In 1833 the Sheffield Botanical and Horticultural Society was formed to promote both healthy recreation and self-education, through the development of a botanical garden. A period of fundraising followed and the land was purchased. In 1834, the Society appointed Robert Marnock, gardener of Bretton Hall, Wakefield (now the Yorkshire Sculpture Park), to design the Gardens and act as their first Curator. He laid out the Gardens in the then highly fashionable Gardenesque style, where each plant was displayed to perfection in scattered plantings. The Gardens were finally opened in 1836, when more than 12,000 people visited during the first two weeks.
Click below for a map of the gardens:
The clues you need to find are as follows:
- At the Fossilised Tree (N53 22.275 W001 29.846)
- A On the ‘Conifers’ sign, about how many different species are there? Divide this by one hundred.
- At the Pavilions (N53 22.361 W001 29.931)
- B How many white ornamental cups are there?
- At the Statue of Pan (N53 22.301 W001 29.894)
- C How many snails are there?
- D How many rabbits are there?
- E How many birds are there?
- At the Bear Pit (N53 22.296 W001 29.968)
- F How many words in the sentence in front of the bear?
- G How many words in the sentence behind the bear?
Once you have collected the clues, insert the values into the below formulae:
N53 22.[D] [F + G] [B]
W001 29.[A + C] [G + G] [E - A]
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
You'll likely see a number of squirrels in the park, and they're quite tame. As an optional extra logging requirement, try to get a photo of/with one!
The cache is a small, homemade container hidden outside the gardens. This means that while the coordinates can only be worked out while the park is open, the cache can be physically located at any time. Good luck!