THE BORROWDALE YEWS Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Short hike up the valley, paths very muddy in places.
The Borrowdale Yews can be found in a valley spur known as Seathwaite, some as old as 300 some probably 500 years plus. They can be reached along a footpath which cuts through the farm and crosses a bridge opposite Sour Milk gill. Note the gravestone on the way at 54 30.012 003 11.067 - vandalism is not specific to this generation!! Yew trees were usually planted over burial sites since as you will notice nothing can grow beneath them and the grave therefore remains protected. The grove is a diminished remnant of what it was 2 centuries ago but is still an awesome location and 'holy spot'. In particular the tree which stands about 10 metres south from the other two shows the amazing regenerative powers of the yew. It seems to have survived what seems to be a severe wound resulting from the loss of a major limb. In 2000 similar damage was caused to the main tree of the group when a large branch was blown down with the result that the canopy is now depleted by 50% to the west. Although one of the yews lost a 9ft girth portion of it's trunk (still in situ) in the Great Storm of 1868 the regeneration of the site is very self evident. Wordsworth’s descriptions are not just poetry but also a historical record and perhaps a sad symbolism of what is happening to the environment in general. Near the grove, below on the riverbank, is another yew, probably also very old/ancient and a direct offspring. This tree is undamaged by wind but stands on the pebbled bank of a beck. The beck can turn into a raging torrent at any time of the year and rage for days on end because this location, specifically nearby Seathwaite, is, after all, the wettest in England.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qbja gur onax sebz gur Lrj gerrf haqre gur sebag bs n ynetr obhyqre.
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