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"Wee Fergie" Traditional Cache

Hidden : 5/22/2008
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is hidden on the outskirts of Ballynure, Co. Antrim.

Henry George Ferguson (1884 - 1960) was quite an inventor. As a teenager he worked in his brother Joe's car and cycle repair business in Belfast but before long he had developed a motor cycle and racing car of his own. At the age of 25 he had made the first powered flight in Ireland in a machine of his own design flying from Dundrum to Newcastle. In 1911 he opened a car business in May Street, Belfast, later moving to Donegall Square East. He began to sell American tractors in 1914 but finding these heavy and difficult to operate he designed and built a new plough which was coupled to the tractor in three point linkage, so that both formed a single unit. This, the Ferguson System, was to revolutionize farming. In 1936 he started manufacturing his own tractors and eventually formed partnerships with Henry Ford and Massey Harris. He is perhaps most famous for his "Wee Fergie" or TC-20, a lightweight tractor. About half a million were made - all revered and appreciated by farmers in many countries. The folk in Ballynure clearly hold him in high regard and wish to remind us of his contribution to farming. Ballynure (from Baile an Luir - farmstead of the Yew Tree) has been split into two by the busy A8 road which runs from Belfast to Larne. After you have found the cache why not cross the road and visit the old church which has connections with Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver's Travels) and the graveyard with its crypt (The Dead House) which was originally used to deter the profitable practice of body-snatching. The cache container is a magnetic nano - as it contains only a strip of paper for logging your success please bring a pen/pencil. There is a good chance muggles will be about - please use stealth and replace the cache carefully in the same position afterwards. Treat Wee Fergie with great care - he has been carefully and lovingly restored.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Uvture engure guna ybjre. Haqre gur obaarg.

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)