The Cowbridge Pub Crawl Multi-Cache
The Brat Pack: Archiving cache but will resurrect the idea in a new cache later this year.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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It is not compulsory to have a drink in every pub whilst doing this cache, and in fact it would not be possible since some of the pub locations you will be taken to have long since closed. Even a drink in all the pubs that still exist may serious damage your chances of getting the maths right in order to find the final cache location!
Cowbridge was once famed for its inns – the 1891 census showed twenty-five operating in the town and over the centuries forty-four different sites of inns have been identified. Today only five remain!
It is probably best to park in the old cattle market (see Cache Coordinates) since opportunities for on-street parking may be limited in Cowbridge. It should then take you about 30 minutes to walk the length of Cowbridge visiting all the Virtual Caches, however how long it takes you to do the calculation correctly and find the cache is another matter!
You will not be able to have a drink at the first virtual cache since there has been no inn here since the 18th century. However how many letters are there in the name of the inn that was located here then? (VC1) A= Number of letters in the name if the inn (two words).
The Market Place was the most recent Cowbridge public house to disappear and has been reborn as a restaurant. It was formerly the Masons Arms and was built into the town wall and adjoining West Gate, until that was demolished at the order of Thomas Edmondes but in what year? (VC2) B= Year in which the West Gate was demolished.
Bear Hotel is probably the inn of most interest to architectural historians being medieval in part, although the pointed-arch doorway dates from the 16th centaury. The Bear Hotel used to be the townhouse of the Thomas’s of Llanmihangel until the 17th century. How many windows are there on the first floor of the Bear Hotel? (VC3) C = Number of windows.
The Duke of Wellington can be dated back to an earlier brew house, but in what century? If you venture inside the ballroom at the back of the Duke of Wellington it is late Victorian and its floor is supported by the iron masts of the SS Ben Gloe that was wrecked at Marcross in 1884. (VC4) D = What century?
The Vale of Glamorgan Inn is on the site of the former Greyhound Inn and at the rear the Vale of Glamorgan brewery operated at the end of the nineteenth centaury, with the “wool barn” to the rear being the original malt house. The brewery later became the distribution centre for Hancocks of Cardiff, with the beer being fined here before supply to the local public houses. The archway to the gardens was the entrance to the brewery and, Gail Armytage’s shop next door was the brewery office and, more recently, the off-licence. The pub sign for the Vale of Glamorgan has a date on it, what is that date? (VC5) E = Date on the Vale of Glamorgan sign?
The Horse and Groom has occupied its present site for over 100 years although an inn of the same name was sited just down the road next to where the River Thaw runs today. The Horse and Groom still uses outbuildings of the old inn although the inn was subject to a major revamp by Whitbread in 1982 and very little of the original features remain visible at ground floor level. There is a pair of iron gates next to the pub giving access into the rear yard. How many horseshoes are there on these gates? (VC6) F = The number of horseshoes on the gates?
Almost opposite the Horse and Groom is the location of another former Cowbridge inn, the Jolly Brewer, that has closed in recent memory. What now lies within? (VC7) G= How many letters in the word that lies within?
Onto another former inn location, the Eastgate, which has been converted into a residential property called Eastgate Mews. What is the number on the door of Eastgate Mews? (VC8) H = Number on the door of Eastgate Mews?
Finally to the Edmondes Arms. This is the only public house in Cowbridge still with its traditional pub windows which probably date from its last major rebuilding as does the pub sign across the front of the building. What is the date of this rebuilding displayed over the doorway? The picture at “Jack’s Corner” (recently hit and partially demolished by a drunk driver!) shows the faithful pet of a previous owner of the inn, at the place where he used to regularly sit. (VC9) I = Date over the door?
Having obtained all nine answers now for the tricky part!
The Final Cache location is at N51 27.JKL W 003.27.MNO;
where:
JKL = ((E-B) x (C-H)) - (A x (G+H))
and:
MNO = ((H+I)/(F+H)) + (C+D+H)
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
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