Remembering George Calver Traditional Cache
Remembering George Calver
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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This cache is situated in the village of Walpole and is easily accessed from the road. The design of the cache container is primarily designed to protect it from 'muggles' and not to make a complicated search for geocachers. You will need to bring a pencil.
At the time of writing, this is the first ‘geocache’ to be placed in the village of Walpole. It is a charming Suffolk village some 2.5 miles south west of the market town of Halesworth. The village boasts the oldest chapel in the county. The old meeting house became a Congregational chapel in 1647. Other than an enlargement towards the end of the 17th century the chapel has remained much as it did in Cromwell’s day.
However the village can also boast a famous son, George Calver who was born here in July 1834 and in later life become a master mirror maker of the late Victorian and Edwardian era.
George was the son of farm labourers who died when he was very young. By the 1850s he was apprenticed to a local shoemaker, eventually moving on and setting himself up in business at Great Yarmouth. It was there that Calver became interested in astronomy by his clergyman the Rev Matthews, who showed him the splendours of the night sky
Calver was deeply impressed with the optical performance of Matthews' telescope and was challenged to try and produce a mirror of equal or better quality. He embarked upon what to become a lifetime's work.
By 1871 his mirrors were beginning to be noticed by the Victorian astronomers and an increase in demand meant that Calver moved to new premises at Widford, just outside Chelmsford. His business expanded and he took on a small staff to cope with the lengthy order book.
In 1904 Calver returned to the rural tranquillity of Walpole. He purchased a large house (The Manse) in the village and carried on producing mirrors, building telescopes and re-silvering existing mirrors, although on a much reduced scale and with just one assistant working from a wooden outbuilding on the property.
Calver continued working into his nineties and died on 04 July 1927. In his long lifetime, Calver is thought to have produced around 4,000 mirrors, many of which have stood the test of time and are still in use to this day.
George and his wife Hannah are buried in the local churchyard. The gravestone bears the words Kind to the poor and little children but makes no mention of Calver's lifetime work. However, his name will always be remembered in the field of optical excellence.
WELL DONE SUFFOLK COUNTRY GIRL FOR YOUR FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
'Xrrc cbfgrq!'
Treasures
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