Ti Traditional Cache
GizmoKyla: As the owner has not responded to our previous log requesting that they check this cache we are archiving it.
Please note that as this cache has now been archived by a reviewer or HQ staff it will NOT be unarchived.
If you wish to email us please send your email via our profile (click on our name) and quote the cache name and number.
Regards
Dave & Dawn
GizmoKyla
Volunteer UK Reviewers - Geocaching.com
UK Geocaching Policies Wiki
Geocaching Guidelines
Geocaching Help Centre
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Cornwall, it is well known worldwide for its abundance of minerals, tin, copper & even gold & silver among others have been mined here for centuries, less well known is that the worlds first discovery of the wonder-metal Titanium occured right here in this little stream.
Titanium, Ti in the periodic table, atomic #22, is a common metal (9th most common mineral in the earths crust) and has the highest strength to weight ratio of any metal found on earth, if an item was made of steel the same strength as one of titanium it would weigh almost double! It is commonly alloyed with iron, aluminium, vanadium & molybedenum among others, it is also extremely corrosion resistant. These properties make it a commonly used material in the aerospace industry as well as medical & dental applications and has more recently become commonly used in motorcycle, pedal cycle & competition cars, its also used in jewellery manufacture. The only problem with it being notoriously difficult to work with making it prohibativly expensive for more widespread & less specialised use.
And now for the history lesson! Sometime in the year 1791 a clergyman the Rev. William Gregor (its widely believed he was the local vicar, he wasn’t he was the rector of Creed parish some 20 or so miles to the northwest as the crow flies) was out for a stroll with his friend the rev Richard Polwhele vicar of Mannacan, when passing Tregonwell mill & crossing over this stream the Rev. Gregor spotted what appeared to be a metallic substance in the black sand of the stream. Being a keen geologist he took a sample of this sand which he took to the geological soceity of Cornwall & they confirmed that it was a new metallic element that they initially named Manaccanite( later named Gregorite in honour of its discoverer) Around the same time, Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein produced a similar substance, but could not identify it. The oxide was independently rediscovered in 1795 by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth in rutile from Hungary. Klaproth found that it contained a new element and named it for the Titans of Greek mythology. After hearing about Gregor's earlier discovery, he obtained a sample of manaccanite and confirmed it contained titanium. Although Gregor was credited with being the first to discover & identify this new element the later name ‘titanium’ became its official name. William Gregor died of tuberculosis in June 1817 at his home in Creed & was buried in the nearby churchyard.
On the nearby mill you will see a plaque confirming this discovery, this plaque is of course made of titanium! The cache is a small silver coloured canister a little smaller than a 35 mm film case. Could be done as a cache’n’dash but parking near the cache is tricky, far better to park in manaccan & stroll down the hill as rev Gregor must have done, the church is worth avisit anyway as it has the unique feature of an ancient fig tree growing out of the wall, or you could park in St Antony and walk from there, dont forget to do the other recent cache on the way. Inside the cache there is a FTF prize of a 1gm piece of 99.9% pure titanium, be careful when retrieving it as its very small & could easily be dropped in the stream (wouldn’t that be ironic!) This is the first cache of ours with no connection to the Helston railway but I thought this place deserved a bit more recognition. Cache is now a 35mm film case wrapped in camo sniper tape.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
zber yvxryl gb srry vg guna frr vg.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures