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Silica Sands ... Blubberhouses Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Oink: The area has changed as the hidden atmospheric buildings have been demolished.

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Hidden : 5/7/2006
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A three minute walk from the northerly "C" road. The site has now been cleared of the original buildings which had made into a very atmospheric place.

Blubberhouses is a small village located in the Washburn Valley in the borough of Harrogate situated on the edge of the Dales National Park. Its name originally meant "houses at the bubbling spring".This was once a thriving village with several mills alongside the fast-flowing River Washburn, a church and an old stone bridge. Lead was mined on the surrounding Greenhow moors.

According to the historian Arthur Mee (`Yorkshire, West Riding' 1941), one of these mills had a terrible reputation during Victorian times, "Here scores of children are said to have been employed by brutal masters who kept them standing at the looms till they fell exhausted." It is sometimes said that this is how the name Blubberhouses came about.
Perhaps it is better that these old mills have disappeared deep beneath Thruscross Reservoir.

The village contains a church, St. Andrew's Church, and is part of the parish of Fewston.The village has two cricket teams who play at a very scenic ground on the washburn river. Take the footpath from the top of Fewston reservoir towards Thruscross Reservoir and the path passes the ground. This is a very enjoyable walk at any time of the year.

The cache site is situated in the Silica sand quarry, one of two sites in North Yorkshire, the other being Burythorpe Quarry south of Malton. The Blubberhouses site is currently mothballed due to market forces leaving an atmosphere likened to the Mad Max era..
A bit of commercial archeology in the making.

Silica sands are essential raw materials for glassmaking and a wide range of other industrial and horticultural applications.

A small plastic box with the usual things inside.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ybbx sbe gur gjb ynetrfg obhyqref ..

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)