Introduction
This cache is a Multi cache which will take in just a small number of the blue plaques which can be seen in the City of Birmingham. These plaques offer an interesting insight into the building, people and institutions of the city, some lost, some still present to this day. This cache also makes a nod to the origins of letterboxing, where measuring distances and bearings were the most accurate method available to navigate from one location to the next. Most GPS units and apps available for smartphones these days can project a waypoint using distance and bearings, so hopefully the map and compass can stay at home on this occasion.
The final cache location is a little bit harder to get to, hence the terrain rating 3!
The Task
At the listed coords you will find the first blue plaque, each subsequent location a blue plaque can be found. All except one are large, round, constructed of cast iron with a uniform-coloured blue background and raised letters painted in white. (Plaque 6 is rectangular!) All plaques are clearly visible from a distance and from a footway, there is no need to be standing in the middle of roads or the like to find them. All the plaques have several digits on them. At each location, all digits should be written down and the first digit assigned the letter A, the second B, right up to the point that no more digits remain.
Print off the Crib sheet that’s below to assist you in each stage.
The numbers from the current stage will not be needed at any later stage, so “A” at each of the 10 stages could be a different digit. At each location I will specify the range of letters which need to be used, which will help to confirm you are looking at the right plaque.
These letters should then be substituted into the formulas for the number of metres (apologies to those who work in imperial) and the bearing to the next location.
In each case both the distance and the bearing are expressed as 3- or 2-digit numbers. I have tried to keep the maths simple where I can (I have only used addition and subtraction). The information gathered at the first plaque will reveal the location of the second and so on and so forth until the 8th plaque will reveal the location of the cache container.
At each location I would recommend taking your next bearing from standing on the footway as close to the blue plaque as is reasonable rather than from the result of your previous bearing. Navigating on a bearing is not quite as accurate as navigating to a coordinate, so any minor errors could be compounded as you complete this task.
Times and Distances
I would expect this cache to take just over an hour to complete, however this may fluctuate massively depending on how distracted you may become by whatever else could be done in the city or whatever other caches you may be hoping to find enroute. All plaques can be navigated to along and viewed from a footway. In most cases the most efficient route should be obvious. There is one busy road to cross, however there is a walkway over and a subway under it, so be sure to make use of proper crossing places where they are available. The total distance covered along the trail will be roughly 2.3km (1.4miles).