UPDATE 10.07.22: The cache site continues to be inaccessible due to ongoing repair work in the area. This work may not be completed until Autumn 2022. We are monitoring the situation and will re-enable asap.
The first pound lock at this point on the Thames was built in 1773 by Humphrey Gainsborough, a local non-conformist minister and brother of the artist Thomas Gainsborough. The lock you see today was constructed in 1914.
Because the lock is unusually situated on the opposite side of the river to the towpath, a long wooden bridge had to be built from the Oxfordshire bank to carry the path out to the lock island below the weir, and then back again to the riverbank above the weir. This feature is unique on the River Thames.
The following puzzle was updated 10.06.21 after the disappearance of the referenced information board. The final coords and hide are unchanged.
The listed coordinates are for a point at the lock where you will find a metal plaque set into a small concrete plynth on which you will find the following information:
A is the number of words on the first line
The salmon ladder was opened on BC May 1DEF
G is the number of letters in the third word on the third line
H is the number of words on the second line
J is the number of letters in the third word on the first line
K is the number of words on the fifth line
L is the number of letters in Mr Arbib’s first name
The cache can be found at:
N51 AB.FGH W000 JK.(D-E)CL
You are looking for a magnetic film pot a little above head height, just beyond the end of the wooden handrail. Please bring your own pen/pencil.
Parking (free) is usually available at N51 31.726 W000 53.446 (unless Henley Football Club are playing at home.)
***Congratulations to JJT for their night-time FTF***