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6. Braids and Blackford Hill Bonus Mystery Cache

Hidden : 11/13/2019
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


This is a Bonus Cache and there is no container hidden at the posted coordinates. However you DO need to go there to find one of the clues.


There are 6 caches in all:


Beautiful Braids and Blackford Hill is a set of 5 traditional geocaches spread out over a wide area of the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Local Nature Reserve. In finding them all, you'll have had a superb day out and explored much of this fabulous public outdoor space. It is a fairly long trek to find all 5, so you may wish to complete the set in stages. Peedieduchess is an old fat woman but pretty active and it takes her about 2 hours just to walk round them all.

At the posted coordinates N 55° 55.188 W 003° 12.058 you are standing outside The Hermitage.The mansion house, complete with turrets and mock battlements, was built in 1785 for Charles Gordon, Writer to the Signet. Charles was a rich merchant originally from Aberdeen, and a multimillionaire by today's standards. He built the castle after his marriage to the daughter of the Laird of Mortonhall. They had 3 sons and 3 daughters. It is believed that the castle-like design was supposed to emulate Braid Castle, the original residence of the de Brad family who were the owners of the estate in the 12th century. Not much is known about the original Braid Castle, but it was probably situated up on the crags above this house. Charles Gordon owned several large estates, including Cluny in Aberdeenshire, but he lived a miserly existence as a hermit in the house here.

To find the coordinates for the bonus cache


STEP 1: You need to find 6 numbers and letters.
Each of the 5 traditional caches contains a letter and a number.
The 6th clue is right here on a plaque on the house that commemorates a Nobel Laureate in Physics who once lived here.
For the letter: use the last letter of his first name
For the number: use the last number of the date he died.


STEP 2: Now you should have 6 letters and 6 numbers.
REARRANGE the letters to make an appropriate word, then put the corresponding numbers in order to make up the co-ordinates for the bonus final as follows:

N55°55.??? W003°11.???


Congratulations to Danale and MumofGeorge, they swept the board and were First to Find all 6 caches in the series! What a team!


Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Chmmyr: vs lbh ernyyl unira'g jbexrq vg bhg: vg'f n unvefglyr! Pnpur: Hc (be qbja) gur fgrcf.....ObG

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)