Drovers Traditional Cache
Team Marzipan: Swap-shop time for [b][blue]Beaver Pelt Lost in North Wales[/b][/blue] http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=bfa8ba22-156d-4de0-be6b-f5f7b5fd9003 [:)]
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Easy drive-by just off the A55.
Nice peaceful cache site with a lot of bygone history. One of those timeless places. Drovers herds were familiar sights here in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Glan Llyn pond was a drovers' watering hole.
You are looking for one of our small micros with no pen/pencil so please take one.
A little birdie told me about this local pond - Glan LLyn. Wildflowers thrive in the pond and at the damp edges. These provide food and shelter for many birds and animals.
DROVERS
They would cross here with their herds of sheep and black cattle to go to market at Caerwys or further afield to the Midlands and Southern England. There, they would be fattened for sale to provide the roast beef of Olde England.
The lane leading towards Cwm is typical of a drover's ancient route with wide verges for large numbers of cattle.
By the end of the 18th Century, over nine thousand cattle were taken annually from Anglesey into England and many may have passed over these hills. Corgis kept the herds together. They were intelligent and low on the ground so they could snap at the heels of any beast but were low enough to avoid a kick.
The drovers were well paid compared to farm labourers and their extensive travels made them some of the best informed men in Wales. They acted as news carriers between the isolated farms and villages and brought news to the outside world.
They could often read and write and were financially astute, but also tough from dealing with the rigors of life on the road. They wore knitted knee-length woollen stockings over their trousers, wrapped in brown paper leggings waterproofed with soap.
Soap was rubbed on the soles of the stockings to stop blisters as the feet sweated. On the way to market, geese would have tar and sand put on the soles of their feet and pigs would have woollen socks with rubber soles (not joking).
You can still pick out many of the drovers' tracks that dotted the hillsides. Look for small clumps of Scots pine that were planted to mark the way to show drovers that they were welcome.
Today it is difficult to imagine drovers or anyone else walking such distances. It is equally difficult to imagine the countryside without transport.
The last Drover (visit link)
Another intresting site.
(visit link)
Congratulation to Pieman who was first to find this Geocache on the 23/11/07 on his dinner break.
Nearby cache - A55 Star Hotel for TB's GCK8RN.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Tb gb jbex ba na ? be vs lbh ner gbb lbhat gb erzrzore gung, lbh jvyy xabj nobhg Uhzcgl Qhzcgl!!
Treasures
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