Eston Nab ( Cleveland ) Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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An ancient hill fort with fantastic views overlooking Teesside, the river Tees estuary and coastline.
On the summit of this promontory, there is an ancient encampment, thought to be of Saxon origin, consisting of a double circle of rough loose stones: the inner rampart or entrenchment being 150 paces in circumference; This was probably constructed by the Saxons about the year 492 when they were overthrown by the Britons at the battle of Badon-Hill.
The Nab is strategic to the whole northeast coastline; the Romans knew it and built a beacon station here that linked the coastal network to the garrison at Catteractonium.
The current monument within the hill fort is built from the stonework of the Napoleonic watchtower that was situated on the nab.
The Nab is still used for communications, though a lot more hi-tech.
When Iron Ore was discovered in the locality it was to change the shape and importance of the Area.
The Wilton estates sold the royalties for ironstone mining to Bolckow & Vaughan in 1850. First trials indicated that the ore was of superb quality, which prompted Bolckow & Vaughan to build a Blast Furnace at Middlesbrough to use Eston Iron ore. In all, 63 million tons of iron ore was extracted from beneath these hills over ninety-nine years of working from 1850 until 1949.
The Ore brought the Iron Works; The Iron Works brought the Railways and the Ships and the Ships brought International Trade.
Land once belonging to the Lowther family and being known as the Wilton Estates went right to the shoreline Colonel Lowther sold the estate to ICI in 1945.
In 1946 2,000 Acres of land were developed at a cost of £ 300 million with the first chemical plant going into production in 1950.
There is little steel production today with only one Blast Furness on the coast at Redcar. There is no shipbuilding and even the chemical works have undergone a vast change to what they were twenty years ago.
I would suggest you park at Flatts Lane Country Park. N54 32.636 W001 08.903.
This will give you a walk of about 1.5 miles, to the top.
Go through the gate in the top corner of the carpark and head up to the road over a stile in the top left corner of the field. Turn right at the road, this leaves about 100mts of road to walk along, (it’s busy and there isn't much verge to walk on so take care!) the footpath is marked on the other side of the road just after the house. This can be followed all the way to the top. It’s muddy in places so I would recommend boots. Remember the way back as there are lots of paths criss-crossing the moor. This is an exposed site and you should come prepared.
Make sure the lid is tight on the box, and it is well hidden.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va gur ebbgf bs n orag gerr. Arkg gb gur srapr arnerfg gur genafzvggre fgngvba.