The Aberdeenshire Canal - Mounthooly Traditional Cache
Glenikins: Bidding this one farewell.
The Aberdeenshire Canal - Mounthooly
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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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.
Skirting around the east of the main part of the city the canal ran north from the harbour as far as Constitution Street (the road out to the old Queens Links race course which lay on the site of today's leisure and retail parks) before turning north-east on its way towards Kittybrewster and beyond.
The canal ran beneath the road out to the military powder magazine (located roughly on the site of Pittodrie football stadium...), and then beaneath the broad thoroughfare of King Street. Between King Street and the bridge beneath Nelson Street (named for another British hero of the time who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in the same year that the canal opened), two locks raised the level of the waterway slightly, and a wide stretch of canal permitted the passing of barges.
Yet another bridge then carried the road up to Old Aberdeen across the canal, located roughly where Mounthooly crosses the railway today on its way down to the roundabout known by the same name.
The cache is located at this bridge, or rather at the end of the narrow pedestrian bridge that runs side-by-side with it across the railway. There are no signs of the canal in this area now (other than the railway that here follows its exact route), but two nearby roads, one either side of the route and each running parallel with it, are called Canal Place and Canal Street, preserving the memory 150 years after the last barge floated past.
There is no need to climb over anything or put yourself in danger to retrieve the cache (it's not above the long drop to the rail line below!), although those less lofty might need to lift themselves up a little.
Parking in this area is not easy. Pedestrian or cycle access is recommended where possible!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Nf Fnaql fnat gb Qnaal, "Srrrrrrrry lbhe jnl..."