Gethin’s Gem Traditional Cache
Big Ragnar: This cache has been disabled for some time and as the owner has not repaired/replaced it, I am archiving it.
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Regards
Darren
Big Ragnar - Volunteer UK Reviewer www.geocaching.com
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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St Mary’s Church is on the A5 in the centre of Betws y coed. On entering Betws y coed from the direction of Llanrwst or Cerrigydrudion the church is on the left hand side. There is parking at St Mary’s Church pay & display car park, or Betws y coed public car park (approximately 300m walk).
As with most church grounds, please take care when you walk around as the ground can be uneven.
So why “Gethin’s Gem”?uj
J
During the nineteenth century, Betws-y-coed grew from being a stage point on the London to Holyhead Road to become a popular holiday resort. As a result, the old church of Saint Michael (near the station) became too small for the growing community. In 1873 this new church, St Mary’s, was built on an open site in the centre of the village, previously used for fairs, cockfighting, eisteddfodau, and open-air preaching: it was given by the Gwydir Estate.
The growing village of Betws-y-coed was already a varied and progressive community, and this outlook is displayed in the church they built. The architects were the Lancaster partnership of Paley and Austin, and Saint Mary’s is among the finest of the churches they designed: the actual building work was carried out by local builder Owen Gethin Jones, who built the railway station and numerous other local buildings. Hence “Gethin’s Gem”!
St Mary’s Church holds many more tales and secrets, why not pop in if you have time? The Church welcomes visitors and is open daily between 9am & 5.30pm. Whilst looking around, please remember that they are places of worship and contemplation, and the heritage is much valued by the local communities.
The cache is a small black container and it has a logbook, slate coin (initially!) and pencil inside. Happy hunting!
Note: The co-ordinates were averaged out over several readings.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx ol gur gnyy gerr arne gur fcveny fgnvepnfr - Haqrepbire!
Treasures
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