Hello, and thank you for purchasing "The Lost Fabergé ". A few rules here to help you with your game.

1: DO NOT close the page that contains the game. This will log you out completely and you will be taken back to the start. You can move through the quest by pressing next and previous however do not close the page it is on. You can swap tabs and switch pages with no problems. 

2: You will have to solve a series of clues and puzzles to work through the game. Please note; there are hints you can ask for to give you a nudge what to do however if you are well and truly stuck the downloadable answer sheet with the correct answers was emailed to you on purchase. (Only look if you are in desperate need - no peeking). The answers may be drop down answers, multiple choice or require you to write in a word/letters or numbers. Just make sure to always check the spelling.

3. You can go forward and backwards in between pages so you can check on orientation and where you have been.

4. If you click on an image to open it, it will open in a new tab. When you are completed it and want to shut it down just make sure you do not close the original page. You could also just zoom in on the picture instead of opening it. 

5. You will also learn lots of interesting facts about Harrogate as you progress through. Just make sure to tick the box after the fact to allow you to continue.

6: There is absolutely no time limit, so feel free to pop into any bars/pubs or shops that you want on your way around; sampling the delights that Harrogate has to offer. 

7. Lastly; have fun and good luck.

Welcome everyone, to this most cryptic of Harrogate Quest; where we need your help. 

Princess Alix (who was to become Russian Tsarina in November 1894) came to Harrogate to ‘take the waters’ in the hope of finding a cure for her sciatica. She stayed in the town from mid-May until 19^th June 1894. The princess took lodgings at Cathcart House on Prospect Place in Harrogate.

What was not reported at the time was the disappearance of a Fabergé Egg which had been given to her as a present. The matter was ‘hushed up’ to avoid a diplomatic incident. The whereabouts of the Egg was never discovered, and the culprit was never identified. There were many rumours within the local community, but no one was brought to justice and the incident faded from memory.

However, recently during a barn restoration a worker found a hidden diary filled with scribbles about the Tsarina and her Fabergé Egg hidden in an old cabinet, which could point to the location of the Egg. You had been researching the case for years and decided you needed to follow the guidance on the papers. Can you follow the clues to lead you to the egg? Or will it be a case of headless chickens?

Once you are at your start point of the Harrogate Theatre, 6 Oxford St, Harrogate HG1 1QF, then you are ready to begin your quest. 

Progress at last.

You track down the man who found the paper, graciously paying him for access to document.

You quickly look to the first page and read it out.

Can you work out how to progress with your quest?

Did you know: Charles Dickens visited Harrogate in 1858 and described it as “the queerest place with the strangest people in it leading the oddest lives…” 

Ok, so you have four numbers: 1955. You turn the paper over and scribbled in small writing is another set of instructions:

“Find the smiling faces on the street where you stand, that link to William Shakespeare, the bard of this land

Look closely at the writing and the images you see, you will need to find the date, and present the numbers to me”

You think that rings a bell. Looking out from the theatre you turn right, keeping an eye for a clue to the bard himself.

Did you know Harrogate has been voted the happiest place to live in Britain for the third year in a row by a Rightmove survey.

Well done team. You have now found 8 numbers. There’s nothing in the book that these link to so you feel they must be co-ordinates and pop them into your GPS. It tells you to continue walking onwards to the end of Oxford Street in the way you were previously travelling, before turning left onto Cambridge Road.

You have read many stories about the Tsarina visiting the Church you come to on your left, and there are even tales of her taking the design of the church home to Russia for inspiration to build a new palace.

You GPS has taken you to this location. So you know there must be a clue here.

But what is it?

All you see written in the diary are the words “WINDOWS 3 numbers”

More than three million visits have been made over the last 12 months to Harrogate’s Valley Gardens which covers 17 acres of park, woodlands, and floral displays. The park is also thought to have more mineral springs than any other known place on earth - with 36 of Harrogate’s 88 mineral wells found within the gardens.

373…..that must be it. You turn the diary to page 373.

You see some writing that just says "M parade".

You think you know where that must be. You continue up the hill slightly then turn right onto Cambridge Crescent keeping the war memorial on your left.

Cross safely over the roads towards Betty’s tea rooms then turn left onto Parliament street, then turning right onto Montpellier Parade.  

You know you need to keep an eye out for the tree you can see in the picture below?

Can you see any difference?

In 2013 Harrogate beat the likes of Paris, Rome and Vienna to be named one of the world’s most romantic destinations.

Yes. That has to be it, you quickly turn the diary to page 151.

In the diary you see a list of three houses, but you are fairly certain from your previous research when she came to England, she stayed in four.  

“Cottland House.

Amcott House.

Beaufort House.

?”

You turn right onto Montpellier Hill walking in the same direction of traffic and lost in your thoughts you turn right onto Montpellier Street. Racking your brains, you look to the left and suddenly see what is written on one of the large stone beams above the first Window to the Montpellier Pub: COTTLAND HOUSE.

You sense the others must be close and keep a beady out to see if you can find the fourth missing house nearby.

The name Harrogate is first attested in the 1330s as Harwegate, Harougat and Harrowgate. The origin of the name is uncertain. It may derive from Old Norse hǫrgr 'a heap of stones, cairn' + gata 'street', in which case the name presumably meant 'road to the cairn'. Another possibility is that the name means "the way to Harlow".

Underneath the houses is the word “CUPID”

You remember a statue linked to the Tsarina. You continue down Montpellier Street until you can turn left onto Montpellier Mews.

When you reach the end you will turn left again onto Montpellier Gardens and then right into Montpellier road, walking against traffic. Keep going until you get to the junction with Crescent road. Can you find Cupid in the Gardens somewhere and who is he dancing with?

Harrogate hosted the popular song contest Eurovision in 1982 at the Harrogate Convention centre. The U.K entry into Eurovision that year was Sally Ann Triplet and Stephen Fischer performing “One Step Further” under the name Bardo. They finished 7^th; well done them!

You turn the page and see a ripped piece of paper….it has two words on but one missing. Can you work out the missing word?

You quickly research it’s meaning: “Citadel of the Famous Springs”

You know exactly where to go.

Facing away from Cupid turn right and go up Crescent road, up the hill towards the pump house an entrance to a gardens.

What is the name of the gardens you can see?

Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt. The town became known as 'The English Spa' in the Georgian era after its waters were discovered in the 16th century.

You scour the book and see the work Valley etched into a page. 

Underneath you see a riddle....can you work it out?

Crown. Easy that one. And you know an incredibly famous crown-based building nearby.

Facing away from the gardens turn right onto Royal Parade and follow it down until you see the famous Crown Hotel on your left. 

All it says in the diary now is the work “Airplane”

Can you find how this would match up with the Crown Hotel?

 

Harrogate is the home of one of Europe’s biggest arts festivals, the Harrogate International Festival which includes Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The summer of events has attracted performers from all over the world including the likes of JK Rowling, Van Morrison and the late B.B King.

Can you work out the three rooms Tsarina Alix booked out for her entourage when they visited?

Starting at the footsteps follow her movements find your next code.

Well done team. You feel you are getting ever closer.

Before you move on you go off wandering around the roundabout, and slowly made your way up Montpellier hill, stopping near the boules courts.

There is no page 2513, however you add 25 and 13 to get 38. On this page it gives you a cryptic maths puzzles. 

Can you get the answer? 

The Olympic Cauldron for the 2012 London Olympics was built in a ‘Bond Gadget Workshop’ in Harrogate

You flick to these pages, there seems to be a mixture of puzzles and letters and all sorts.

You get a piece of paper and draw them out; however they still don't make much sense.

You now have a grid of letters, a series of shapes and a quote of text.

You know this may be your final clue. But what does it mean?

Can you match up the shapes to get four words to give you the location of where the egg is buried?