Prestwick Carr Traditional Cache
Phil100: The cache location has been under water for some time and so I am, reluctantly, archiving the cache. [:(]
This entry was edited by Phil100 on Saturday, 09 February 2013 at 21:03:55 UTC.
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(regular)
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Although there is a limited amount of parking not far from the cache location, you may enjoy finding it as part of a walk of about three miles from Ponteland to Dinnington. The route is paved for much of the way, although not suitable for vehicles.
Prestwick Carr is an area of about 700 acres of rough, boggy pasture between Ponteland and Dinnington. It is a broad basin excavated by ice sheets during the last Ice Age, about 10-15,000 years ago. Bore holes in the area have revealed about a foot of gravel and soil on top of up to 16 feet of peat below which are layers sand and gravel indicating flood events. Lower again is a thick layer of grey sandy clay and silt indicating that there was once a substantial lake.
Until the nineteenth century the Carr consisted of an area of meres, swamp, fen and raised bog, the extent of the water depending upon the seasonal weather and the level of water in the River Pont for which it serves as a flood plain. During the 18th and 19th centuries, because of its proximity to Newcastle, it was very popular for leisure pursuits such as walking, fishing, shooting and nature study as well as being worked by neighbouring farmers. The Carr had always been a wild and difficult place to cross and it wasn’t unknown for people to get lost. In 1890 a Roman camp kitchen of thirteen pieces was found on the Carr, probably lost or abandoned by travellers crossing the bogs.
The possibility of draining the Carr was considered as early as the 1720s and a new cut to the Pont was excavated during the 18th century. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1840 to enable a plan to extract water for Newcastle and Gateshead but the scheme came to nothing. Instead plans were drawn up in the 1850s by John Furness Tone to reclaim the Carr by excavating new drainage channels. Two new farms totalling 600 acres were sold. The Carr was finally enclosed in 1860 following the passing of an Enclosure Act in 1852.
Today, despite a new drainage scheme being carried out in 1945-46, flooding does still occur from time to time. Although the range of flora and fauna is not as extensive as it was in the 18th and 19th centuries it is still a very important area for wild life, particularly birds. The Carr is now managed by Newcastle City Council as a nature reserve with part of the area being a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oruvaq n unjgubea ohfu.
Treasures
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