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Welcome To G Traditional Cache

Hidden : 6/6/2011
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

I have been wanting to place a cache in my hometown for a while but needed something special, I think I found it. It's more in likely not an original idea but it will get you all thinking.

Please take care crossing the road, and retrive the cache slowly? No more hints! Okay one more see below.

Invergordon received its name from Sir William Gordon, a local landowner of the early eighteenth century. For centuries the estate on which Invergordon now stands was known as Inverbreakie, `the mouth of the Breakie', the Breakie presumably being the stream which enters the Firth at Rosskeen Bridge, near the old parish church west of the present Town.

The Firth has been recognised as an ideal anchorage for ships since the early 1700s. The history of the Royal Navy here dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, however, and continued through to the 1950s. Invergordon was used as a base for coaling and for taking on water in the middle of the 19th century.

Then in the early part of the 20th century the town became an official naval base and frequently had visits from the Home Fleet. A typical one in 1907 saw twelve battleships, six cruisers, two scout ships and twenty torpedo boats with a complement of 14,500 men visit the Firth.

During the First World War, Invergordon was a full-scale base for the Royal Navy, providing fuel oil, water and dockyard repair facilities (right). It was during this period that the Hospital was built at the eastern end of the Town, and many of the buildings remain to this day.

Two tank farms were constructed, at Cromlet and at Seabank, together with the Admiralty Pier which received and delivered fuel to moored ships. The latter tank farm still exists and is a constant reminder of events nearly 100 years ago.

In 1931, at the time of the World Depression, the British Government announced huge cuts in the salaries of Government employees, which of course included the pay of able seamen. When the Atlantic Fleet returned to the Firth whilst on manoeuvres, meetings of the below-deck crew were held in Invergordon and a policy of passive resistance was agreed - no ships would sail from the Firth.

Although this is known as the Invergordon Mutiny, no ships were taken over and no officers captured. Within days of the first signs of resistance, however, the Fleet was slowly leaving the Firth and sailing to its home bases in the South. The effect of the 'mutiny' had caused a run on the Government's Gold reserves and in the short term the pay cuts were reviewed and reduced.

In 1971 British Aluminium constructed a smelter at the back of the town together with the pier that can be seen at Saltburn. This provided much employment in the area, but in 1981, due to economic factors, the smelter was closed.

The Firth, meanwhile, had entered the oil era in the early 1970's when an oil platform construction yard at Nigg was opened. Expansion of the port area by the Cromarty Firth Port Authority provided local capability for the maintenance of oil rigs from all over the world. The port is also able to undertake construction work, supplementing the capacity provided at Nigg

The pier at the Admiralty Base, in the heart of the town, is used by the visiting Cruise liners, whose operators see Invergordon as an ideal berthing place for providing their passengers access to the Highlands. Only a very short distance from the town centre, the liner's passengers and crew are also close to all the town's amenities, described in the ‘Attractions’ section of this web site.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Znpqhss Ivn Pbex

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)