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This cache is a very small, black, magnetic nano. It is accessible 24 hours a day and access is good being exclusively pavement. This may well be a high muggle area depending on the time of day, and there is also residential properties and a few shops nearby therefore stealth will be required.
Please bring your own writing tool!
GPS may be erratc due to nearby buildings although the destination is quite obvious. Cache is in plain view during ferry terminal opening hours although is reached from outside the actual premises. Outside of opening hours a bit of fumbling may be required. Cache is placed within easy reach although those who are vertically challenged may have more luck!
The Shields Ferry.
The Shields Ferry operates across the River Tyne, England, between North Shields and South Shields. The service is operated by Nexus (The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive) and is part of the Tyne and Wear Metro System. It was known as The Market Place Ferry until takeover by the PTE in 1972.
There have been ferries across the Tyne since the 14th century, and this is the only service that remains.
The ferry service makes just under 25,000 journeys a year, and carries nearly 400,000 passengers a year. There are two vessels that operate the service, currently; The Pride of the Tyne (1993) and The Spirit of the Tyne (2007). Usually only one ferry is in operation at a time, although both will be used during peak periods to operate a shuttle service. Also, if The Pride of the Tyne is in use of Private Hire/Rivertrip etc. the Spirit of the Tyne will operate the standard ferry service. Each trip, the Shields Ferry travels approx. 0.48miles (0.77km) across the river.
Previous & Current Vessels
The Freda Cunningham was the first ferry to be commissioned and was in use when the ferry service was called the "Market Place Ferry". This vessel had a reputation for unreliability and was frequently out of service. The ferry's name came from the wife of North East Labour Party leader Andy Cunningham, whose son was the politician and cabinet minister, Jack Cunningham. She was commissioned in 1972 and sold in 1993 when the Pride of The Tyne came into service.
The Shieldsman was built by Hancock Shipbuilders of Pembroke Dock and entered service in 1976. The ferry is double ended, and can operate either way, however they typically work one way, and turn around as part of the crossing over the Tyne. It can carry 350 passengers in public service, or a reduced capacity of 250 on private hire. The Shieldsman was retired early in 2007, at the age of 30, to be replaced by the new The Spirit of the Tyne. Nexus sold the Shieldsman in 2008 to a private buyer from the Portsmouth area, who chose to remain anonymous.
The Pride of the Tyne was built by Swan Hunters in nearby Wallsend and entered service in 1993. It was a modified version of the Shieldsman and cost £1.5 million. The vessel also has a bar, The Admirals Locker, that is available on private hire. The vessel was also the first river ferry to incorporate all of the new safety features introduced after the Marchioness disaster in 1989.
A new ferry, The Spirit of the Tyne, entered service in 2007, replacing the Shieldsman, which was retired after 30 years. The new ferry is an 'off the shelf' product and differs greatly from the Shieldsman and The Pride of the Tyne.
Landings
The services uses two landing stages:-
South Shields Ferry Landing (N?54.99722 W1.441056) was opened in July 1999 to replace a century old landing. The landing provides three berths as well as an indoor waiting room and offices.
North Shields Ferry Landing (?N55.003861 W1.443972) was opened in July 2004 providing better accessibility and passenger waiting facilities than its predecessor which was built in a similar style to Tyne and Wear Metro Stations.
Currently, there are plans for a landing stage to be added at Royal Quays International Ferry Terminal but these plans have been on the table for years.
Users
The service is used by many commuters mainly from North Tyneside and South Tyneside. The service provides a viable alternative to travelling via Newcastle city centre on the Tyne and Wear Metro or the Tyne Tunnel. The Shields Ferry can be used by cyclists and is part of the National Cycle Network. All of the vessels in service with Nexus can carry wheelchairs.
A brief history of the ferries:
1377 Historical documents indicate that there was a ferry service operating between North and South Shields this long ago
1816 A steam packet operated between North and South Shields
1828 The North Shields Ferry Company obtained a charter to operate the ferry service that exists today. Their first three ferry boats were: Baron Newcastle, Durham and Northumberland. The Baron Newcastle was eventually replaced by Tyne
1847 The Tyne Direct Ferry Company began a ferry service with a ferry called Percy
1856 The Whitehill Point Ferry started up with a ferry called Favourite
1862 to
1908 The paddle steamers of the Tyne General Ferry Company provided a passenger service between Elswick and South Shields, stopping 21 times in as many miles. The company went into liquidation as a result of competition from the faster electric trams
1863 The Tyne Improvement Commission bought The North Shields Ferry Company, The Tyne Direct Ferry Company and The Whitehill Point Ferry and took over their ferry boats. 13 ferries were built to the Tyne Improvement Commission's specification: Shields (1868), Tyne (1869), Tynemouth (1883), J B Proctor (1890), Northumberland and Collingwood (both 1896), George Armstrong (1904), Thomas Richardson and U A Ritson (both 1906), South Shields (1911), Durham and Tynemouth (both 1925) and Northumbria (1929)
1929 At this point there were 11 ferry routes across the Tyne between Newburn and the mouth of the river
1967 The Tyne Tunnel was opened, resulting in a huge reduction in ferry traffic. Before it was opened, the three ferry boats then in operation - South Shields, Tynemouth and Northumbria - carried about 400,000 cars each year, as well as countless pedestrians. The Tyne Tunnel also caused the ferry between Jarrow and Howdon to be discontinued
1972 The service known as the Market Place Ferry, the only service which survives today, was taken over by Nexus (formerly Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive). The Freda Cunningham was built to their order in 1972.
1976 The Shieldsman was built.
1993 The Pride of the Tyne was built, and the Freda Cunningham was taken out of service and sold.
2007 The Spirit of the Tyne was built, and the Shieldsman was taken out of service after the Great North Run.
2009 The Shieldsman was sold.
About the ferries:-
The Shields Ferry fleet currently consists of two vessels - the 'Pride of the Tyne' (1993) and the 'Spirit of the Tyne' (2007). The Spirit is slightly longer than the Pride.
The Pride's hulls are identical, but the Spirit has a conventional bow and stern.
A Voith Schneider propeller unit is sited at both ends of each ferry .
The units which propel and steer the vessels are driven by their own engine and gearbox.
Each ferry has twin diesel generators to supply electrical power.
The ferries operate diagonally across the river without the need for turning. This saves time so the speed of the ferry can be reduced, saving wear and tear on the machinery and fuel without reducing frequency of the service.
The design of the ‘Pride of the Tyne’ was adapted from that of the ‘Shieldsman’. The basic configuration was retained while the standard of passenger accommodation was improved. The design of the Spirit was adapted from the Gosport ferry, which has run between Portsmouth and Gosport for many years (incidentally, the Spirit was built by VT Halmatic in Portchester, near Gosport).
The ‘Pride’ was the first river ferry to incorporate, from new, all of the new safety features introduced in the wake of the Marchioness disaster on the Thames in 1989. The hulls of both ferries are divided into 5 watertight compartments.Both boats have self-inflating rafts which are mounted at each end of the main deck on the Pride, aft on the Spirit. Additionally 303 life jackets are carried on-board the Pride and 209 on the Spirit, sufficient for a full complement of passengers and crew.
Both vessels have 2m wide boarding ramps allowing easy embarkation for all passengers including those with prams, wheelchairs and bicycles.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ernpu ybj oruvaq gur ybpxrq terl obk. Pnershy abg gb trg n fubpx!