Background.
In November 1660, Sir Francis Wingate, learned that John Bunyan
was intending to preach near the small village of Lower Sampshill,
and issued a warrant for his arrest.
During the sermon a constable arrested him and he was taken to
Harlington Manor ( then known as 'Harlington House' ) for
questioning. Wingate then committed Bunyan to Bedford gaol and he
was subsequently convicted under the "Conventicle Act" of 1593.
Apart from a brief period of freedom in 1666, he was to remain
in gaol for 12 years and it was during his incarceration that he
penned the allegorical 'A Pilgrim's Progress'.
In the story, the primary character undertakes a journey. Many
of the locations in the tale are believed to have been inspired by
features of the Bedfordshire countryside. In the case of the
'Delectable Mountains', the real life geographic feature are
thought to be the Sundon Hills between Harlington and Luton.
How to find it.
Parking for the cache can be found in at the Sundon Hills car
park ( approximately N51° 56.722 W000° 28.645 ). Please exercise
the usual caution when parking your car in lonely spots at night or
other quiet times.
The distance from the car park to the cache is approximately
1.4KM. The maximum elevation change is 56 metres over a distance of
780 metres.
The actual cache is located at N51° 5P.RIA W000° 2D.SCL
In order to solve the questions below, you will need to obtain a
copy of 'The Pilgrim's Progress' either in paper form or you can
obtain it here (
recommended - thanks to crayfishuk for broken link notification ).
( If the link fails, please notify me and I will locate another
source ). The relevant section is entitled 'The Delectable
Mountains - entertained by the Shepherds - a by-way to Hell'.
NOTE :
If you have an objection to reading a Christian religious text, you
may wish to either -
- Download the document as suggested, but rather than read the
text, search for two key words ( see the decryptable hint ) which
will allow you to immediately access the answers, or
- Contact me via geocaching.com and I will supply the
answers.
P, R, I, A, D, S, C and L are calculated as follows –
In the text, reference is made to a castle that is visible from
the Delectable Mountains. Enter the name of the keeper of
the castle in the grid :-
| _ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
| 7 |
* |
8 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
The shepherds take the pilgrims to the top of a high hill to
look at the gates of the Celestial City through the shepherd's
'perspective glass'. What is the name of the hill from which they
look?
The Pilgrims' path from the Delectable Mountains either takes
them to Hell or the Celestial City. Luton is to the South of Sundon
Hills. Celestial City or Hell? You choose
.
The Sundon Hills are owned by Bedfordshire County Council and
are managed on their behalf by the National Trust. The area
contains a number of SSSIs.
Linked to this cache are :-
GCVFNN ‘John Bunyan's Delectable Mountain View’ by
Roberts-Tribe
and
GCVFNM‘John Bunyan's Not So Delectable Mountains’ by
Roberts-Tribe
Pilgrim's Progress caches by Beds Clangers -
GCV5RF ‘City of Destruction’
GCV5RH ‘Interpreter's House’
GCV5XZ ‘Slough of Despond’
GCV5Y4 ‘Hill Difficulty’
Also on a John Bunyan theme, there are :
GCMKK2 ‘Bunyan's Last Preach’ by Roberts-Tribe
GCV1WW ‘John Bunyan? You're nicked! by Roberts-Tribe
GCHJDQ ‘Ladybird's Third Spot (House Beautiful)’ by
ANDYBUG&LADYBIRD
and
GC4C72 ‘Pilgrims Progress’ by Clyde & Bernadette