A 1970s postcard of Fort Regent showing the cable cars, snake slide and swimming pool
'The happy highways where I went And cannot come again.' (Housman)
In the 1970s it was transformed into a leisure centre and those, like Mr Touch Wood, who grew up in Jersey in the '70s and '80s will remember with affection the cable cars, snake slide, aquarium, crazy golf, roundabout, ghost train, dodgems, aviaries, shows in the Piazza and, of course, the swimming pool, now all gone.
'A most extended prospect' over St Helier
One of the things that is still there is the walk around the ramparts, with good views over St Helier.
This multi-cache will take you round the ramparts of Fort Regent to find numbers which will allow you to calculate the co-ordinates of the cache container, which can also be found on the ramparts of Fort Regent. It will entail the climbing of a number of flights of steps. The co-ordinates given are those of the first waypoint. The entrance to Fort Regent can be reached by lift and escalator from Pier Road car park or, if you are feeling fit, by climbing a long flight of steps from just before the car park in Peir Road.
The view towards St James's Church and Victoria College
Fort Regent gym is open during the following times:
Monday - Thursday 6.30am - 9.30pm
Friday 6.30am - 9.00pm
Saturday & Sunday 8.15am - 5.00pm
Fort Regent will be open at least during these hours, and may stay open later (if in doubt, please check at reception). However, you will need to visit during the hours of daylight to do this cache.
Entrance to Fort Regent is free.
For those that have the time, there is a signposted 'History Tour' of the Fort. This takes about an hour and a half. All the waypoints of this geocache can be found on the route of the tour. A free guide to the tour, available in English, French and German, can be picked up at the Fort or downloaded as a pdf (English version only) .
Friends of Mr Touch Wood playing crazy golf at Fort Regent in 1984.
Presumably, Mr Touch Wood had already got a hole in one.
To find the cache, go to the following co-ordinates and note down the numbers:
Question 1 N 49° 10.885' W 002° 06.377'
How many white flowers on this section of fencing? (Answer A, a two digit number.)
Question 2 N 49° 10.814' W 002° 06.359'
B bridges were erected by C Field Squadron, D Division Royal Engineers in the year 19E. (B, C and D are single digit numbers, E is a two-digit number.)
Question 3 N 49° 10.819' W 002° 06.329'
In what year did Falle write that the hill 'affords a lovely walk, with a most extended prospect'? (Answer is 17F, where F is a two-digit number.)
Question 4 N 49° 10.941' W 002° 06.293'
The Chamber of Commerce contributed £G a year and the War Department £H a year. Ownership of the signal stations at La Moye and Noirmont were transferred to the States in 18J. (G and J are two-digit numbers, H is a single-digit number.)
Question 5 N 49° 10.937' W 002° 06.248'
Look over the fence. The date on the gateway below is 18K (where K is a two-digit number). (For those not as eagle-eyed as Mr Touch Wood, who might have difficulty making out the date, I can tell you that K is less than 60.)
The cache can be found at N 49° 10.nnn W 002° 06.www where nnn and www are three-digit numbers, which can be found as follows:
nnn = (F x A) + J + E - B - H
www = ((K - D) x C) + G - C
Please note that all the waypoints and the final cache are in areas open to the public and easily accessible. You will not need to go anywhere dangerous or out of bounds to complete this cache.
The view towards Weighbridge Square and the harbour
The cache container is of good size with plenty of room for swaps and travel bugs.
There is an appropriate micro geocoin as a FTF prize.
*** Congratulations to Sudokay for the FTF ***
New (30/7/15) - you can now check your co-ordinates at GeoChecker.com.