VERY IMPORTANT! The final of this cache is in Gibraltar, but the one outside Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, UK! It's a 1,540 miles (2,480Km) /24 hour drive away! Even if you don't expect to be in the UK any time soon, it's still a lovely way to discover some of the history of Gibraltar, perhaps while doing other caches in Gibraltar and maybe that's the real reward rather than a Smiley? A walk of about a 6 miles/10Km and a 400m/1,312ft climb if you don't take the cable car.
In addition, there is a £5 charge to visit the Upper Rock Nature Reserve as a walker (without entrance to tourist attractions, including St Michael's Cave, the Great Siege Tunnels, etc.) I didn't use the plaque there (too obvious!) but don't miss the amazingly pointless Windsor suspension bridge on the Royal Anglian Way. There's a very quick and easy way around it if you don't like heights!
Please don't log a Find on this cache without visiting Gibraltar AND the other Gibraltar. It is not intended to be a 'Team Work' cache - contacting a local to 'sign you in' or vise-versa would be against the spirit of this Multi (not Puzzle!) cache - and could make a mess of your 'Countries Cached-In' stats too. Many visitors to Gibraltar are from the UK, or at least visit periodically, and this cache was set with them in mind. Plus you'll be able to brag about the 1,500 mile trip you took 'to find a cache' :D
This cache is ideal to do in combination with 'Gibraltar twinned with... Gibraltar? (Ultra-Multi)' and 'From Rock Top to Rock Bottom: Long-range LB/H!' as a three-leg long day out. The finals are all within a mile of each other, in the UK. And/or other caches along the route - there's quite a few you'll pass close to.
Unlike the Gibraltar caches linked-to above, which are classic 'gather the info' style Multis, here you need to match plaques to locations to discover the final co-ords - Note there are four 'Red Herrings' (unused extra plaques) which you'll need to give the value 0 (Zero) to for the formula below. All the locations have public access (24/7, except the five in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve: 9am-6.15pm, officially) and each has its own charm.
Co-ords to visit, and their associated possible Letter Values, listed in North to South order - The visible Waypoints may be more useful to plan your route on a map though, given Gibraltar's challenging terrain! Note there's no (safe/official) pedestrian access through the tunnel on the east side of The Rock, from location 5 to 15.
01) N36° 08.864 W005° 21.206 (headline co-ords)
M=6 N=5 O=10 P=1 Q=73 R=5 S=2 T=1 U=7 V=9 W=60 X=1 Y=0 Z=13
#=5 @=6 &=18 %=8 $=19 £=10
02) N36° 08.716 W005° 21.178
M=5 N=8 O=15 P=6 Q=91 R=8 S=9 T=5 U=8 V=8 W=43 X=0 Y=2 Z=3
#=2 @=1 &=13 %=10 $=15 £=1
03) N36° 08.714 W005° 20.475
M=4 N=0 O=11 P=7 Q=85 R=10 S=7 T=0 U=6 V=6 W=35 X=6 Y=4 Z=8
#=4 @=3 &=15 %=5 $=21 £=3
04) N36° 08.675 W005° 20.880
M=3 N=4 O=8 P=5 Q=95 R=11 S=0 T=2 U=5 V=5 W=53 X=2 Y=1 Z=4
#=6 @=0 &=23 %=12 $=18 £=6
05) N36° 08.470 W005° 20.410
M=2 N=6 O=10 P=2 Q=103 R=14 S=4 T=3 U=9 V=7 W=55 X=4 Y=5 Z=18
#=1 @=8 &=20 %=6 $=7 £=10
06) N36° 08.157 W005° 20.978
M=0 N=1 O=9 P=3 Q=120 R=10 S=2 T=5 U=3 V=4 W=48 X=5 Y=1 Z=81
#=3 @=2 &=25 %=2 $=20 £=18
07) N36° 08.102 W005° 21.108
M=1 N=10 O=20 P=4 Q=70 R=16 S=6 T=0 U=12 V=3 W=52 X=3 Y=0 Z=12
#=2 @=4 &=21 %=9 $=12 £=30
08) N36° 08.097 W005° 21.111
M=2 N=7 O=13 P=7 Q=110 R=6 S=7 T=1 U=2 V=6 W=33 X=6 Y=3 Z=1
#=5 @=3 &=13 %=7 $=17 £=5
09) N36° 08.092 W005° 21.167
M=3 N=5 O=14 P=0 Q=111 R=13 S=4 T=6 U=7 V=5 W=30 X=3 Y=1 Z=7
#=7 @=8 &=16 %=3 $=14 £=4
10) N36° 07.973 W005° 20.926
M=4 N=9 O=15 P=5 Q=80 R=7 S=8 T=2 U=15 V=5 W=58 X=1 Y=2 Z=14
#=6 @=4 &=12 %=5 $=21 £=18
11) N36° 07.927 W005° 20.915
M=5 N=3 O=8 P=9 Q=105 R=9 S=1 T=7 U=10 V=8 W=50 X=7 Y=3 Z=9
#=3 @=2 &=24 %=2 $=13 £=17
12) N36° 07.868 W005° 20.731
M=6 N=11 O=12 P=3 Q=97 R=7 S=9 T=3 U=4 V=6 W=51 X=5 Y=1 Z=10
#=9 @=0 &=19 %=11 $=26 £=16
13) N36° 07.720 W005° 21.115
M=7 N=6 O=18 P=2 Q=78 R=6 S=5 T=2 U=8 V=5 W=41 X=4 Y=5 Z=2
#=1 @=6 &=17 %=4 $=19 £=12
14) N36° 07.131 W005° 20.766
M=8 N=4 O=13 P=1 Q=90 R=12 S=6 T=1 U=3 V=7 W=45 X=5 Y=4 Z=6
#=2 @=1 &=10 %=7 $=22 £=7
15) N36 06.788 W5 20.621! (co-ords by The Evil Poles). Formerly N36° 06.748 W005° 20.667.
M=9 N=8 O=10 P=8 Q=89 R=15 S=7 T=4 U=1 V=10 W=49 X=0 Y=6 Z=19
#=0 @=2 &=14 %=9 $=29 £=11
16) N36° 06.662 W005° 20.749
M=10 N=7 O=16 P=10 Q=100 R=7 S=3 T=0 U=8 V=9 W=40 X=2 Y=1 Z=5
#=4 @=5 &=19 %=6 $=32 £=1
Now the Plaques you're looking for, in no particular order. When you fail to find four of them at the given waypoints (they're real plaques, just nowhere near the 16 waypoints), convert their letter or symbol to 0 (Zero) for the final co-ord calculation. See the formula below.
(M) Red Plaque: The Emperor Charles V ordered the building of a great defensive wall in 15??, the arms over the original gate, which lead to a drawbridge, include those of Spain and Gibraltar, while the second gate, opened in 18??, bears those of Britain, Gibraltar and Sir John Adye, then Governor.
(N) Red Plaque: Cut into solid rock in 17?? Healy's Mortar was intended to hurl over a thousand stones weighing over 1lb [450g] each on to any attacking forces, but it proved unsuccessful as most stones fell inside the fortress.
(O) Red Plaque: Led by a shepherd 500 Spanish soldiers climbed the...face of The Rock in... from... to surprise the Garrison, but they were discovered and made prisoner. The shepherd's path from near this spot was scraped away soon afterwards.
(P) Red Plaque: Until the twentieth century companies of strong armed gunners hauled heavy guns up the Rock using ropes passed through rings like the one below, which existed along all roads leading to the Upper Rock.
(Q) Red Plaque: In Commemoration of Gorham's Cave Complex being inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage list. Friday 1? July 20??.
(R) Red Plaque: After the end of the Great Siege in 17?? a farm at this point was given to Sergt. Major Ince, in recognition of his idea of blasting galleries to allow the defenders to fire down upon the enemy's advanced works. Ince's galleries helped greatly towards the successful defense of the fortress.
(S) Red Plaque: An inscription here used to read "God and the soldier all men adore in time of trouble and no more, for when war is over and all things righted God is neglected and the old soldier slighted."
(T) Red Plaque:...Gate. This gate was named after...it was cut through the Charles V's wall in 17??.
(U) Red Plaque: Almost all ground outside the line wall has been reclaimed in the twentieth century. Until work began on the present dockyard in 18?? the sea came up to the wall nearly everywhere...
(V) Red Plaque: When French troops came near Gibraltar in 18??, during the Peninsular War, the people... fled to... where they stayed until the invaders withdrew.
(W) Red Plaque: ...Philip II of Spain, who called himself King of England after he married Mary Tudor, ordered the building of this wall in 15??...cut through it about 17??
(X) Red Plaque: Site of Villa... The name of Gibraltar -Gibel Tarik or Tarik's Hill- comes from the Moorish leader who landed nearby in 7??. Here the Moors remained, with one short break, until 14?? and built the first town to stand on The Rock, the lower part of which was so ruinous after the thirteenth siege that it was pulled down in 17?? to...
(Y) Red Plaque: "The... emplacement guarding the... and tank trap which existed some metres in front of this spot during World War II (1939-1945)"
(Z) Red Plaque: ...Originally the only way into Gibraltar other than by sea...was rebuilt in 17??, after being the scene of bitter fighting in thirteen sieges.
(#) NON Red Plaque: Bienvenu Willcommen Welkom Welcome Bem-vindo...Velkomst Bienvenidos Witamy Velkommen...
(@) NON Red Plaque: This stone was repositioned by Ifstre on13th December 19??. Its original site was on the cliff edge by...
(&) NON Red Plaque: Amidst plantations of delicious fruits of many varieties stood nearby this spot the temple of San Juan which in 15?? was under the protection of the Knights of Saint John of Malta.
(%) NON Red Plaque: On 2? July 17??, the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt led some 1,900 British and Dutch Marines...to sever the isthmus and lay siege to the garrison of Gibraltar following a naval assault on the New Mole, the garrison surrendered on 2? July. Following the capture, marines formed the largest contingent on The Rock and bore the brunt of the fighting with Spanish and French troops...
($) NON Red Plaque: AD 18??. The roads were made and surface levelled of this heretofore rugged hill by the voluntary labor of Her Majesty's VIIth Royal Fusiliers...
(£) NON Red Plaque: The Exploration of the cavern by permission of his Excellency Lt. Gen. Sir Richard Aire GCB...
FINAL LOCATION (approx 1,100 miles/1,770Km as the crow flies from here..!):
N51° 4 (#+&-Z-R) . ((Q-U-W)-(O-P-Y-M)+(%+N)) ((P+X+£+@)-(V-S-T))'
W000° 5 ($-O-S+U+Z) . (((T+X+#)+(V-M-Y))+(R-N-@)) (£+T+W+&+%)'
Side Missions? Gibraltar's Smith Dorrien Avenue, Smith Dorrien Bridge, and Smith Dorrien House are all named after Horace Smith-Dorrien, who is buried in Berkhamsted, Herts, UK, 19 miles by road from the final of this cache. His older brother was Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien-Smith, the Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly, where I also have caches. His predecessor was Augustus Smith, who famously helped stop the enclosure of Berkhamsted Common, where I- you know the rest :)
Plus this cache is the follow up to the original Plaque Buildup in Oxford, and a short-lived one in Aylesbury, Bucks too, although its format differs from both.
If it helps, the hamlet of Gibraltar, near Aylesbury in Bucks is approx. 45 miles/72Km from Heathrow Airport, 82 miles/132Km from Gatwick Airport, or 168 miles 263Km from Manchester Airport, all by fastest road options. It's close to the UK's oldest puzzle cache, England's oldest cache (Jan '01; Europe's 8th-oldest cache), and several Virtuals and other caches of interest, if that sways you to visit! It's also close to the A41 road which goes into London.