Cockerton was originally a village in its own right but has since been swallowed up by the encroaching conurbation of Darlington. It was once the terminus of the Horse drawn tram service from Darlington but this was replaced in 1903 after the introduction of the “new fangled” electricity in Darlington in 1900. The terminus still remained until 1926 when it was replaced by a Trolley Buses service and subsequently by the Darlington Corporation Bus Service in later years.
Darlington Trolley Buses (circa 1950)
The primary site is located near to the original site of the Darlington Orphanage (1870-1897). It is a period Georgian Cottage which was opened by Mrs Mary Pease and was initially home to 11 girls.
The above coordinates are for a small Nano container which contains the coordinates for a prominent public place nearby. Once you have located the prominent public place (you won’t miss it!) you will need to look for a certain item. The type of item you will need to look for will become all too obvious at this location but please make sure you know exactly what you are looking for as you might become a bit overwhelmed as there are hundreds of similar items at this location!
The 1st stage can be found at any time BUT the actual cache can only be done WHEN THE PREMISSES ARE OPEN. Please note dogs are not allowed at the location of the second cache site unless of course you have a willing dog minder with you!
Opening times for the public place (currently) are:
Monday 9.00am - 2.00pm
Tuesday 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Wednesday 9.00am - 1.00pm
Thursday 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Friday 9.00am - 2.00pm
Saturday 9.00am - 1.00pm
Sunday CLOSED
Please return the item to the same place when you have finished. There is plenty of room in the cache for small travel bugs and swaps.
Why not join whilst you are there? It's free to join and has a lot to offer especially for young children. You could even plan your next caching outing from there! Our thanks to the Staff for their participation in the placement of this cache Please don't give away the location and the type of container located at the second part of this Multi.
Some people might still need to work out the final location when they arrive at the first GZ! There is plenty of free parking near the cache sites, which it can be found at the following coordinates N 54° 31.990 W 001° 34.714 (shown as a Waypoint) From here it is only a short walk to both locations. If you wish to inspect the Orphanage Plaque and the building opposite the first location more closely please be careful when crossing the main road as it can be busy at peak times.
There are two Pedestrian Crossings if you prefer and these are located on the main street opposite the shopping arcade. Why Oliver with a twist ...a Dickens of a book The vast majority of Charles Dickens books featured orphans as the main character. In Dickens day orphans were far more common than they are now. Infant mortality rate was high, and many women died in childbirth. This meant that many of Dickens's readers could sympathise with Dickens' orphans, and understand and empathise with them. In both Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, the main characters were orphans. The fact that these boys had no parents would most likely have hooked the morbid Victorians. Dickens as a “man of his time” loved to address political and social issues in his works by talking about the conditions of the orphans and poor. It was Dickens 'subtle' way of drawing people's attention to the appalling conditions of the time. More on Charles Dickens at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens