The market town of Yarm has a long history. For much of its existence it provided the lowest crossing point of the tidal river Tees, some 14 miles from the estuary. Given the location it once had thriving merchants' wharves and even a ship building industry.
The cache is at: N 54o A(B-C).AEG W 001o (D-B)(G-H).FI(H-A-I)
Yarm sits on the banks of the river Tees in North Yorkshire but is administratively now part of Stockton-on-Tees, having flirted (at the bureaucrats' behest) with Teesside and Cleveland. For ceremonial purposes, however, the town remains in North Yorkshire. Yarm is renowned for many things including 'The Best High Street In Britain Award' as voted for by the BBC breakfast viewers. Yarm is famous for being a chic, classy and cosmopolitan town which is crammed full of wonderful ‘boutique’ style designer shops. Yarm pubs and restaurants offer the warmest welcome and hospitality to locals and visitors alike - creating a totally different atmosphere in the evenings. Yarm is also a favourite location for people from all walks of life and has played host to film stars, pop stars and even royalty and most recently a large population of professional footballers have bought houses or visit for the night life.
Yarm High Street proudly boasts one of the largest cobbled high streets in England and one of the attractions is the rather quaint Dutch style town hall, which is situated in the centre of the high street. This is where your trail starts. It comprises a walk in total of 1.6km (or just under 1 mile) and should take less than one hour to complete
Yarm, lying as it does within a loop of the formerly tidal River Tees, has been subject to several floods which you can find commemorated around the town on various buildings. There are two such marks on the Town Hall with dates. The higher mark has been obscured by the Town Council adding some "improvements" to the archways on the listed building! You need the date of the remaining visible mark.
N 54° 30.546 W 001° 21.253: Convert the month to a number to give you A
Go north on the eastern side of the high street to the building where an important meeting was held to do with public transport.
N 54° 30.579 W 001° 21.263: Again convert the month to a number to give you B
Retrace your steps a short way south to find the wynd (local name for narrow street off the High Street) leading towards the noted Methodist Church (see my cache GC397KB). Towards the end of this wynd you will find the building which housed the Methodist Sunday School, founded somewhat later than the church.
N 54° 30.577 W 001° 21.188: You need the last number of the year to give you C
Continue on to the river bank. Note the height of the flood prevention wall. Turn left (North) and walk along the riverside path as far as the bridge. You will have a fine view of the Durham bank of the river with Egglescliffe Parish Church on the height. You will also get a good view of the road bridge and the viaduct. Pass under the bridge through the "Sand Arch" to the next way point.
N 54° 30.703 W 001° 21.363: You require the date the bridge was built (or this part at least). The hundreds digit will give you D=4.
Walk a short distance further along the riverside path (now known as "True Lovers Walk") to the viaduct and Waypoint 5.
N 54° 30.720 W 001° 21.419: A blue plaque will highlight many facts about the building of the viaduct. You need to add together the two digits from the number of arches to give you E.
Retrace your path to the Sand Arch and take the narrow path to the right leading you up to Bridge Street. You now need to cross the main road (carefully) and walk south to Tom Brown House.
N 54° 30.659 W 001° 21.332: The last digit of the year of Tom's heroics will give you F.
Cross the road again (carefully) and walk down Low Church Wynd, under the viaduct as far as West Street. Turn left (south) and walk past the church and churchyard to Waypoint 7.
N 54° 30.575 W 001° 21.467: You need the third digit of the year of founding of the Free Grammar School which started life in the Churchyard. This will give you G.
Short walk back to the road to Waypoint 7 and "Yarm Castle" which has caused confusion to many people until they find it!.
N 54° 30.576 W 001° 21.444: You need the house number appropriate to the "Castle". The second digit will give you H.
Continue south along West Street, notice Hope House on the corner of High Church Wynd (supposedly the oldest house in Yarm), until you follow the road under the viaduct. There you will find the last clue attached to the wall of what was previously an engineering works.
N 54° 30.470 W 001° 21.397: You need the third digit of the year in which Hauxwells was founded to give you I.
Now you have all the numbers you need to locate the cache. Simply substitute the letters from the numbers you have acquired.
The cache is at: N 54o A(B-C).AEG W 001o (D-B)(G-H).FI(H-A-I)
I have been forced to move the cache due to undue interference and theft.
To get the final co-ordinates you will need to subtract 0.022 from the Northings and add 0.014 to the Westings.
Enjoy!