Please read the requirements for this cache. You must visit two different locations and take a photo at each in order to qualify for the find. If you do not post the required two photos with your log, it will be deleted.
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This cache is a tribute to two of my favourite authors. Though they are quite different, both have been inspired by historical locations and events in this area of London.
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Night Watch
Night Watch is a novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, published in 2002. The novel is set in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, which is not entirely analagous to London; the author has said that "the city is similar to Tallinn and central Prague, with elements of 18th-century London, 19th-century Seattle and modern-day New York City". However, Terry Pratchett was certainly inspired by the real-life Battle of Cable Street when writing certain key events in the novel.
In real life, the Battle of Cable Street was a riot started between Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists and anti-fascist protesters in 1936. It was a seminal point in British history in stopping Britain from swinging in the direction that Germany was taking, drawing attention to the underlying violence of the fascist movement and forcing the government to take action against its rise. Protesters built a number of barricades on narrow Cable Street and its side streets. The Police's attempts to take and remove the barricades were resisted in hand-to-hand fighting and with missiles of rubbish and rotten vegetables.
In the fictionalised version of events in Night Watch, riots begin all over the city in response to the actions of the paranoid and homicidal Patrician Lord Winder, who runs Ankh-Morpork as a police state, with his dreaded "Cable Street Particulars" causing dissidents to disappear. Samuel Vimes takes command of the watchmen and has his haphazard forces barricade a few streets to keep people safe from the fighting between rebels and soldiers. The barricades are gradually pushed forward to encompass the surrounding streets until Vimes finds himself in control of a quarter of the city containing most of its food supplies, dubbed "The Glorious People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road".
'I repeat, I order you to dismantle this barricade.' He took a breath, and went on: 'And rebuild it on the other side on the corner with Cable Street! And put up another one at the top of Sheer Street! Properly built! Good grief, you don't just pile stuff up, for god's sake! A barricade is something you construct! Who's in charge here?'
There were sounds of consternation behind the overturned furniture, but a voice called out, 'You?' There was nervous laughter. '
Task #1
The location you need to visit here is the Cable Street mural, at the headline coords. Take a photo of yourself or your caching name written on a piece of paper in front of it.
The Ruby in the Smoke
The Ruby in the Smoke is a novel by Phillip Pullman, published in 1985 (preceding the more-famous 'His Dark Materials' books). Set in 1872 in Victorian London, it mentions numerous locations in East and Central London. Much of the action happens in Wapping; the main villain lives in ‘Hangman’s Wharf’, which doesn’t seem to be a real location, but may be equivalent to the real Execution Dock which is in front of Wapping Overground station. A real Wapping location mentioned is the Old Stairs, the site of a meeting between the characters Jim and Adelaide. Another important location is the photographer Frederick Garland’s house, this is 45 Burton Street, which is just south of the British Library.
Wapping is described as ‘a district of docks and warehouses, of crumbling tenements and rat-haunted alleys, of narrow streets (…) the blind brick walls at pavement level and the brutal-looking apparatus above give the place the air of some hideous dungeon from a nightmare, while the light, filtered and dulled by the grime in the air, seems to come from a long way off – as if through a high window set with bars’.
Task #2
The location you need to visit here is the pub at the stated coordinates. In the story, this is the answer to a riddle - the titular ruby is hidden 'under a knotted rope', with the turk's head being a type of knot. You will find a lot of history is still on the building despite the pub being renamed. Find the pub at Waypoint 2 and take a photo of yourself or your caching name written on a piece of paper in front of it.
Upload both photos with your log to claim your find.
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This cache is one of two in a mini-series themed around fiction stories that include a real London location where something of importance to the plot occurs. The other is GCAPBWY. I might add more entries to the series at some point.
Update: There are now many entries in the series - check the full list.
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Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
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