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Time flies.
Life is but a shadow.
The inscription on the sundial at the parish church of
St Thomas à Becket Chapel-en-le-Frith.
At the top "TEMPUS FUGIT" (Time Flies).
At the bottom "UT UMBRA" and "SIC VITA" (Life is but a shadow).
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This cache will take you on a short walk around Chapel-en-le-Frith and focuses on the area around the Parish Church of St. Thomas à Becket. It involves visiting 3 places in Chapel-en-le-Frith that in times past would have been visited to organise a funeral. Visiting these locations (stages 1, 2 and 3) will enable you to find the information that will lead you to the ‘final resting place’ of the cache and introduce you to aspects of historic Chapel-en-le-Frith.
For the first stage you will need to visit the Parish Church to identify a grave in the churchyard. Visit the co-ordinates at N53°19.462’ W1°54.867’ (stage 1). There you are to identify an ancient 13th century forester’s gravestone by observing the axe carved into it. Take note of the letters on this gravestone these are the A and B in the co-ordinates for the cache. Please keep to the footpaths as far as is possible, however you may need to walk amongst some graves.
The second stage requires a visit to the Sexton who would organise the digging of a grave. The co-ordinates at N53°19.470’ W1°54.845’ (stage 2) will take you to the gravedigger’s tool shed. Be aware of the road. It does not look as though it would be busy, however it is well used! The Sexton’s job in Chapel-en-le-Frith has been passed down from father to son in one family for over 4 centuries. Look for the stone tablet that comemorates this family of Sextons. You should note the second word of Joseph’s occupation. This will give you the V W X Y Z for the cache co-ordinates.
The third stage co-ordinates (N53°19.440 W1°54.778) will take you to a building in Chapel-en-le-Frith where there used to be a community hearse that could be borrowed to carry the coffin to the graveside. This building is now the Information Centre. When you reach the stage 3 ‘spot’ you will find a pole with stencilled numbers on it. For the final set of co-ordinates for the cache you will need the last 3 numbers Q, R and S. These can be substituted directly into the cache co-ordinates below.
You will need to convert the letters that you found from your stage 1 and stage 2 exploration into numbers using the key below. (The A and B from the gravestone, and V W X Y Z from the plaque on the gravedigger’s toolshed)
A=0, B=1, C=2, D=3, E=4, F=5, G=6, H=7, I=8, J=9, K=0, L=1, M=2, N=3, O=4, P=5, Q=6, R=7, S=8, T=9, U=0, V=1, W=2, X=3, Y=4, Z=5
Now replace the numbers corresponding with the letters A and B from the gravestone, V W X Y Z from the plaque over the gravedigger’s toolshed and Q, R and S from stage 3 into the cache co-ordinates below
N53° 19.(B+Y)(S+W)(X-V) ’
W 1° 54.(A+Y)(R)(Q+Z) ’
When you have decoded the co-ordinates, you have a short walk to find the 'final resting place' of the cache.
There is a FTF badge for first to find the cache.
Listen to "When I Die and they Lay Me to Rest" link