Afternoon Ty Multi-Cache

Afternoon Tŷ is a multi-stage geocache located at the St Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff.

The St Fagans National History Museum is a fantastic open-air museum dedicated to over five hundred years of Welsh history and tradition. The Museum contains more than forty carefully re-erected and preserved buildings originating from all parts of Wales. Native breeds of livestock graze in the fields around the buildings, and craftspeople demonstrate their arts. The Museum also houses indoor galleries showcasing Welsh costumes, daily life, and farming practices. There is so much to see and enjoy here that one visit simply isn't enough!

In July 2012, the Museum received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Welsh Government to transform and expand. The indoor galleries are temporarily closed for rebuilding, and sites in the grounds are being prepared for new exhibitions (this is exciting to watch!). However, nearly all of the re-erected historic buildings in the open-air Museum are open as usual, and affected stages of this geocache, including the final location, have been reworked with the kind help of the Museum.

Entry to the Museum is free. Dogs are allowed on site provided they are kept on a lead. Please note that there is a charge for parking (no charge is made for disabled badge holders or motorbikes). There is also a cycle rack adjacent to the car park. The Museum is suitable for push chairs and small children, and disabled access to most of the site is fairly easy. Note, however, that push chairs and dogs (except assistance dogs) are not permitted to enter the historic buildings. All paths are paved or gravelled, although wheelchair access can be difficult in some places.

For further visitors' information and specific advice about accessibility, please contact the Museum on (029) 2057 3500 or view their online visitors' guide and access guide.

The coordinates listed above are for the car park. There are sixteen stages to complete, and one medium-sized plastic lunchbox hidden at the end. Depending how long you linger at each stop, and how much time you might spend enjoying a spot of tea or viewing the galleries, the cache could be completed in a long afternoon. I suggest allowing at least four hours minimum.

Please note that, on occasion, some exhibits may be temporarily closed. Consider telephoning the Museum in advance if you are travelling a long way. If you have trouble finding the answers to any of the clues, I encourage you to consult the friendly and helpful museum staff. Otherwise, please contact me, and I will gladly assist.

You may find it useful to bring along a torch, as some of the buildings can be quite dark, especially on gloomy days.

Permission to place this cache has been generously granted by the St Fagans National History Museum.

The lead cistern in the courtyard is very ornate, featuring a royal coat of arms and the arms of Sir Edward Lewis, who bought the Castle and its estates in 1616. What date is featured in a panel on the cistern?

While you’re here, have a good look at the panels. One of them isn’t right. What’s wrong with it? It’s __________.

You would be forgiven for thinking this a rather sheepish building. It sports a water wheel, certainly; but how many chimneys?

Evil spirits are unwelcome here, and this farmhouse seeks to ward them off by means of colour, rowan berries, and carvings at the front door. How many carved figures greet you as you enter?

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down! The walls of this cottage are made from mud and clay mixed with straw and stone dust. What name is given to this type of mixture?

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down! The walls of this single-storey farmhouse are made of timber frames with wattle-and-daub panels, a typical style of the better Welsh farmhouses of the Middle Ages. It's the oldest farmhouse in the museum by about 100 years. When was it built?

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down! This one is built out of mountain boulders, with what date carved on the fireplace lintel?

Always read the fine print! How many pence would it have cost to take: (a drove of 16 neat cattle) plus (a carriage conveying the mails) past this point?

If you need help, you might make enquiries at the school house, just up the road.

Is this building growling at you?? This is the smallest free-standing building of its kind in Wales. Where was it originally located?

Christ is the Head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation. This house has a coffin drop in the ceiling and also features the mod con of an inside water tap. What year does the furnishing of this house represent?

This farmhouse was originally built as a typical medieval construction, much like Hendre'r-ywydd Uchaf. The year it was rebuilt in stone, 1734, is carved into the lintel above the doorway. A dairy now adjoins the main kitchen and contains, among various dairy equipment, an oak press for making a delicious foodstuff. What is the Welsh word for this substance?

This house has a chimney set at 45-degrees. In what year was it built?

Ecce Homo: behold the man with a smiling skull at his feet. How many sea creatures dance around the feet of St Christopher? How many people are depicted for the last supper opposite? Find the sum of these numbers.

A Tudor trader’s tower of treasure. This medieval vaulted house has a what next to the fireplace?

Upstairs in this building, there is a plaque to the Bevin Boys, who were conscripted to work from (year) to (year). Take the difference of these years.

Shop here for the best Puritan soap, American Cream Lemon soda, and, while you're at it—Why not try this? Which Fry's product is prominently promoted with this slogan?

Now you must find the above coordinates, where the fractional northings and the fractional westings are calculated as below:

Northings. Subtract Answer 12 from Answer 1, and then multiply this by three. This is result A. Separately, multiply Answer 4 by Answer 13, and then add Answer 3. This is result B. Finally, add results A and B. This gives you nnn.

Westings. Divide Answer 10 by Answer 15, and then subtract Answer 4. This is result C. Separately, subtract Answer 6 from Answer 7, and then add Answer 13, and add Answer 15 too. This is result D. Finally, add results C and D. This gives you www.

Next, write each of the remaining answers as words in the grid below, omitting any hyphens and spaces. Treat any Welsh digraphs as two letters.

Now write out the letters from the numbered boxes, in the numbered order.

When you arrive, ask a member of staff: "Gaf i'r bocs celcio, os gwelwch yn dda?" Don't worry, they're perfectly friendly, and they'll be expecting you!