Beattock (M74 SDB Series) Traditional Cache
JackieC: Thanks to all who found this one.
Beattock (M74 SDB Series)
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Some call them 'motorway mayhem' caches, some call them 'one for the numbers' caches, or even 'SDBs'; but regardless of their name they are a welcome stop to break up a journey. All caches in this little series have are designed to entertain and educate cachers heading north, look out for a bonus piece of trivia on the underside of the cache lid!
Not far from the Moffat junction is an old GPO Repeater Station. Although it is no longer manned, the building is still in use.
Behind the building is an area called Dragoons Pool and an old branch railway line to Moffat which closed in 1953. This stretch of track was immortalised by W. H. Auden in 'The Night Mail'.
This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.
Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient's against her, but she's on time.
Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,
.....................
As this area has literary connections then here are some Scottish literary facts......
The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica was edited by William Smellie (pronounced Smiley) and the first instalment (of the three volume work) was printed in Anchor Close, Edinburgh in 1768.
Tam o'Shanter might never have written if Burns had not met Captain Grose - Grose was in Scotland collecting material for his forthcoming book. The Antiquities of Scotland. Burns took to this fat, jovial man and asked him to include a sketch of Alloway Kirk, where Burns father was buried, in the publication. Grose, who was interested in the supernatural, agreed but on condition that Burns pen a story on witches. The result was Tam o'Shanter which was reputedly written in one afternoon on the banks of the river Nith.
Sherlock Holmes was modeled after Conan Doyle’s mentor in the Edinburgh University medical school, Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell was said to be able to deduce a patient’s illness simply by looking at him or her.
Writing was not Sir Walter Scott’s first career choice. He studied law, which he practiced after completing his studies. He later served as sheriff-deputy of his county.
Sir Walter Scott's works are often attributed with popularizing the kilt as a staple of Scottish garb.
Stevenson wrote the first draft of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in three days. After he let his wife read it, he burned the manuscript—and then wrote the whole thing again from scratch!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oruvaq srapr cbfg
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures