The Aberdeenshire Canal - Woodside Traditional Cache
Glenikins: Time to say Bye to this one.
The Aberdeenshire Canal - Woodside
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A series of caches following the course of the old Aberdeenshire canal, which ran between Aberdeen harbour and Port Elphinstone near Inverurie between 1805 and 1853.
Although the canal has almost completely disappeared (replaced by the railway for most of its route and built on or ploughed over for much of the rest) there are still remnants to be found.
Heading east-west just to the north of the old turnpike road (now a stretch of Great Northern Road) through Cotton, Printfield and Woodside, the canal passed beneath several small bridges. Incredibly, one of the bridges in Woodside has survived the huge amount of development over the last 150 years. It is thought to be the only surviving original bridge that crossed the canal. Nothing now passes beneath it (it is bricked up on one side) but it still serves to carry the minor Station Road past the small grassy play area.
In 2002, the bridge and the short section of grassed gully to its west were entered into the Schedule of Monuments, reflecting its importance as one of the last surviving traces of the canal.
If you stand at the bottom of the gully and look towards the bridge, you're standing just where the canal ran. Imagine how different the surroundings would have looked (and sounded!) back when barges plied the waterway, pulled by horses on a tow path to your left, open fields to either side.
The cache is located just to the west of the scheduled area. Parking is available further along Station Road once you've crossed the bridge. Bring your own pen.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
V'z ng gur gbc naq bire gur fvqr, ohg pyvzo hc gur fybcr gb fcbg zl uvqr!
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