GC3X7MG Neilstonside Hill TP5071 (Traditional Cache) in Southern Scotland, United Kingdom created by Glesgaweegie

This cache has been archived.

Glesgaweegie: No longer have the time

GC3X7MG ▼

A cache by Glesgaweegie Message this owner

Hidden : 9/21/2012

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Driven passed this many a time and knew exactly what it was it was a Trig Point (Triangulation point). I decided it was too good a location to not have a cache. There is parking for 3-4 cars and the surrounding areas are popular with walkers.

The cache is a square tupperware sprayed with silver and black paint to make it less obvious. There are several ways to reach the cache but which route you choose is up to you. For the FTF there is a Scottish shopping trolley token keyring. Also placed a Geocoin, logbook and some cars and soldiers and a silica gel pouch. Please leave the 4 way pen for the logbook.

In the United Kingdom, trig points are typically concrete pillars, and were erected by the Ordnance Survey.

The process of placing trig points on top of prominent hills and mountains began in 1935 to assist in the accurate retriangulation of Great Britain. In low-lying or flat areas some trig points are only a few metres above sea level and one is even at -1m (in Norfolk, TL6189). When all the trig points were in place, it was possible, in clear weather, to see at least two other trig points from any one trig point but subsequent vegetation growth means that this is not necessarily still the case. Careful measurements of the angles between the lines-of-sight of the other trig points then allowed the construction of a system of triangles which could then be referenced back to a single baseline to construct a highly accurate measurement system that covered the entire country.

In most of the United Kingdom, trig points are truncated square concrete (occasionally stone) pyramids or obelisks tapering towards the top. On the top a brass plate with three arms and a central depression is fixed and this is used to mount and centre a theodolite used to take angular measurements to neighbouring trig points. A benchmark is usually set on the side, marked with the letters "O S B M" (Ordnance Survey Bench Mark) and the reference number of the trig point. Within and below the visible trig point, there are concealed reference marks whose National Grid References are precisely known. The standard trig point design is credited to Brigadier Martin Hotine CMG CBE (1898–1968), the then head of the Trigonometrical and Levelling Division of the Ordnance Survey. Many of them are now disappearing from the countryside as their function has largely been superseded by aerial photography and digital mapping using lasers and GPS measurements.

Additional Hints ()

Orfvqr gur srapr cbfg.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)