It's Gold! It's Big! Traditional Cache
ruralslicker: Thanks for the good times Geocaching community. Despite almost reaching the magic 1000 finds after nine years, it's sadly time to archive this cache (and myself from the Geocaching world) due to various reasons, mainly that with ongoing retirement I have a variety of new interests that take up most of my time. Thank you to everyone who logged my various caches over the years.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Welcome to my first cache!
Churchill has quite a unique landmark, that being a huge 31 metre (102 ft) high replica of Winston Churchill's cigar (known locally as "the big cigar"), unveiled in 1967. Originally five of these were going to be built around the town, but only one was ever completed. Near the base of the cigar is a commemorative brick wall built by the Rotary Club of Hazelwood. It gives the names of the first families to move into the town, whose original name was Hazelwood. There was an information plaque attached.
Located 158km from Melbourne and 8km south of Morwell, Churchill is a modern, purpose-built town that was constructed in the late 1960’s. Churchill began as a service centre for Hazelwood Power Station and future replacement for Yallourn and Morwell townships. The site was chosen for its pleasant location at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges, overlooking Hazelwood Pondage.
Today, Churchill has a population of approximately 5,000 and offers a number of facilities and services including shopping, a university campus, medical centre, pub, indoor leisure centre with swimming pool and gymnasium, community hub incorporating library and council services, pre-school and day care facilities and meeting and training room facilities for the Churchill Neighbourhood House.
***PLAQUE UPDATE***
At the time of publishing this cache, the commemorative brick wall had a plaque attached reading:
“This wall was constructed in November 1990 to commemorate the farmers whose land was acquired and the first 350 families who formed the nucleus of the new Churchill community in 1965/66. The symbol was erected as a landmark for the new town and represents the “cigar” of Sir Winston Churchill, English statesman after whom the town was named”.
During a routine maintenance check on 12th May 2012, it was noticed that the plaque had been removed (reasons unknown). The nearby cache remains unaffected.
THIS CAN BE A BUSY AREA AT TIMES - BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MUGGLES.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures