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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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There are three caches on this journey and the coordinates for the second cache are in the first cache and the ones for the third cache are in the second. Please do not remove the laminated copies of the coordinates. Note them down and leave the laminates for others to find and use.
To find the final cache you will need to take the same short journey that 7million tons of stone took to build Holyhead Breakwater. The terrain is generally very easy and level on paths and lanes, although care should be taken with small children on the Breakwater. The whole walk is 4.5 miles. This could be shortened to 3.5 miles by utilizing the unofficial parking at the approach to the breakwater. The walking distance is the reason for the 3 star terrain rating. The journey starts at the Breakwater Country Park. Created in an old quarry at the base of Holyhead Mountain, the Breakwater Country Park provides an excellent centre for coastal walks. From here it is possible to walk along the Holyhead Breakwater, (which is the longest in the UK with a length of 1¾ miles). There is a popular circular path around scenic 'Rocky Coast'; and also trails which lead to the summit of Holyhead Mountain, and along the coast to breathtaking North Stack. (The start of the trail to North Stack is marked by a memorial to several American servicemen who lost their lives in a nearby aeroplane crash in 1944. The memorial features the remains of a propeller blade from the original aircraft). Details of the paths can be found at the Park Centre, which incorporates a car park, shop, toilets and an information centre manned by a warden. During the summer months the Holyhead Model Boat Club sail on the pond in the park on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, making a visit especially popular with children. Also, during the summer, the Holyhead Breakwater Railway Company run a Land Train service from Newry Beach in Holyhead, to both the Breakwater Country Park, and to the end of the Breakwater. After the Breakwater was constructed, the Quarry became a Brickworks. At the Park, one can view the old Brickshed and the 'Crusher Building'. The 'Crusher Building' was where the raw materials, to make the Bricks, was crushed. The Park is a great place to be, open all year round and no entrance fee! Then….on to the Breakwater THE BUILDING OF THE BREAKWATER The decisions having been taken and the plans being made, building began on the breakwater, or at least preparations made to build it - or them, as originally of course, there were two breakwaters to be built, plus a new packet pier within the new harbour. Mr. Thomas Jackson, whose work "The Visitor's Handbook for Holyhead" published in 1853 is quoted in the chapter on the coming of the Railway, wrote an eye-witness account of the building, and we cannot do better than to borrow his words once again :- "The Contractors for this gigantic project are Messrs. J. and C. Rigby, London, G. G. Dobson, Esq., C.E. , is the Resident Engineer and Ir. R. Cousins, Engineer for the Contractors. The works were commenced in January 1848, and they have been going on since then as rapidly as it was possible to proceed. Twelve-months were occupied in laying down rails to the quarries, erecting stages, and making other necessary preparations for the works; since which, an average of 1,300 men have been employed on the works. The broad gauge has been used for the railway, by which means the contractors were enabled to bring larger pieces of stone, than the narrow gauge could accommodate. There are two quarries used, one called Moelfre Quarry, from which limestone is produced, and the other is, in fact, the Holyhead Mountain, from the sides of which the materials for the works are taken. A railway is formed from the extensive quarry on the side of the mountain to the Soldier's Point, and Salt Island." (Buoys were moored to mark the lines of the piers) ."Wooden staging is ran out into the sea, strong long balks or piles are fixed in a vertical position in the water, resting on the base; these are secured with beams placed longitudinally so as to found a "base for the construction of the railway". The top of the staging is considerably above high-water mark. The depth of the sea at low water, on the line of the breakwater, varies from 20 to 40 ft; the tide rising on the average to a further height of 12 ft. in spring and 7 ft. in neaps. Along the top of the staging are railways capable of sustaining the weight of a locomotive engine and a number of wagons loaded." "In the erection of these stage the utmost care has been evinced by the contractors and engineers to prevent accident; in order to obtain this object, no expense has been spared; the machinery and staging being of the best and strongest description. .... In no quarries extent is work of such magnitude and rapidity carried on. Holyhead Mountain . . . consists of schistus quartz of so hard a nature that the tools of the workmen will scarcely touch it, and its edges will cut glass. The quarrying begun with the foot of the mountain slope, and it has progressed into the mountain until an elevation 130 feet perpendicular has been attained. The scene of the quarries exhibits one of the most active pictures of industry, from the width of the workings, and the number of labourers employed." Mr. Jackson goes on to describe a scene of intense industry and interest, of tram-lines laid out, wagons rolling about, horses and men, locomotive engines "of unique design and requirements" and a great many workshops. At the beginning of the Breakwater, beside Mr. Rigby's house at Soldier's Point, the walls may still be seen of what was a village of industry, with smiths and foundries, offices and carpenters' workshops. Railway lines were laid not only from the quarries to Soldier's Point, and along the wooden gantry of the breakwater, but also along the top of the Newry or Town Beach, to Salt Island, and the site of the East Breakwater. The stones that supported this railway may still be seen along The "Top Prom" or promenade, and the beginnings of the rubble foundation for the pier are stretched sea-wards from the tip of Salt Island. Owing to changes in plan in 1854 the pier was abandoned and the line dismantled. Rendel's proposed plan for a Packet pier does not seem to have been started. Rubble from the quarry was used to form the foundation, and it is more than 500 feet wide all along its length, and in some parts very deep. The actual rubble came from the Mountain, while the gigantic blocks of wall were brought from Moelfre by sailing boat. Laying the foundations were of course the most difficult and dangerous parts of the work, which was frequently, hindered by storms, and despite the care Mr. Jackson talks about 20 workmen lost their lives between 1849-1852. It is noted that the pay of a stone-mason was 4/6 per day, and that of a labourer 2/6. The amount of stone they moved was tremendous - 24,000 tons - laid in one week. Approximately 7,000,000 tons of stone was laid. A solid wall of stone was laid on top of the foundation, some 39ft high, of two decks, with a rail track laid on the lower, and a parapet on the seaward side. The swell of the sea was reduced considerably as soon as the stones reached sea level, and ships began to shelter more and more within the harbour, thus thoroughly justifying the building of the harbour even before its completion. More blasting was done at this time in the quarry than had been done anywhere in the United Kingdom. In 1857 the biggest blast ever created at that time took place when it was said that 150,000 tons of stone were dislodged. Just before the explosion took place, a goat was seen on the mountain just above the site. The area had already been cleared, and it was too late to do anything about the animal so the surprise of the onlookers may be imagined when after the blast the goat was seen unhurt a few yards further away - the earth had moved in one piece, thus absorbing the shock of the blast, and the goat had remained safe on top. Many engineers and V. I. P. s came to witness this blast. In 1854 meanwhile far-reaching changes had taken place. Most, indeed nearly all, the ship that used or would use the Harbour of Refuge were sailing ships, for which manoeuvring was difficult in certain winds. In this year it was decided that the proposed entrance to the harbour was too small for safety, and the East Breakwater was abandoned. The North Breakwater was extended turning north-east, making the Breakwater one and half miles long, then the longest in Europe, and giving the harbour of refuge three times the area and much deeper water. This change of plan gave the Break its peculiar and distinctive shape, which makes it unique. This cannot be appreciated from either the town or the seaward side, but only from the foot of the Break or from the Mountain. In 1856 John Hawkshaw succeeded Rendel as chief engineer. A legend has grown in the town that the change in plans was a mistake, the Breakwater should not have been the shape it is, and that Rendel committed suicide because of it. This is complete nonsense, of course, Rendel died peacefully in his bed; apparently another, lesser engineer did commit suicide, but for entirely unconnected reasons. "This Breakwater was commenced in 1845, and on August 19th, 1873, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, declared the work to be complete. At the end of the Breakwater at more than 1¾ miles out to sea stands the Breakwater lighthouse. The lighthouse is a square structure, standing 70ft. above high water mark, with a red revolving light. It is thought to have been unusually designed as a square-shaped tower to make it's living quarters more comfortable. The lighthouse was manned until November 1961. The internal fabric of the building has sadly subsequently fallen into disrepair, and it is the intention of the Holyhead Breakwater Railway Company (HBRC) to work on it's refurbishment, in conjunction with the Holyhead Maritime Museum. It is hoped to have a display illustrating the building of the Breakwater on the ground floor, with a recreation of the keeper's sleeping area as it was when it was manned on the first.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Lbhe svefg - Gnxr gur svgarff genvy, erfg njuvyr naq lbh'yy svaq zr ng onfr bs ynetre cbfg.
Lbhe frpbaq - zntargvp. Gbc.
Lbhe guveq vf orarngu n ebcrl gbjre.