Chapter 4

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Coin 1

Location : Barford Bridge

Coin : Base of bridge parapet

Number & Letter: A (second letter in Barford) 7 (Letters in Barford)

Winner: Richard Gilbert

The text says: 'where a few more than six thousand crossed a frozen river'. The road crossing over the bridge is the A6003, and the river flowing under is the river Ise (pronounced ice). The bridge also has a legend connected to it, about a monk whose grave has been levelled and moved. His ghost has been seen wandering the road trying to stop passers by. In the chapter the monk says:

'I come from a family of three, I'm not the father nor the son, so who am I?'

The popular saying is Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

OS Grid Ref 860 829

Coin 2

Location : Weldon Church

Coin : At the base of two Hawthorn bushes on a small stone bridge

Number & Letter: N (from last letter in Weldon) & 6 (From letters in Weldon)

Winner: Michael Williams

This riddle says:

Before the ship, the year, the weight

After slaughter, wheel and gate.

In the first line if we add the word LIGHT before the words we can get

LIGHThouse - LIGHTyear - LIGHTweight

In the second if we add the word HOUSE after the words we can get

slaughterHOUSE - wheelHOUSE - gateHOUSE

These words give us another word

LIGHTHOUSE

In the text the sailor says - 'sometimes the answer is shining down upon us', again hinting at a lighthouse. In the picture, there is a beam from a lighthouse behind the sailors head. At Weldon a traveller is supposed to have been lost in the Rockingham Forest when he saw the spire of the church, he was so grateful that he paid for a light to be erected on the church to guide other lost souls. The next line in the riddle reads:

Name the village of this friend - WELDON

Count them all and keep the end - Number 6 Letter N

OS Grid Ref 927 894

Coin 3

Location : Great Brington

Coin : Hidden at the base of a large Sycamore tree

Number & Letter: R (from second letter of village) & 3 (From height number)

Winner: Charles Afleck

The story is based on a legend attributed to the Triangular Lodge at Rushton. However, the text says not to go to the beaver's home (lodge) as it contains no gold or clues. We now know that the coin isn't at Rushton. In the story the minstrel says that if Tallifer wants juggling lessons he will have to join the end of the line. The end of the line is a Queue. The story also mentions a hassock, a hassock is a kneeling cushion. If we look at these items again we have a queue or CUE, a CUSHION and the BALLS that the minstrel is juggling. These all link to snooker, with the lodge at Rushton being the TRIANGLE. The minstrel says in the story that the balls are magic, so if we take the values of the balls in snooker and apply them to the picture we get 671 655. looking this up on an OS map 152 it brings us to a road side west of Althorp. In the picture the minstrel is sitting in a tree by a road, hinting at a correct location. He then tells Tallifer that Australia sounds like an eastern princess, Althorp is the family home of Princess Diana. At the end of the story we are told that we must take the second letter from the nearest village, (Great Brington) and the second digit from the first height number, by following the road north. This is the number 3

OS Grid Ref 671 655

Coin 4

Location : Holdenby

Coin : Fixed on the sawn off branch of a tree by the roadside

Number & Letter: E (from Ninety Two) & 9 (From letters in Ninety Two)

Winner: Richard Hollis

All that is required to solve this puzzle is the relevant OS map. In the story King Charles I tells Tallifer that he travelled from 'AYR to GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY, then back to GIRVAN collecting the contents of three boxes'

These are not the three boxes in the picture, which contain a white elephant, a gooseberry and a red herring, all of which are non existent or unwanted things. The three boxes we need are the map division boxes drawn on the back of every OS 1: 50, 000 Landranger map. Each box contains a number. AYR is map 70, GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY is map 36, and GIRVAN is map 76. If we put these together we get 703 676. This takes us to a spot just east of Holdenby House where Charles Ist lived. The last few lines suggest a spot height on the road shown on the map. The number is 92, if we write this in words and take the fourth letter and count them all the letter and number become clear.

OS Grid Ref 703 676

Coin 5

Location :Sulgrave Manor

Coin : Hidden behind a road sign at the base of a large tree

Number & Letter: M (from America) & 2 (From position of M in America)

Winner: Paul Harkin

The gypsy tells Tallifer as he points to a nearby building that he has seen those as he's travelled all around the world. He says that he has been to China, Australia, Cuba, New Zealand, Singapore and even Venezuela. Although each one of those places has something in common, many countries have none. He then gives us a further clue by saying although we have none there are fifty here. All the places mentioned by the gypsy have stars in their flags. If we count up the stars in each place we get a grid reference of 561 457. This grid reference locates us at a roadside near Sulgrave Manor, the home of the ancestors of George Washington. The other clue from the gypsy now makes sense, the British flag has no stars, but the American flag flown at Sulgrave has fifty. The gypsy then says to Tallifer to find the lady who hides in her homeland, she has a letter before her, note where that letter lies. The lady is ERICA from America, the letter before her is M and lies in the second position.

OS Grid Ref 561 457

Coin 6

Location : Flore

Coin : Hidden at base of tree near war memorial

Number & Letter: L (from last letter in memorial) & 7 (letters left in memorial)

Winner: Deborah Hatton

Hidden in the text of this story about Oliver Cromwell are the items a DAGGER, a SPANNER, and a ROPE. All of these things can be found in the game of CLUEDO. We should therefore assume that we must use the game to solve the riddle posed by Cromwell.The riddle answers are as follows:

My first is the fourth in the title of the fruit - Professor Plum

My second and third begin the space for living - Lounge

My fourth and fifth start the religiously naive - Reverend Green

My sixth begins the last word from the purest wife - Mrs White

My seventh and eighth are the fifth and sixth in the place between play and revision - library

My ninth ends three words the same - Room

My tenth is the sixth in the single colour - (Miss) Scarlet

My last begins the warmest word - Mustard

The letters taken spell out FLORE WAR MEM

Cromwell then tells us to take the part of the answer that is abbreviated and write it out in full. Take the last letter (L) and count the remaining letters (7)

OS Grid Ref 646 604

Coin 7

Location : Geddington

Coin : Hidden in a crevice on top of the bridge, by pedestrian refuge

Number & Letter: T (from Castile) & 7 (From letters in Castile)

Winner: Richard Gilbert

Tallifer meets Queen Eleanor of Castile by the bridge in Geddington. When he stares into the water he sees something which gives him a clue to how the riddle is solved. This is the coin, or more importantly the Monarch's head on the coin. Each line of the riddle must be applied to a list of all monarchs since William the Conqueror. By identifying the numbers associated with each monarch referred to in the riddle, we can obtain a six figure grid reference (894 829) that lands on the bridge.

My first lies between my fifth and sixth
Edward 8th lies between George 5th and George 6th - 8
My second is the sum of my first two thirds, and all that lie between
Henry 3rd and Edward 3rd, plus Edward 1st and Edward 2nd - 9
My third lies between my second and my fifth
Henry 4th lies between Richard 2nd and Henry 5th - 4
My fourth lies between my sixth and seventh
Henry 8th lies between Edward 6th and Henry 7th- 8
My fifth comes before my second first
William 2nd comes before Henry 1st who is after William 1st - 2
And my sixth is the sum of the pair that follow my first sixth
Edward 4th and Edward 5th come before Henry 6th - 9

Queen Eleanor tells Tallifer that her name reveals all,
with the middle letter of Castile being T and the total number of letters being 7.

OS Grid Ref 894 829

Coin 8

Location : Fotheringhay Motte

Coin : Hidden at the base of a large dog rose bush at the top of the motte

Number & Letter: I (from the word ring) & 0 (From map reference number)

Winner: Paul Greenhalgh

The story and picture concentrate on roses, therefore roses must be important in solving the riddle. If we look at the riddle it says:

To he, madder each riddle!
I never ate fish, given apple coloured herrings,
Accelerate fever,
Water your garden minstrel, or cut the root to evil,
Farewell wood chafer, onward.

This riddle contains words that will go after the word rose, e.g. rose wood. These are as follows:

To he, madder each riddle!
Rose Madder
I never ate fish, given apple coloured herrings,
Rose ate, Rose Fish, Rose Apple, Rose Coloured
Accelerate fever,
Rose fever
Water your garden minstrel, or cut the root to evil,
Rose water, Rose garden, Rose cut, Rose root
Farewell wood chafer, onward.
Rose wood, Rose chafer.

Later in the text Munin says to Tallifer that 'new beginnings lie among the roses'. Therefore if we take the beginning letters of the words between the rose words we get THERINGHAYMOTTEFO. If we start from the Farewell, we can read FOTHERINGHAY MOTTE. We are then told that the first map reference number (0) and the second letter in the circle between the two words above him would suffice. The second letter in the circle (RING from Fotheringhay which lies between the words THE and HAY)

OS Grid Ref 062 930

Northamptonshire Lute Key

Location : Brixworth

Winner: Stephen Parkes

We now have the following sets of letters and numbers:

7 6 3 9 2 7 7 0

A N R E M L T I

If we re-arrange these letters we can get the word

T R A M L I N E

7 3 7 2 7 0 6 9

This now lands on a disused tramline crossing called Merry Tom Crossing near Brixworth. The county key was hidden at the base of the signpost at the roadside.