The Cale Cross Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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An easy drive-by cache on the “old A1” road. The co-ordinates should bring you to a location within sight of The Cale Cross. Please note that although the Cross can be seen from the side of the road it is situated within the grounds of Blagdon Hall which is NOT normally open to the public.
The Cale Cross was originally in Newcastle and stood at the bottom of the Side, near the foot of Butcher Bank. It is mentioned in William Gray’s “A Survey of Newcastle upon Tyne”, the earliest history of Newcastle, published in 1649. Gray describes it as: “a faire crosse with columns of stones hewn, covered with lead, where is sold milk, egges, butter, &c.” By the time that Henry Bourne published his “History of Newcastle” in 1736 there was a cistern on top of the Cross which held water that was conveyed through lead pipes from Gateshead Fell. Bourne tells us that it got its name “because of the cale or broth which was sold there in former times”. The later Newcastle historian, John Brand, thought it more likely to have been named from kail wort, a herb used in making broth.
In 1773, the old Cale Cross was demolished and replaced in 1783 by one built by local architect David Stevenson who, among other things built the present All Saints Church. The new Cale Cross was built at the expense of Sir Matthew White Ridley of Blagdon Hall and when, in 1807, it had to be demolished because of congestion in the Side, it was removed to the grounds of Blagdon Hall where it still stands.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Jura vg jnf zbirq vg zhfg unir orra ol avar zvyrf, naq nobhg bar uhaqerq srrg!