Arran Industry - Coal Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
One of a series of caches that commemorate historical industrial activities on the Isle of Arran. This cache container is a 1 Litre tub, hidden beside an old Coal mine. Each cache contains information that you will need to locate the bonus cache :
GC10VH5 Arran Industry - Quarry
At Laggan on the northeast coast of Arran an attempt was made by Anne hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton to exploit the Carboniferous coal deposits for small scale industry. In 1708 she comissioned salters from Saltcoats and Bowness carried out trial salt making. In 1710 a salt pan (like a giant riveted iron wok) was manufactured at Dalkieth and transported in sections to Arran by cart and then by ship from Kelvin Port.
Unfortunately the enterprise was never a great success and by the mid 1700s the saltworks were abandoned after a series of wet summers which diluted the salt concentration in the feedstock.
The coal seam was worked by a series of bell pits to provide the fuel to evaporate the seawater which was pumped into the saltworks which still stands in ruins at the head of a narrow geo. Several bell pits are still exposed, the most prominent of which (pictured above), is found just before you get to the cache GZ. The pit is 9m deep and has taken the lives of unwary livestock in the past. This pit was explored by cave divers in 1998 and tunnel with pit props intact was found running inland alond the main coal seam.
To find the cache, if you start at Lochranza, take in Arran Industry 'SLATE', you walk by some remains, this location is at North 55 42.705 , West 005 14.390, this is the site of the abandoned Cock Farm, birthplace of former Prime Minister Harold McMillan's grandfather, Daniel McMillan. The farm was abandoned in 1911, but still gives the eye an impresive idea of how hard it must have been working the land around here.
The cache location is close to another smaller coal seam which was worked by local people before the saltworks was built. Once found, please replace as found, THANKYOU
Once you have found the cache you may wish to visit the giant centipede trackway which can be found on a flat rock surface on the south side of Laggan Harbour at North 55 42.684 , West 005 13.765 , and looks like two narrow tyre tracks about 35cm apart running across the rock surface.
The return journey is up to you, there are more caches North from here heading North back to Lochranza, but likewise, and my prefered route is to head South past the Laggan Cottage and on towards North Sannox Picnic site. You could park here and take the coastal path to the cache if you would like to stay low the entire route.
The cache container has a formula inside for Arran industry 'QUARRY', you will need this and the numbers from all the other caches inthis great series to complete the series.
The entire Arran Industry Series has been revamped and reset by Arran Cachers, a group of dedicated cachers who consider these caches on Arran (and many more), to be to good to leave for the Archived floor through none maintenance.
If you see a problem with any of the caches on Arran and can not carry out temporary maintenance, let us know and we will carry out the required maintenance needed.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
vaorgjrra gjb ynetr ebpxf, pbirerq ol nabgure fznyyre ebpx