Welcome to the UK!
Yes, for anyone travelling from abroad... A warm welcome and we hope you enjoy your visit! Why not have a look at Geocaching North East and see what we get up to in the North East or visit the north east tourist website for all the tourist information you'll need!
Newcastle International Airport
Newcastle airport was build in 1935 and was opened and commissioned by Sir Phillip Cunliffe-Lister (The secretary of state for air at the time) on 26th April. It was the second largest airport in the North East.
AT the time of building it cost £35,000 and consisted of a Hangar, a clubhouse, fuel garages, some workshops and 1 Grassy runway.
Before and during WWII the main air access point to the north east was located near Cramlington and was mainly military. After the war the decision was taken to slowly shut down Cramlington airport as the main airport of the North east and move it's popularity to the more modern Newcastle. In the early 1950s ex-RAF fighter pilot, Jim Denyer took over the management of the airport and boosted it's users to well above 5,000!
Again, in the 60s Passenger numbers went sky bound (Literally :-D) when foreign holidaying was explored with British people going for popular destinations like Spain and The channel Islands instead of holidaying within the UK. Because of this a new TarMac runway was built and a new Control Tower. This new extension was opened by the Prime Minister of the time- Harold Wilson. In the 70s passenger numbers were still on the rise because of this it was upgraded to a 'Category B' airport making it an RIA (Regional International Airport). After the 70s came the biggest leap to bring in more passengers until the new Millenium: Duty-free, Cafe's, Fast food and a new Check-In system. Connections were made in 1991 with it being linked to the rest of the region with the Metro system.
In the new millennium, the Airport went through the biggest phase since the original airport; a Huge extension. With a brand new Check-In hall and Domestic and International desks separated Check-In was as easy as ever! On top of all of this there was a brand new terminal building built on the back making it a HUGE airport. Tony Blair (the Prime Minister of the time) officially opened it.
The numbers of the airport slowly crept up until it reached a peak of nearly 6,000,000 users a year in 2006/2007 and it became the UK's 10th busiest airport.
At this current moment there is a new Airport hotel being built in addition to the 'Premier Inn' just a stone throw away. As well as a road straight from the A1 to the airport (bypassing the A696) to cope with increases in Traffic being talked about. It has also been considered to link the airport with a High Speed rail network although this looks unlikely in the foreseeable future.
The Cache
Please remember this is very close to an airport, although not in sight, please be careful not to cause attention to yourself. Also please do not park on the A696!
The cache is a small metal container
You do not need to cross the fence, it is a short hop away from the path!
The cache has been setup to allow an unnofficial 'air portal' for Trackables to the North East and The UK in general. Please could you try and help keep the hotel well stocked.
When rehiding please make sure this cache is not see-able from either way along the path! Thanks!!!