The Devil's Congregation - Tintern Mystery Cache
The Blorenges: ... and the congregation dispersed into the damp November evening.
The Devil's Congregation - Tintern
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Overlooking one of the most picturesque religious ruins in the
country - Tintern Abbey
If you’ve visited the
Devil’s Pulpit cache then you’ll know the rock there is where
the Devil preached to the monks at Tintern Abbey. Well, our cache
is where his congregation (the monks) was, at Tintern Abbey itself
– well, almost, we couldn’t put it in the abbey ruins but its close
by! You’ll get a wonderful view of the ruins.
Tintern is a very attractive village on the river Wye and has the
Wye Valley Walk and Offa’s Dyke Paths running through it. There are
many other footpaths and tracks exploring the area. If you are
feeling energetic then you can continue on to the Devil’s Pulpit
cache, it’s only about ¾ mile away (but 700 feet higher up!).
The cache is a small box painted in camouflage colours. It has a
log book and some local Tintern goodies! Once you get onto the
obvious footpath there is another footpath signposted off this.
This is where the cache is. Although it is out of site the main
footpath can get very busy with tourists so be discrete when you
find it! The main footpath is buggy and young children friendly –
but rather muddy in the wet! The side footpath does have a couple
of steep steps down off it which you’d have to carry a buggy down
(not too difficult).
You’ll need to solve a clue first, the co-ordinates given are of
the car park near the abbey, not the cache. The clue is: “In which
year was brass first made at Tintern”? You’ll find the answer near
the car park/abbey, though what you are looking for is made of
bronze not brass! Use that 4 digit year to work out the clue.
The cache co-ordinates are: N51°41.a6b', W02°40.x7y where a = the
first and last digits of the date added together, b = the third
digit divided by two, x = the third digit and y = the last number
minus the third number.
Parking can be difficult in Tintern, especially in the summer.
There is additional parking along the road and also at the Old
Station (April to October only).
Once you’ve got the co-ordinates the best way is to go down to the
river and follow the footpath ‘The Tintern Trail’ upstream – you’ll
see why as soon as you get to the river!
The Abbey Mill has a nice tea room/restaurant and there are many
really good pubs in Tintern. The little gift shop (by the
abbey/Anchor Inn) sells locally made ice-cream – try the Welsh
Gold!!
Oh, if they are there, say hello to the donkeys!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ol gur ehvarq onea ohg abg va vg.. ybbx bire gur srapr.