Cairnmount Stones - Eglinton Country Park Traditional Cache
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Cairnmount Stones - Eglinton Country Park
A cache by [DELETED_USER]
Hidden
:
2/2/2012
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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A cache that takes you to an ancient and mythical site in Irvine, or so folklore might make you think.
An opencast mine was established by Irvine Development Corporation (IDC) and the National Coal Board/British Coal at Sourlie in the 1983. Linnbed, Parrot, Turf and Wee coals were mined; stoops from the 'Hutch Longwall' method of coal extraction within old collieries were exposed during excavations. All the suitable coals had been removed by 1986 and reclamation completed by 1987. The Draught Burn was diverted to accommodate this and the surviving 'Settling pond or lagoon' comes from the project.
Reclamation involved the creation of a feature on the restored Sourlie Hill, now known as confusingly as 'Cairnmount' (the original Cairnmount is located a short distance to the north-east), as part of the landscaping of the mine site, the large boulders for this project were found during the works. These standing stones are seen by many as genuine ancient megaliths. A large landscape 'bowl' was also created. The categories of coal extracted were Five Quarter, Linnbed, Parrot, Turf and Wee, totalling 255,028 Tonnes with 5.6 million metres cubed of material excavated in total.
Upon the closure of Sourlie opencast, coal mining on the Eglinton Estate had finally ceased after nearly five centuries.
Several sub-fossil antlers of Reindeer (29,900 years old) and also bones of the Woolly Rhinoceros Coelondonta antiquitatis, (50-100,000 years old) were found at Sourlie. Both of these species was hunted by early humans, who may have caused their extinction.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ybbx sbe gur fuval fuval
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