Patrons will please note that I intend to archive this cache,
and this series, as of midnight on 4th April 2011. After a year (or
more) of the TCIB series, I want to make the centre of Bristol
available for old hands and newcomers alike to lay new and
interesting caches, hopefully creating a more rapidly changing
caching environment with all the fun that entails! You have three
months advance warning to a) find any in this series you want to
log, and b) plan those caches you've been dying to lay but couldn't
find a gap!
I've immensely enjoyed setting this series, have learned a
lot, and have been overjoyed by your enthusiastic responses to my
first offerings. Thank you to you all.
Oh, and don't worry - you haven't heard the last of me and my
caches... 
St. George's was a Waterloo church, built as a chapel-of-ease
(that is, a satellite chapel) to the Cathedral of St Augustine
between 1821 and 1823 using funds from the 1818 Parliamentary fund
set up for new churches for the poor. The Fund Commissioners
contained only one stipulation: "to make a great show at the West
end". This resulted in a Doric portico surmounted by a cupola, the
whole thing being raised above a grand flight of steps. (Oddly,
this façade is the rear of the building.) A new parish of
St. George's was created on 1st August 1832, and with a
change of vicar in 1871, the interior was upgraded from a plain
Protestant design to include the Italianate marble designs that can
be seen today. The fabric of the church has hardly changed since
then, barring some broken windows, melted-down railings, and a hole
in the roof during World War II.
Whilst little has changed in and of the building, its purpose
has been radically transformed. By 1976, the congregation was so
small that the church was going to be closed, so a group of local
music enthusiasts formed the St. George's Music Trust and took on
the building. This was to be a turning point, and in the 30 years
since, St. George's has become one of the finest concert venues in
Bristol. An upgrade in 1999, brought in sympathetic restoration and
technical upgrades, both inside and out, and to the grounds.
This is one of my favourite buildings in Bristol (second only to
QF): the acoustics here are unbelievably good, and some of the most
beautiful performances I've heard have been in St. Georges.
As an aside, and whilst you're in the area, you may be
interested in The Georgian House, a beautiful, fully preserved and
furnished house from the Georgian period open as a museum. It's
just over the road to the South of St. George's and entrance is
free.
To get to the cache, you'll need to circumnavigate the gardens
at St. George's and count the number of letters in the
following:
- On a Pole (A & B): The top and bottom words
- On a Plaque (C & D): On the what would I plant oaks, and
into what would I carve the words?
- On a Pavement (E & F): What turns into Music, and what
turns into Reed?
- On a Plinth (G & H): The name of he who writes to Kamila,
and the fourth word of the second line
The cache is at:
N51 2(E+F).(G-D)(F)(C) W02
3(D).(H)(D+A)(B)
Update: Another move of this cache, and a change of size
too. Please take note of the new co-ordinate calculations above.
Ta.