of these wooden
platforms can still be seen, just before the very modern bridge
across Camp Road. From the sidings, which were located just after
the bridge, millions of “War Cry’s” and huge
volumes of other Salvation Army literature were sent all around the
world.
I just keep going round in
circles!
This is a Traditional cache using a small Tupperware container
just big enough for Geocoins, small TB's and a few swaps. It is
close to the main path - Therefore please move away from the cache
site to sort through the goodies, exchange bugs, fill in log, take
pictures etc. When you replace the cache please ensure that it's
"cover" is back in place as dozens of muggles walk past every
day!
The Alban Way is part of
National Cycle Route no. 61 between Hatfield and St. Albans and is
6½ miles long (Please check out the
Alban Way website and the very interesting Subterranea Britannica website)
The Alban Way Cache Series is
made up from 6 standard caches of various types along the old
railway line and a Bonus cache. To find the Bonus cache you will
have to visit all six standard caches and collect a clue for the
final coordinates of the Bonus cache. To post a log for the final
cache you must have logged all the standard caches – any logs
not meeting this requirement will be deleted!
This series of caches was inspired
by The Berko Monkey’s wonderful ‘Nicky
Line’ and the caches along ‘The Flitch
Way’.
The bonus cache has now been
published - so remember to record the clue – in this cache
it’s on the underside of the cache lid!
"There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's
life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden
treasure."
Mark Twain