To be honest I have to attribute the inspiration behind this particular cache location to Fitzet. So any technical queries regarding ordnance survey maps and the like should be addressed to him….
The N11 road is a national primary road in Ireland, running for 140 km (87 mi) along the east side of Ireland from Dublin to Wexford. It passes close to Bray, Greystones, Wicklow, Arklow and Gorey and also passes through Enniscorthy, amongst others. Beyond Wexford, the route continues to Rosslare as the N25. The road forms part of European route E01. As of 2009 the N11/M11 is of dual carriageway or motorway standard from Dublin as far as Rathnew in County Wicklow, with a further section of motorway bypassing Arklow and Gorey.
The road is a busy commuter route, being the only dual carriageway passing through the south eastern suburbs of Dublin, as well as close to the many commuter towns along the east coast as far south as Gorey. Summer Friday and Sunday evenings also see very heavy traffic as Dubliners decamp to, and return from, their many holiday home locations along the Co. Wicklow and Co. Wexford coastlines.
The N11 has been gradually upgraded from single to dual carriageway standard from the 1950s to the present, with improvements taking place at an accelerated pace in recent years. The first short stretch of dual carriageway on the road, and indeed the first stretch of dual carriageway in the Republic of Ireland, was built in the 1950s between the Stillorgan Road/Newtownpark Avenue junction (White's Cross) and Foxrock Church (this stretch was substantially widened around the turn of the millennium). Subsequent short stretches of dual carriageway, at Loughlinstown, between Bray and Kilpedder, and from Donnybrook to Stillorgan were constructed during the early to mid-1970s, this phase ending with the opening of the Stillorgan bypass in October 1979. Since that time, these sections have been joined up through further improvements.
GZ brings you to an interesting location because we are so used to the current dual carriageway that it is easy to forget that not so long ago, the Bray Road was a much less impressive affair indeed.
This cache was originally intended to be placed at the junction of the old and the new, but when I saw what is now GZ I couldn’t resist it for the hint opportunity it provided. To find the old Bray road, you will have to cross to the opening at the far side of the garage forecourt and marvel at the contrast. Is it possible that a few short years ago this was the road you had to travel to get from Dublin to Bray. Obviously the answer is yes, so let’s move on shall we?
The cache is a wee 35mm container, within which there is no room for a pen, so I would strongly recommend you bring one. Because if you don’t sign the physical log, then you can’t log a find.