The name of this cache pays homage to Simon Templar aka “The Saint”. Not the 1960’s series with Roger Moore (or the terrible Val Kilmer film) but the “classic” 1970’s version, “Return of the Saint” with Ian Ogilvy. The days when you got to drive a white Jaguar XJS and wear polo neck sweaters under your sports jacket……….
Why “The Saint” you may ask? Well, it appears that there is a mystery stone, which leans against the east wall of the Kirk, that is (or was) believed to be a Templar memorial (as in the Knights Templar).
The Knights Templar were believed to have owned a large amount of land around the area that is now called Newton Mearns. From recollection Leslie Charteris linked his Saint character to the Knights Templar name.
We are not going to spend a lot of time on the history of MPK (Mearns Parish Kirk). It is interesting but we're sure you just want to get out there and find the cache. If you are interested in the historical side of things you’ll find some more information at:
https://mearnskirk.church/about-us/our-history/a-brief-history-of-mearns-kirk
One of the fun bits of the history, which we are keen to report, is that the gate at the entrance to the Kirkyard has hollow gate posts which acted as sentry boxes in the early 19th century when graveyard watchers guarded the graves at night against “resurrectionists”; grave robbers, who supplied anatomists with corpses. (Don’t let this distract you from your treasure hunting!)
There are other caches close by that can be done while this one is being bagged. These include:
- A Dam fine Cache 1 – Titwood (GC1XRVJ)
- Second Star to the Right............(GC24CPJ)
- Golden Mearnskirk (GC1R1P4)
- Maxwell House (GC1ZFCE)
- Burnhouse Bend (GC11BW6)
- Footpath from Flenders (GC19FWA)
- The Milky Way (GC2C9V0)
Wintery MPK - Jan 2011