Sharpe's Fortress Traditional Cache
castagnari: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.
Regards
Shaun
castagnari
Volunteer UK Reviewer - geocaching.com
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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This Cache is a short walk from the car parks either side
of the fort. It's part of a small series based on the Bernard
Cornwell books 'Sharpe', placed on Portsdown Hill and surrounding
areas.
The Cache is placed next to a Fort Widley. It is a 35mm film
cannister, so please bring your own pen.
"Cache placed with the kind permission of Portsmouth City
Council Countryside Service"
The forts on Portsdown Hill were commissioned in 1859
(completed 1870) as part of a series of fortifications built to
defend Portsmouth and its dockyard (which is 8 kilometres away)
from a possible attack from inland, as the development of rifled
gun barrels made it possible for an invading army to land
elsewhere, circle around to the top of the hill and bombard the
city from there, rendering the existing Hilsea Lines at the bottom
of the ridge useless.
A series of 6 forts were planned along the 10 km (7 miles) of the
ridge. From west to east they are forts Fareham, Wallington,
Nelson, Southwick, Widley and Purbrook. The line was finished off
at the eastern end with Crookhorn Redoubt and Farlington Redoubt.
The main threat was perceived to be from Napoleon III of France,
but this receded soon after the forts' completion.
Meet Richard
Sharpe,
a great British
hero.
It is December 1803, and Richard Sharpe is now an officer
in Sir Arthur Wellesley's army which is seeking to end the Mahratta
War. Relegated to a tedious job in the baggage train, Sharpe
discovers a treason conjured up by his old enemy, Sergeant Obadiah
Hakeswill, but in uncovering this Sharpe finds himself alone and
under dreadful threat. He falls back on his fighting ability to
regain his confidenc and his treasures, the jewels of the Tippoo
Sultan, which have been stolen from him.
The search for revenge on the men who robbed him takes him to
Gawilghur, a seemingly impregnable fortress poised high above the
Deccan Plain. Bolstering its defences is the renegade Englishman,
William Dodd, who escaped from Sharpe in Sharpe's Triumph. Dodd is
confident that no redcoat can reach him, but Sharpe is desperate
and so he joins Wellesley's troops as they surge across the neck of
land that leads to the breaches. There, in the horror of
Gawilghur's ravine, dominated by walls and guns, he will fight as
he has never fought before.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ng gur onfr bs gur yrsg cbfg bs vasbezngvba obneq