This is a Letterbox Hybrid geocache. It is not at the published co-ordinates. You will need to visit the published co-ordinates to work out the final location.
These Letterbox caches simply highlight significant individuals, from a variety of fields, who once lived behind a letterbox at this location.
Ellen Lee (1894 – 1951)
Ellen Lee was an ARP warden at Wilkinson’s Lemonade Factory in North Shields. The factory basement was being used as an air raid shelter on the night of May 3rd-4th 1941. A bomb from a lone German bomber destroyed the factory. A total of 107 men, women and children were killed in what is believed to be the largest single bomb loss of life outside London in the war. In the immediate aftermath of the blast, Ellen found the exit door blocked with fallen rubble.
Mrs Lee was 6ft tall and weighed nearly 18 stone. Using her strength and weight she shoulder-charged the wall repeatedly until it gave way sufficiently to make an opening onto the street. Despite her own injuries she protected the escape route until 32 people had managed to get out.
Although she had suffered burns, Mrs Lee remained on site for the rest of the night, helping to look after survivors who had been taken into a nearby school. Two men received a George Medal and a third a British Empire Medal for their bravery that night. Ellen received no official recognition!
After 82 years of campaigning, on Wednesday 8 March 2023, International Women’s Day, a Blue Plaque was unveiled in her honour at the site of the former Wilkinson’s lemonade factory in North Shields.
The plaque marks the bravery and selflessness that Mrs Lee demonstrated during, and in the hours following, the bombing.
The cache:
The co-ordinates take you to Coburg Terrace. This part of Tynemouth Road seems to have been known as Coburg Terrace in the past based on records of pubs in Kelly’s Directory. Ellen Lee lived here in the 1930s.
To discover the final co-ordinates:
STAGE 1: At the posted co-ordinates find a fault and an 11-digit number. The 11 digits are: ABCD EFG HIJK. Use this to work out the distance and bearing to Stage 2.
DISTANCE: B (K-D) (J-E) metres
BEARING: B (J+E) (K+E).E degrees
Stage 2 is a very short walk away.
STAGE 2: At the new location, work out the field puzzle below. Use your initiative and you’ll be in the pink. The final can be found at N5X XX.XXX W00X XX.XXX
The cache is a micro but does contain a stamp. Please leave this in the cache.
The cache is a short drive, or walk, away.
