The SGCB series is both for everyone and Scouts working on their GeoCaching Badge (leaders see OSM for activity info). There are 6 caches and whether you start at Crossways or from Burbush car-park, they are best done in an anti-clockwise direction to save more than a little back-tracking. It’s about a 3.5 mile walk round the series from one of the parking areas. The views from Dur Hill Down on a clear day go for miles.
“This cache is on Forestry Commission land and has been placed in accordance with the GAGB – Forestry Commission Agreement. As part of this Agreement, it is not permitted to seek the cache during the hours of darkness”.
Radio waves are how satellite signals reach our devices, travelling thousands of miles. Signor Marconi was one of the scientists who got all excited when Herr Hertz created electromagnetic waves, proving electricity, magnetism and light are related. Huh you might say, but this was big, really big, as it opened up so many possibilities. Signor Marconi left Italy as they weren’t interested in giving him funding and he came to England, not far from here in fact, and got experimenting. In the 1890s, he annoyed the hotel owner on the Isle of Wight with his requests to put up bigger and bigger radio masts so he moved to the Haven hotel at Sandbanks. He also had a station at Durlston, Swanage. If you’re local you may remember the Marconi factory near Poole, this was Marconi’s company, originally called “The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company”.
Many scientists helped develop radio waves for sending messages but Marconi was the person who developed it over long distances, winning a Nobel prize for it in 1909. His goal was to signal across the Atlantic, 2200 miles, which he achieved in 1902 and then he invented a company to transmit to ships. Many of you will know of the very famous use of this technology when Titanic sank. The radio operators were Marconi employees, not White Star Line employees. Britain’s postmaster-general said those who were saved, including my great-grandfather, were saved because of Marconi.
Radio waves travel at the speed of light and your GPS signal will have taken approximately 67 milliseconds to reach you from in space! The find for this cache is a 1255 metres walk away. GPS Satellites are 12,550 miles away which is more than half way round Earth. If you think that’s far, Galileo satellites are 14,450 miles high. As you walk, imagine every metre you travel, is 10 miles to a satellite!
The cache
At the first stage, what do you find here?
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If its an unusual stone/rock, then A is 3
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If its a huge stump, then A is 5
If its a post, then A is 7
At the second stage, what is the number on the red tag?
At the third stage, what are the numbers on the plate? (Extra hint, it's laying flat so you really have to look for it)
- Add 2 to the first number, this is D
- The second number is C
- The third number is E
At the fourth stage, does this post (the most northern one) have the pin (gudgeon) for a gate to hang on?
- If the answer is Yes then F is 3
- If the answer is No then F is 8
The cache is at N 50 48.ABC W1 43.DEF