GH Loop #2 Paddy & Teds Excellent Adventures Traditional Cache
GH Loop #2 Paddy & Teds Excellent Adventures
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This is the 1st in the Paddy & Ted series & 2nd in the GH loop series as I have amalgamated the two. This was my very 1st hide, in the places I take my two geohounds, Paddy & Teddy, walking. These places are dog friendly, no livestock (hopefully), & no traffic, as I have found, that since I started geocaching at the beginning of this year, there are limited places that are safe to take boisterous dogs & be able to search for caches without worrying about what they are getting up to!
Glen Helen is a beautiful glen just off the TT course. Formally known as Glen Rhenass had been acquired by Mr John A Marsden, a brush manufacturer from Seaview, Liscard, Cheshire, who also owned Liskeard Castle near Liverpool.
It was assumed that this glen was named after a daughter but there is no record of him having a daughter with the name Helen.
Mr Marsden laid out the glen with walks but originally most of the river crossings were by stepping-stones.
Marsden was keen to see the steam railway extended from the Douglas to Peel line out to the glen and this idea must have been taken seriously as on some of the contemporary maps the proposed line is shown as reaching the Rhenass waterfall.
After Mr Marsden the glen was owned by a Mr Bell who also opened a nearby slate quarry and it is believed the slate for the roof of Kirk Braddan Church was from this quarry.
When the private package of the Rhenass estate, known as Glen Helen, came on the market in 1867, it was purchased jointly by Mr William Quine (see Silverdale Glen) and Mrs T C S Moore. In the early 1870s it was owned by The Glen Helen Hotel and Estate Company who converted the estate into pleasure grounds. Entrance could be obtained upon the payment of fourpence. This entrance fee included croquet, swings, skittles and admission to the vicinity of the waterfall. If you wished to fish in the river however, a payment of 1 shilling was requested and you had to provide your own tackle. Once the glen's increased, the walks were improved, and by 1876, bridges had been erected along with summerhouses and rustic seats. One of these was right above the Rhenass Falls and in a guide book of the time it was described as 81 ft 6 ins above the bed of the stream. The original supports can still be seen on either the waterfall.
Parts of these lovely grounds were laid out with ornamental shrubberies. The pleasure grounds had aviaries, a monkey house and even seals in the river. A sawmill shelter was converted into a bowling alley. The original cafe was used as an animal and bird house. The small zoo had attracted large numbers of visitors right up to the late 1950s. In 1957 it was reported that a badger had been found on the Mountain Road after escaping Glen Helen Zoo the previous summer. In the evenings dances were held.
Today a variety of mature and impressive trees including sequoia, thuja, spruces, Douglas fir, oak, sycamore and beech can be seen. Paths traverse the glen along the rivers Neb and Blaber. Three-quarters of a mile into the glen is the dramatic Rhenass Waterfall. There is also a playground for the children, and toilet facilities (including disabled) with ample parking at the start of the glen
Cache placed with the kind permission of DEFA
*Addendum* Cache checked today & GPS all over the place, presumably because of tree cover, so I have made the hint easier.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Whfg orsber gur snyyra gerr. Yrsg bs cngu & n fgrc hc