Blisworth Tunnel 200 Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A short walk along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal near the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire. The paths are well made for most of the way.
Park at N 52 08 576 W 000 54 877 next to the Canal Museum (£3) or use the car park of The Navigation (charge applies) or Boat Inn pubs nearby, if you intend to avail yourself of their excellent hospitality. Either location is about a 0.5 mile walk to the Cache. There is also a car park in a field belonging to the Church a bit further away. The Cache location is within 0.2 of a mile from the south portal of Blisworth Tunnel which opened in 1805 linking London with the industrial Midlands by means of the Grand Union Canal. Work on the 1.75 mile (3km) tunnel began in 1793 but was halted due to water problems in Blisworth Hill. To enable goods to be transported by the canal, which stopped either side of the hill, a toll road was built. The road was then replaced by a horse worked double track iron plateway - the first railway to be built in the south of England. The original line of the plateway and the old boathorse road now provides a scenic triangular walk with "willow" sculptures, bird & bat boxes. Next to the tunnel entrance there is a section of the concrete tunnel lining which was used to re-line the centre section of the tunnel during 1980-1984. The tunnel and boathorse road are crossed by the remains of the Easton Neston, Mineral, Towcester, Roade & Olney Junction Railway (the Banana Line) on a raised embankment. In 2005 there was a Canal Festival here to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Opening of Blisworth Tunnel. In 2009 the Tunnel celebrated 25 years since it re-opened after being closed for major repairs in the 1980s for 4 years. Why not visit the Canal Museum while you are here. It is housed in the old mill building next to the top lock and has a cafe overlooking the canal.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gerr