News and Views

1049

It's been a few weeks and as you can see there hasn't been a great amount of caching going on in that time!


Work has taken over a little. A couple of remaps, sadly local haven't lead to any great caching adventures. We have done a little bit of reposession work, collecting some industrial crushers from a waste recycling place down south and a couple of cars.

You never know what we will be reposessing next, Wemnog with a crusher

Whilst looking for a car down near Folkestone, not a repo this time but one to buy, we managed just one cache. I needed to find one big enough to drop some trackables in and so we headed to a canoe centre where we found Seapoint http://coord.info/GC24ZZ9 The place was full of interesting information. The canal (The Royal Military Canal) has links to the French Revolution. It would have been good to spend more time down there and learn more about the place.

Info board at the Royal Military Canal

With the repo work we often sit around for hours watching houses, workplaces etc and it does give us time to check the phones to see what caches are about. Sadly there isn't always a lot of time to go for them as we have to react fairly quickly if a vehicle (owner) comes out to get in their car.

However, it does mean some travelling on the motorway system. One cache that I can't quite believe that we have left to find for so long is the cache at Newport Pagnell services. This is an old cache, having been published in December 2005. It seems to have had a few changes of container since then but as I have said before it's always good to find a cache that has stood the test of time.

Local Caches

There has been a nice steady influx on new local caches placed lately. We have found a few but are leaving others for those days when we are at home with nothing much else to do. One of the best new ones that we have found lately has been stormjaks Plenty Of Room With A View http://coord.info/GC389K8 which is a tricky little cache.

Keith and I first went for this one when it was first published but after searching the area for quite a while along with another couple of locals, Plasmawave and Spire67 we had a fruitless search. A few weeks later and we were pleased to find it quite quickly, a sense of achievement when Keith finally shouted GOT IT. I would certainly recommend this cache for people to look for.

Another good couple of recommendations if you are in Nottingham are the two Pit Extreme caches http://coord.info/GC39AZR and http://coord.info/GC39AZ0 both worthy of favourite points. We actually did these two along with stormjak and skybluebazza so we had a fun afternoon out.

As I said, there are plenty of new local caches out and I know of a few more that are due out in the near future which should also prove fun.

Numbers

Now I know that people say that it's not about the numbers, whilst others will shout that it is. What I can't understand though is those cachers who fool themselves by claiming a find just by writing a couple of logs on the same cache. Surely they are only fooling themselves? For instance I have seen a few caches lately where the log has been written and then above that another log that says something along the lines of I forgot to drop a TB!

I credit cachers with having something about them, but why oh why fool themselves like this. There is one cacher who I know of who has logged quite a few caches in this way. Surely if you are in to collecting the numbers you would feel better in yourself for having original finds, or maybe that's just me. The Write A Note system is simple enough, or so I thought, to use.

New Souvenir

Groundspeak have announced that they are awarding a new souvenir to cachers who log a find on February 29th. There have only been a couple of times prior to this year when geocachers were able to log a find on this date and so they thought that it was was a good time to encourage people to get out on a once every four year opportunity. Apart from caches there are numerous events being held throughout the country on the date itself, from an event being held just after midnight, to breakfast events right through to the evening. In fact, up to the time of writing this, 32 events nationwide have been planned. So make sure you get out there on that day and grab yourself that souvenir.

Dogs Dogs Dogs

Finally today, a bit of news about the puppies and a new TB race. Three weeks old today they are certainly growing quickly and are now developing their own characters. With one already provisionally sold we are still trying to decide whether (and which) one we are going to keep.

Keith has his eye on one of the bitches, but there is a little dog who I think has something special about him. I guess we'll just have to see.

Whilst talking about dogs, I am organising a new TB race, this one is aimed specifically at dog owners and is going to be a race just in the UK to four caches that are dog related. There is going to be a prize again for the winner, just as there was for the Nottingham to Nottingham race.

TB Dog Race Winners Coin

That's all for now, hopefully more actual news about geocaching next time.

New Beginnings

1040

Back up in Warrington again at the end of last week so not much time for caching. We managed a grand total of 1! Sat at Costa's (coffee house of choice) and having a quick look at what was around, we noticed a cache that had a United States Navy geocoin in it. As both our Dad's were in the Royal Navy during the war we decided it would be a good coin to pick up. Having a couple of hours to spare before heading off for Whiston we finished the coffees and headed off.

The cache was near to the Foundation For Peace Centre which was set up in Warrington in memory of two youngsters, Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball, two youngsters who were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded in Warrington in 1993.

The cache itself was just a small container but nicely hidden Cromwell's Walk 7 http://coord.info/GC36MEQ is the final part of a series in the Sankey Valley which I am sure we will be completing at some point.

Peace Centre

After completing the cache we headed off to the hospital to do our afternoon visit. When we got back to Warrington though we were greeted to this sight.

We hadn't expected the pups to arrive for another week or so. Fen had had 7 pups, sadly one of them had died but the rest are doing well. The dilemma then was that we had to be back in Nottingham by Tuesday and we were undecided as to how well two day old pups would travel. Thankfully after a chat with a vet we were assured that there wouldn't be a problem. Needless to say mum and pups travelled well and are now well and truly settled back here in Nottingham.

The only dilemma now is which one are we going to keep!

So, as I said, still not much in the way of caching news. Hopefully out later today to do a few, we still have a few of stormjak's to complete as well as some a little further afield that look good, including the Erewash Valley Trail series http://coord.info/GC39YEC

Hopefully more caching news next week.

Puzzles and Christmas Caching

Firstly, happy new year. Only 3rd January and it seems that the celebrations were months ago!

Puzzles

My latest puzzle cache Sweethearts http://coord.info/GC3858A seems to be causing a few problems for people. It was published on 29th November and so far has only been found once. Now that I am only putting puzzles out I do find that it is much more fun getting a log occasionally than them coming in constantly. It shows that people have taken their time to work at them and makes me appreciate them more for having done so.

And so to our Christmas caching.....


The plan had been to have a quiet christmas and new year here in Nottingham, do a fair bit of caching and walking, but as the old saying goes, the best layed plans etc. Keiths Mum was taken in to hospital up in Warrington and it was touch or go for a while as to how things were going to go, so we have ended up spending quite a bit of time up there. We didn't have the GPS with us as we rushed up although we did have the phones. However, bad weather and lack of light meant no caching happened.


A couple of days before Christmas Mum was transferred over to the regional burns unit at Whiston hospital. Again this meant we spent more time visiting than anything else. However, we were determined to do a cache on Christmas Day and it just so happened that there was one not too far from the hospital car park.
Henley Park http://coord.info/GC2RNGQ was a great little hide and container. It just cemented the fact that people don't have to go to a lot of expense or trouble constructing intricate hides to plant something decent, and then beg for favourite points. A different container in a well used park, which even when the gardeners are in full flow they wouldn't locate is the kind of cache that deserved a favourite for its simplicity.

That was to be our last cache of 2011 bringing last years total finds to 428.


Yesterday saw us teaming up with stormjak to attempt a couple of new local caches that have appeared over the last few weeks. On our way to them we met up with skybluebazza who was in the area doing a few other caches. We invited him to tag along with us to bag these two new ones. They were a couple of fun caches, well worth doing if you get a chance, and both deserving of fave points as far as we were all concerned.

Checking coords




Wemnog Goes Down










I am sure that there will be some good caches from this guy over the next few months.

I have now transferred the caching interviews that I have done previously to a separate page on the blog and these will continue to be updated over the course of 2012.

That's it for this brief one.

All the very best for the coming caching year.

Happy Christmas

Just a quick not to apologise for not updating recently. What with one thing and another we have been spending a lot of time up in Warrington over the last couple of weeks and this has seriously curtailed our caching activities. Having said that, we did manage one 5/1 cache, so that's another one off the list. As usual all D and T ratings are subjective to a cache owners (and finders) perspective and as a lot of people are built differently, both in mental and physical ability, what is easy for one is difficult for another.

As I write this I have one cache that was published on 30th November that still hasn't been found. I am quite surprised really as I showed the puzzle to some caching friends over in Warrington and they worked out the puzzle really quickly.

Anyway, that was just a quick update and apology. I hope that you have a great christmas and a brilliant new year.

I will leave you with another Interview With A Cacher, this time John Stead, a long time cacher who has been part of the game since 2001.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How long have you been caching for?


Over ten years – registered on 4th February 2001 and found first cache on 14th April 2001 (less than 40 in UK at the time and had to go 100+ miles!)

How did you get in to geocaching?

Not sure now but think I saw a reference in a forum relating to Garmin as I had used a GPS for some years for walking

Favourite type of cache

No favourites really as location is to me more important though I have solved several puzzles and not yet found the caches.

Favourite size of cache

Anything bigger than a nano, though in the right place they can be good too.

Are you a TB hunter and do you enjoy moving them on?

Yes, 789 so far

Do you send TB’s and coins out of your own?

Yes, 34+ so far

Series or single caches?

Both

Your favourite find?

Probably GCF0 Scotland's First

Fair weather or any weather?

Mainly fair weather now (I am 75)

Your very first find?

GC295 Mott the Hoople – a bit of an adventure as it was in a country park and until I was leaving I did not realize that entry was prohibited because of Foot and Mouth with a penalty of £2,000!

On your own or with someone else?

Mostly on my own as the friend I started with is no longer very mobile, but I do enjoy going out with a crowd at an Event.

Furthest cache from home?

GC13QB5 In Memory Of (Namibia) 5382 miles

Best bit of advice for other cachers?

Have fun

What’s in your caching bag?

Spare log sheets, 35mm film box, towel, self-inking stamp, pen and pencil (including write anywhere), sharpener, scissors,Garmin Colorado, binoculars, gardening gloves, compass, Tbs, swaps

Any cache that you have heard about that you really want to find?

Oldest in Wales

Do you get involved with forums or give them a miss?

Used to waste a lot of time but got fed up with some of the agression and stupidity displayed so now am a rare visitor.

 
Many thanks again to John and the others who have answered questions over the last few months. More to come next year.
 
With three Mega's in the UK next year it is sure to be a busy time for cachers in this country and for overseas visitors. We hope to be able to attend at least two of them, if not all three. Until then, we have some puppies due to be born in January, so if anyone is after a Border Collie to keep them company on their caching adventures, let us know. Photos will be posted as and when.
 
Merry Christmas

Mega 2013

Just a very quick note to say that I am pleased to announce that the Mega Midlands committee have now had confimation that the UK Mega in 2013 is going to be held in the Midlands.

No more details at present, but as things happen I will be posting them here and of course news will also be posted on the Groundspeak and GAGB forums by members of the committee.

With the 2012 Mega being held in the North West, and the liklihood of 2014 being up in Scotland again, this is a great opportunity for us to show what the Midlands has to offer.

Congratulations to all who have been involved.

Coming Soon

We are just negotiating with a well known supplier of quality dog leads to have some especially embroidered trackable dog leads made. We should have some available soon on Ebay and also in other caching outlets. As soon as we have the first one I will post photos here to let people see.

Meanwhile, it is good to see that my archived caches are now being replaced locally by some newish and not so new cachers. It is great because our numbers are adding up nicely. It is good to see that my Beggar's Belief cache in Nottingham City Centre already has a replacement in the same position, that's a definate to grab during the next few days of Christmas shopping.

Out caching yesterday it was great to meet up with PlasmaWave again and to meet Spire67 for the first time. We had quite a long chat which proved quite enlightening in more ways than one.

We are beginning to plan an event that will be held over the new year period and hope from initial enquiries it looks like there will be a good turnout for that.

No photos just yet, but more coming soon. Enjoy the shorter days as much as you can and go grab those numbers.

Playing Nicely

Seeing that some people still seem to dislike anything I have to say on my blog, it is sad that I am now posting to say that a group of us had a meeting a couple of weeks ago with Adam (bobbinz)  who is now the owner of Emcache and had a very interesting discussion with him regarding some members of that forum. It was very interesting that we seemed to come to the same conclusion as to who had been targeting my caches and sending emails.  If you cannot guess which people I am talking about I would suggest that you ask Adam to explain further.

When you see that this is the kind of thing being written locally then you know that there is a problem


santa_is_dead: i see svens cache is found....and shock the two wankers claim a blank logbook.




It comes as no surprise that another message came in this evening after my post regarding the GAGB elections, and apart from anything else goes to show how sad a few individuals are try to spoil caching for the majority.


If you do have anything to say to me, man up about it and use your name rather than sending annonymous messages, it really does show you for the cowards that you are. Now run along and play nicely.

GAGB Election Results

More on our latest caching exploits soon, but I just wanted to mention that the GAGB elections have just been completed and it is good to see that the electorate have voted for a decent set of people in whom we can trust to represent the nationwide caching community fairly and without prejudice.

Congratulations to all the committee members.

Milestones and More

1014

As you can see from the above number, there has been quite a jump in cache finds since I last entered a total. In fact this weekend we found 59 caches and there were 3 DNF's.

Most of this post will be of photographs taken over the weekend. My 1000th wasn't anything too spectacular, whereas Wemnog's was a spectacular Earthcache.

Over the course of the weekend we did an amazing 8 Earthcaches, all different and interesting in their own ways. We saw some stunning scenery whilst doing the Earthcaches, including one place that could have come from a Doctor Who, or post apolocalypic film set.






We found some excellent traditional caches as well whilst visiting the area. As I said, this edition of the blog is mainly to show you some things visually that we saw over the weekend rather than quoting information about this cache or that cache, so enjoy.

As we and others often say, one of the great things about caching is that you see places that you haven't visited, or dreamt of visiting.

This is an area that I knew well from years gone by, but I saw so many new things and areas that I just didn't know existed.

So it is always worth doing that bit of research if you are visiting an area and not just plonk some caches on the GPS and hope for the best. I guess next milestone for me will be 1500, my aim is to reach that one by March next year. People may sometimes say that it's not about the numbers, but do you know what, actually, sometimes it is. Why, because if I hadn't been chasing that magic 1000 mark I wouldn't have done half as many caches over the weekend and therefore not seen so many wonderful places.

Finally, it's always great to meet new enthusiastic cachers who you know, right from the first moment that you meet them, are going to be great people to have not only as fellow cachers, but friends as well. I reckon that there will be some amazing new caches right here in Nottingham very soon. You know whose don't you............Nigel and Jacqui, it's over to you.

Have a good week everyone and hello to my superfans, the small number who can't help reading this blog, even though they really don't want to, especially cos it winds them up so much................just in case they get a mention..........don't worry, you won't, and to everyone else, as Brucie and Tess might say.................Keeeeeeeeeeeeep caching!

Good Weekend

Well with a forecast for a decent weekend weather wise it should be good for caching.

We haven't done much over the last few days, apart from planning a new cache that should go out in the next few weeks. Something different that I hope people will enjoy, we are having fun sorting it out.  I wasn't sure whether it would be possible or not, but having spoken to a couple of the reviewers I now know that it is.

In other exciting news, we have decided that next year will be the year that we finally set a date for our civil partnership, so watch this space.

The other major news that I keep promising you is coming, soon, and yes it will be great news for cachers everywhere, and something that I am really pleased to be involved with.

Finally, the North West Mega Committee have now announced that they have sorted out a camping venue for next years event. Details can be found on their website http://www.mega2012.org.uk/ The third coin in the series is also now available for sale, or you can order the full set, with the final coins being released next year, again, details are available on their website.

That's it, have a good weekend, go and find loads and enjoy yourselves, after all, that's what it's supposed to be about.

Threats

Myself and another local cacher recently had reason to make a complaint to Groundspeak, I won't go in to the reasons here, they have been well documented in the past.

Since then the majority of my caches have been either removed or destroyed, as have a few of those of the other complainant. In the last couple of days I decided to archive most of my caches rather than go to the expense of replacing them. No great loss to me as it frees up a lot of my time taken up in maintenance visits. I am not for one minute saying it is the person that we complained about, but maybe one of their supporters.

However, last night I received this email:~ Forgive their bad use of the English language.

"you and your little hacking buddy need to stop upsetting the community

else the community might take exception and do something about it

as you may know you're caches are missing the majority of them

stop being a dick and we'll stop treating you like one

where watching closely

anymore bullshit from you and they will all go constantly

no more games play nice and we will play nice"

The sender of the email wasn't brave enough to give me their name, or names.

I posted this email on to various other sites to guage reaction and was pleased to hear from a couple of police officers from different parts of the country who informed me that as this amounted to a direct threat I could take legal action.

I then received this annonymously, some posts from the local forum:~

[Today at 10:43:56 PM] Spire67: Someone has removed a lot of Jacaru's caches. I know he isn't popular on here, but it sucks when anyones caches are stolen. After all its cachers in general that are the losers.




[Today at 10:47:31 PM] JayJayBee8: Had noticed he'd archived a lot around colwick Woods, hadn't seen the missings



[Today at 10:48:28 PM] Lord Boogie: That is sad . His caches never did anybody an harm!



[Today at 10:48:59 PM] smudger105e: Reckon its a cacher who has a grudge, or just one of those things?



[Today at 10:49:15 PM] Lord Boogie: But as ye sow so shall ye reap!



[Today at 10:49:29 PM] mrspinkrat: Has just posted here: Re: Song Links.



[Today at 10:50:06 PM] Bobbinz: @Spire67 a pm for you, when I get home too.



[Today at 10:52:07 PM] skybluesbazza: @mrspinkrat whooooooooooooooooo?



[Today at 10:53:20 PM] santa_is_dead: I didn't know about Jacarus caches, but have you seen the drivel he's been writing on his blog?



[Today at 10:54:07 PM] Bobbinz: Yes.



[Today at 10:54:21 PM] mrspinkrat: Has just posted here: Re: Do you remember when....



[Today at 10:55:43 PM] santa_is_dead: bloke has a screw loose, I might report his off cache ramblings. He's even done it via an avatar on GAGB somebody tells me.



[Today at 10:57:24 PM] Bobbinz: Can I just remind you that the shoutbox is semi public before this convosation goes any further.



[Today at 10:58:14 PM] skybluesbazza: Has just posted here: Re: Do you remember when....



[Today at 10:59:02 PM] santa_is_dead: b



[Today at 10:59:53 PM] Bobbinz: b?



[Today at 11:02:55 PM] santa_is_dead: typo....am aware of that, just stating the facts. (apart from the screwloose), did you see him refer to emcache members as the guilty party?



[Today at 11:03:28 PM] santa_is_dead: "one or two mindless cachers from the East Midlands caching (community)"



[Today at 11:04:05 PM] santa_is_dead: should I switch to secure channel FB?



[Today at 11:07:25 PM] Spire67: I understand why he is not popular. But fanning the flames is only going to cause a bigger fire. Out of which none of us are going to be winners. I am not saying he is right or wrong. Nor am I saying you are right or wrong.



[Today at 11:08:10 PM] Spire67: I am just saying when you find a hornets nest you dont poke it with a stick. Let sleeping dogs lay and all that.



[Today at 11:09:21 PM] geoibsons: yeah i'm just pee'd off that one of my tbs has got caught up in that rubbish. oh well



[Today at 11:11:25 PM] OnlyMeUK: you and your little hacking buddy need to stop upsetting the community else the community might take exception and do something about it as you may know you're caches are missing the majority of them stop being a dick and we'll stop treating you like o



[Today at 11:11:51 PM] OnlyMeUK: Quote



[Today at 11:12:45 PM] Spire67: @OMUK who are you addressing?



[Today at 11:13:04 PM] OnlyMeUK: no-one just quoting an email received by Jacaru



[Today at 11:13:16 PM] Bobbinz: Quote from where?



[Today at 11:13:20 PM] OnlyMeUK: Published on the GeM forum



[Today at 11:14:22 PM] Spire67: Ahh the post by Jacaru on the GeM facebook forum



[Today at 11:14:40 PM] Spire67: Which is quoting an email he received.



[Today at 11:14:49 PM] OnlyMeUK: so he needs to keep an eye out for someone who can't differentiate between your & you're



[Today at 11:14:57 PM] Bobbinz: Jacaru could not hack a wall with a hammer, let alone a website



[Today at 11:15:33 PM] Spire67: Just the sort of action / reaction we need to avoid



[Today at 11:15:51 PM] OnlyMeUK: "For information I have just received this email:~ you and your little hacking buddy need to stop upsetting the community else the community might take exception and do something about it as you may know you're caches are missing the majority of them"



[Today at 11:16:11 PM] OnlyMeUK: .."stop being a dick and we'll stop treating you like one where watching closely anymore bullshit from you and they will all go constantly no more games play nice and we will play nice"



[Today at 11:16:57 PM] skybluesbazza: Have been determined since my first find that this would always be a fun activity.



[Today at 11:17:00 PM] Bobbinz: Blimey.



[Today at 11:17:00 PM] Spire67: Well 90% of the population don't seem to know the difference between your & you're



[Today at 11:17:21 PM] skybluesbazza: I think we have a great community but with any community not all will see eye to eye!



[Today at 11:17:29 PM] Sven: What's going on? What's the gem forum?



[Today at 11:17:46 PM] Spire67: @SBB 100% agree



[Today at 11:18:05 PM] Spire67: @Sven its on facebook



[Today at 11:18:19 PM] Spire67: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/137568269677358/



[Today at 11:18:41 PM] Sven: oh he wont let me in there



[Today at 11:18:47 PM] OnlyMeUK: @spire speak for you're self! (oops)



[Today at 11:19:09 PM] Bobbinz: Same. I have given up trying



[Today at 11:19:31 PM] Sven: He's the hacker?



[Today at 11:19:41 PM] Sven: I don't understand what's going on?



[Today at 11:19:49 PM] OnlyMeUK: I wouldn't have thought so



[Today at 11:19:57 PM] Bobbinz: Definatley not the hacker



[Today at 11:20:08 PM] Spire67: Someone has removed the majority of Jacaru's caches



[Today at 11:20:30 PM] Spire67: And sent him an email which OMUK just quoted



[Today at 11:21:04 PM] Sven: Oh someone's threatening him



[Today at 11:21:15 PM] Sven: He probably sent it to himself, he loves the drama



[Today at 11:21:21 PM] Bobbinz: Not just removed, destroyed. I have no idea who eithet



[Today at 11:21:29 PM] Sven: He probably removed his own caches



[Today at 11:21:45 PM] Sven: Nothing would surprise me



[Today at 11:21:48 PM] OnlyMeUK: I was busy battering penguins when this latest sad episode came to light!



[Today at 11:22:09 PM] Bobbinz: LOL



[Today at 11:22:22 PM] Bobbinz: Bloody Pingu FTW



Worryingly, a few of these posts are by people who are hoping to represent the GAGB in the forthcoming committee elections.
I would urge anyone who has the opportunity to vote to think very carefully about who they are going to vote for.

Muddy Logs

954

A Muddy Day

Another few under our belts this week. Accompanied by very occasional cacher Ashman-BMX we decided to go for a pretty new series,  Whissendine Wanders by Crafty Foxes. A nice series of 15 + bonus we planned to do it at the weekend when Ashman was free from work commitments. When we decided to do the series I contacted a previous finder to see whether the series could be done by bike or not.

Although the attributes didn't show bikes and the person I contacted said that some of it would be difficult we decided to go for it anyway. When we planned it we hadn't had the amount of rain that we then saw. Needless to say on Saturday when we reached the parking spot and looked at what was ahead we saw a field of mud ahead. Not one to balk at a challenge we were soon on the bikes and set off. We didn't get far before we were off the bikes again, they were so clogged with thick gooey mud that the wheels seized completely and we spent a good ten minutes clearing them before setting off again.

Still not giving in we carried on, stopping every few minutes to de clog the bikes. It made for a really enjoyable, if dirty day out.

Wemnog and some muddy bikes

Halfway round and still with loads to find we decided that it may be better to leave the rest for another day and do some drive bys. As we arrived at the end of a particularly muddy part and reached the road we spotted a couple of familiar faces sat in their car having a cuppa.

We headed over and had a natter with seasoned cacher darrach. It turns out that they had done the rest of the series apart from this one cache which we were about to look for. They had had a fruitless search for it a little while before and decided to stop for a cuppa before looking again. Joining forces the five of us continued to look and eventually Wemnog came up trumps and found the cache, some 40 feet away from the listed coords. This was the only cache in the whole series where the coords were out.

After signing the log and heading off to find a few more of the series that were on the road darrach caught us up again whilst we were waiting for a train to pass.

darrach at the level crossing

Although we didn't complete the series in one go it is one that I would recommend if you want a good walk (or cycle) and we will certainly be completing it in the not too distant future.

The bike rides the rider!!

We finished off the day with doing another couple of the Crafy Foxes drive by caches followed by a couple of the great little ongoing series by Treecrabs. The CKTV series is one that takes people back to their childhood days of TV watching. We have only done a couple of them, but heard good reports about all the whole lot.


Entertaining Logs

It's always fun to see logs coming in on your caches, or on those caches that you have been watching. The following log was neither, but one that was mentioned on Facebook. I reproduce it here with kind permission of the author who had been out to find a night cache.

"This has to be my most dramatic DNF ever!!



I am thinking of setting up a night cache myself, and as I was researching I noticed these two only 20mins away! It was only 9pm and I don't have to get up tomorrow so I set off.


My torch was not the best and so I found a couple of the reflectors difficult to find but I was ambling through and enjoying a night walk, listening to a couple of owls.


I had read the description carefully and was aware that there was open water around so I was being careful. I got up to a certain point and could not see the next reflector. I walked down the obvious path but didn't pick it up so went back. To the left, down a curb was what looked like a newly paved cycle path, with the sparkly bits reflecting in the moonlight. 'Maybe it take you down the cycle route a little way?' I thought. So I had thought I heard people walking along under the bridge close by, so didn't questions it. As I stepped off the small curb on the beautofully sparkly newly paved cycle path, my foot went through it. It was too late to pull back and I fell full into the canal!! I think it was covered in a weed, and it was so still, it looked solid!!


Maybe I am a lightweight cacher, but I did not continue, I emptied my wellies and headed back to the car, dripping as I went, and rushed home for a shower.


I read the warnings to be careful, and I thought I was, so this is totally my fault and I do not write this as a complaint, rather for my own catharsis and as a story to share!!


Sadly my smartphone/gps reader and my head torch are no longer working :(


update- 28/10/11 - After sitting in a bowl of lentils (I didn't have any rice) in the airring cupboard for the last three days, I tried turning on my phone and it worked!!!!! Will head back for the cache soon."

This log had a few people chuckling when it was pointed out to people. Again, I have to say thanks to the author for letting me copy it here.

Interview With A Cacher

Another in the occasional series now where a geocacher answers a few questions about their caching career. This time Team Blid435

How long have you been caching for?  Since November 2009.

How did you get in to geocaching? Through a Geocaching friend.


Favourite type of cache? Any, except puzzle caches, I'm not too good at those. Not good at caches that involve walking or climbing due to health problems.

Series or single caches? Either, but prefer drive bys due to reasons above.

Your favourite find? One of my favourites has got to be Schrödinger’s Ghostly Wormhole Paradox GC2HJYV.which I found with Rob and Ian 2Anchors and Jeff Jat2010. Very glad to have been supported by a great crew and doubly glad to have taken the risk to do it.
Fair weather or any weather? I do prefer decent weather, but have done a few in rain and snow.

Your very first find? Harry's Cache-The Quarries GC1EXVG.

On your own or with someone else? With Susie my faithful Geo-Westie.


Furthest cache from home? Platja de Ses Salines, Ibiza GC34J59. This one was extra special as I was FTF even though the app on my phone failed as I was about 100 metres from GZ so had to rely on my geocaching senses.

Favourite bit of advice for other cachers? Just get out there and enjoy yourself. It doesn't matter if you find one cache or several, just enjoy being out and about and finding places you never knew existed or that you wouldn't have visited if it hadn't been for geocaching.

What’s in your caching bag? Two or three pencils, pens, plastic bags, a multi tool, a couple of extendable magnetic probes, various items for swapping, a few spare log books of different sizes,a small torch, a UV light, a note book, camera, and a couple of medical items for emergencies, and my GAGBGeocoin which is dipped into each cache I find as a form of mileage checker.


Any cache that you have heard about that you really want to find? Not really I just take each cache as it comes.There are a few I would have liked to have done but again due too health restrictions have been rejected.

Thanks John

Piratemania V

Piratemania V has recently been published. As mentioned before this has already has Mega status for next year. This is a very friendly event and well worth a visit, even if it is just for the day. Along with the North West Mega up in Cartmel next year is going to be a good one for UK and overseas cachers. If anyone wants to know about a decent campsite up in the Lakes for the Mega let me know and I can tell you about a hidden gem that my man and me have used for years.



Piratemania V

Lastly for this week, the new Facebook page GeM is getting a good response and a healthy membership with some really interesting stuff being posted. If you want to join let me know and I can give you more details.

Not sure what we are up to later in the week, we have seen a few boat only caches that we may go for, though we have also been told about a few green lane caches that may just tempt us even more.

Have a good week.

Flyovers, Pinfold's and Races

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Flyovers and Pinfolds

We were up in Warrington again at the weekend and did a few caches up there. A couple that had been on the to do list for a while were a couple of traditionals near the Thelwall Viaduct, a motorway bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal. It is quite a structure. Our claim to fame is that Wemnog pressed the button to reveal the stone plaque at the official opening back in 1963.

The site of the main cache that we found, which was right under the bridge was the scene of police action earlier this year when over 5000 people attended an unofficial rave at the site.

Underneath Thelwall Viaduct

The cache container was missing, with just the lid and a few calling cards remaining. Luckily we had a spare container with us which we left as a replacement.

The other cache was nearby and gave us quite a view of the viaduct from a different angle as the sun was beginning to set.

Thelwall at sunset

Back in Nottingham we haven't had much time to do any caching but looking around we decided it was about time that we did some of our old friend Pinfold's caches.

We started off with doing a cache of his called The Cray Family of Wash Pit Lane. Having read some of the previous logs this one sounded fun and a little different. We packed the necessary equipment in the Jeep and headed off. It didn't take us long to find the cache but at the same time it did take us by surprise and definately earned a favourite point from me. I'm not going to say much else about it as that would spoil it for Pinfold, all I will say is that if you are in the area it is one that is worth doing for the fun factor.

So we had halloween last night and decided that it would be a good time to do a night cache. Not having done one before we had a look at what was available locally. We didn't actually know that Pinfold had one out so were pleasantly surprised when we came across Blind Panic. We set off as darkness fell and took the dogs with us for their walk. We weren't the best prepared as we only had one failing torch between us, hardly any battery life in the GPS and no jackets. Luckily it was a warm evening so tee shirts were sufficient, we used the torch sparingly and hoped that the batteries would last out in the Oregon. On reaching GZ it took us a few minutes to locate the necessary but once we did we found a container with 8 TB's inside! We haven't seen one for a long long time with that many in! After liberating them and replacing with a couple more it was time to head home. Another Pinfold cache worthy of a favourite point and another one that locals should put on their to do list.

Races

A quick update on the TB races. The Nottingham To Nottingham race has a winner on the US side. The coin was picked up at an event in London last week and arrived in the TB hotel on Friday last week. The chap who picked the coin up ~ pinkpigredrat ~ arranged to meet me at the hotel so that I could see the coin entering the hotel. It did really well and made it from Nottingham, New Hampshire to Nottingham in very few moves and without any interference from anyone.

pinkpigredrat books in the winner

Coins and TB's from both UK and US entrants are now travelling well and it will be interesting to see when we get a UK winner over in the US.

Winning Coin and Winner's Coin

The other race, starting on January 1st, is getting quite a few entries now as well and seems to be taking off (pardon the pun) well.

The Nottingham (UK) TB Hotel is disabled at the moment for some refurbishment but will be open again this weekend. Some TB's are here at home ready to go in it when I replace the container for something smaller.

You may have noticed that I haven't done any more question and answer sessions that I started a couple of blogs back. I do have some stored that I will be using at a later date, so I haven't forgotten.

Finally, I keep promising you some exciting news and yes, it is coming, you really won't have to wait much longer now, just a little while longer.

Have a good week, enjoy the continuing good weather and go find some caches.

Munzee Sites and Caching Bites

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Munzee Sites

Since I first mentioned Munzee a few months back when it first started the game has really taken off.  We were something like 830th to join the game, and now there are over 11,000 players and it is growing daily.

There are some really innovative players out there now, who are pushing the boundaries of what can be done with the game. Some of these include a local cacher who has been mentioned before in this blog, Northking. He really thinks outside the box when it comes to creating new ideas for Munzee, including a couple of journey's that you can do and Munzee at the same time. One of these includes a train journey from Nottingham to London where you capture Munzees at certain places on the journey. You can find more information about this on Jeff's new Munzee site http://www.munzee.org.uk/index.html  You will also find information on this, his Postcode Capture Munzee.

If you want to capture this one, contact Jeff through his Munzee site or via his geocaching profile.


There are another couple Munzee sites to mention, obviously the main Munzee site where it all began, http://www.munzee.com/ and there is also a UK Facebook page,  Munzee GB for people who are want to join in. The Facebook site is a closed group, but you can request to join, just search for it by name on Facebook.

The UK's first Munzee meet will be happening shortly as well. More details of that can be found on Jeff's pages.

Caching Bites

As you will see from the number at the top of the page, since I last updated we have got around to doing more caching, in fact another 26 since then. We have been out and about on the bikes for a lot of it.

We have cached in Derbyshire, obviously not too far away from us, Birmingham, Newcastle and a couple of locals here in Nottingham. There are quite a few new local caches to go and find, but we tend to leave some of the newer ones for when the weather is bad during the winter period.

As usual, you see some unusal things when you are out caching, so I will share a couple of photos with you of things that we have seen lately, including this wise old owl carving. 

Wise Old Owl



We also found this place, and this is somewhere which we definately would have just ridden past had it not been for caching.                                                                                                                   

Getting out and about on the bikes again has been good and the weather for it has been perfect over the last couple of weeks. Yesterday we were on the Monsal Trail with some none caching friends, we think we may have some converts! There weren't many caches on the trail itself. If you are ever in Derbyshire this is a really good trail to either walk or cycle. The route has quite a lot of tunnels which have only recently been reopened. Prior to that you had to make some detours. At the Hassop end of the trail there is a decent cafe and a must visit bookshop as well.

As I mentioned we did a little bit of caching up in Newcastle over the weekend as well. We had to meet a customer at the airport who had just had a flying lesson and having some TB's and coins to move on we thought we would look for suitable caches.

There are two really decent TB hotels around the airport, they really are the closest to terminal TB hotels that I have seen, another cache that we did gave some really good views of the runways and the really modern control tower.



Control Tower at NIA



One final place that caching took us to this weekend was the Newcastle Falcons rugby ground. I'm not a rugby fan but Wemnog is and according to him they are quite a decent team. Wem used to play rugby and actually set up a team here back in the 80's.



Newcastle Falcons Ground



Finally this week one more new caching site on Facebook to tell you about. It is called Geocaching East Midlands. It is a none political friendly group with no hidden agenda, just a place where people can chat in a decent civilised manner. Although the name is Geocaching East Midlands, the page is there for people to join from anywhere in the country. In that way if people are thinking of visiting this area, members can point them in the right direction for finding caching equipment such as Anchor Supplies, or for meeting up with like minded people for a natter.

At the Nottingham to Nottingham launch event we had a number of visitors from around the country who gave us the idea. They preferred not to join in with forums but still wanted a place to be able to chat. So that's how the idea came about. Again, this is a closed group as with the Munzee page and people can ask to join. Just search for Geocaching East Midlands and put in a request. We are planning on holding an event soon as well to meet up with people, this won't be an official geocaching event just an informal gathering of like minded people.

I mentioned Anchor Supplies above, if you don't know about them they are a government surplus stockist here in Nottingham. It is an Aladdins cave of a place to visit and you are sure to spend a lot of time and a little money there if you get a chance to visit. You will also find some decent caching equipment for sale there, or stuff that you can turn in to caching equipment. They also stock very reasonably priced ammo boxes. If you are too far away to visit they do do mail order. If you do visit, you are sure to get a warm welcome as a lot of the staff are also cachers themselves.

This link will take you to their site. http://www.anchorsupplies.com/

That's all for now, happy caching.

Finally, Race TB's and Questions and Answers

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Well after last week I finally hit the 900th cache. A good one down in Gloucester that a friend had told me about. Troll, by oz uk http://coord.info/GC23GGH is the first container that I have come across that was actually sold for purpose. A neat little container that was large enough for me to drop some TB's off in.

A view from near the Troll cache

So that was 900, no time to do any more that day. However, we did have to go to East Midlands airport a couple of days later to pick up some bits and pieces for the new TB race that starts in January. We decided that we had enough time to go and find a couple of caches whilst around so went to Adrian's Birthday Cache http://coord.info/GC2MQKH and Grumpy's Departure Lounge http://coord.info/GC345RR Both easy finds which again were large enough to drop some trackables in.

A few days later we were off up to Liverpool to do some remapping and had chance to do a couple of Motorway Mayhem caches on the M6 before doing just one cache in Liverpool itself. The cache Captain "Johnnie" Walker was a cheeky little container placed at Pier Head. We were lucky that it was a quiet and blustery day so there weren't that many people around. This is the kind of cache description that I like to read, one with a bit of history. http://coord.info/GC32XP6

Captain "Johnnie" Walker statue, Liverpool

 We have only done one other cache of John Stead's a while back in another part of the country, but from the two that we have done and from others that we have read about he places some very interesting caches.





Race TB's

All the Nottingham to Nottingham race TB's are now back in the UK and will be moving in to caches shortly ready to resume the race as they were meant to. They had a brief stay in the US but thanks to Captainwilly who kindly UPS'd them back so that the race could continue correctly.

Questions and Answers

I recently approached some cachers who I know and asked whether they would consider answering some questions about their caching experiences for the blog. The first person up is Yorkypudding who kindly agreed to be the guinea pig.

 How long have you been caching for?   Since Wednesday 16th February 2005, officially and did one in France a bit before but never logged it.
How did you get in to geocaching?   A friend of mine saw it on Countryfile.
Favourite type of cache?   A nice full Ammo can.
Series or single caches?  Prefer a Series.
Your favourite find?    Paper Caper by The Soupdragons. http://coord.info/GCKEEC

Fair weather or any weather?   Any weather, been in the snow,rain, fog and I actually prefer it quite bleak less people around.
Your very first find?    Woolley Rail by Rimosky found 21st of February 2005. http://coord.info/GCJZM4
On your own or with someone else?  Both really, not keen on big groups.
Furthest cache from home?  Done a few virtuals, in Maine- usa, The Antartic and even the Mia space station. But my real furthest is Perth in Scotland.
Favourite bit of advice for other cachers?  Read the log page that someones gone to the trouble of writing and use the hint to avoid destruction to terrains.
What’s in your caching bag?  What isnt , GPS, pens hundreds of them. A long mirror with a magnetic end. Head torch, baby wipes, A pouch that turns into a bag, A smal maintence kit with supplies in.Batteries, gloves. Lots of crumbs at the bottom. and old name tags from events.
Any cache that you have heard about that you really want to find?    A cache at Brimham Rocks that you have to Absail to get it, but i'm too big for that. But one day soon I won't be.

A big thanks to Yorkypudding for being the first in this series. If you would like to answer the same questions and have them posted on the blog feel free to get in touch with me.

Finally there is some exciting news coming. I can't tell you any more at the moment, but it will be great news for cachers everywhere and will be well worth waiting for.


Cheers.

How Difficult?

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So how difficult can it be to find a cache that I want to do for my 900th? Nothing so far has grabbed me as being anything special.  I have done all the decent caches around Nottinghamshire that I want to do especially. I have a few caches that I have got my eye on for 1000, including caches by Northking, Team Blid, Baira and SVK but nowt around here for number 900.

We were down in Virginia Water at the weekend and had planned for us both to reach the milestone then, Wemnog is a few behind me. We had a series that were going to do but the weather was too hot for the dogs to chase us around on bikes. I ended up doing my 899th cache just outside Marilyn Monroe's old house in the nearby village of Englefield Green ~ GC2HDHW was a nicely stocked, decent sized container. I used to live in the area, well 30+ years ago and never dreamt that next time I was going to be back round there would be with my partner searching for plastic boxes!

So 900 still eludes me, something will turn up I am sure.

Nottingham To Nottingham Race

The Nottingham to Nottingham race is moving on apace. Lots of movement in the last couple of weeks and some surprising movements in the coming weeks as well.

As I write,  another race is being planned and there will be more details of that at a later date. We had some good publicity for the last one and I am sure that the next race will prove to be popular too.

So not much to tell you at all this time, just thought it was about time I touched base. I am sure that next time I write there will be more to tell you, including some great Mega news as well.

3 Events In 7 Days and In The News

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3 Events In 7 Days


We feel really priviliged that so many people attended the 3 events that we have run in the last couple of weeks. It totalled 3 events in just 7 days.

We started with the Summer's End camping event at the beginning of the month. We were a little disappointed as we arrived to see only two tents already erected but the lack of campers didn't dampen what turned out to be a very well attended affair.

As there were only a few of us on the Friday night we decided to form a team and enter the local village quiz night. Between us we had enough brain power to come a very respectable 2nd out of 11 teams and we won ourselves a tenner in the process. 

A couple of photos of our team members, above we have fonecacher and killercache and to the right we have Mick & Lynn Jenkinson.


The following day everyone dispersed and went and did some caching.

We didn't do many, as we are always in the area anyway we decided to do just the Thornsett Band series by Ellie Bob. The First in the series Thornsett Band #1 Town Hall brought back some memories as I briefly worked in the Town Hall when I left school and up until recently my sister worked in the library which is situated next door.
The town hall itself is a beautiful piece of Victorian architecture.

New Mills Town Hall

As the evening event approached car upon car turned up at the campsite and as the chilli warmed up the groups of people it was good to meet lots of new cachers as well as greet some old friends from previous events. The weather stayed fine for us and the evening drew to a close around midnight.

Not too many decent pics of this one but just a couple here for you.

As people packed up on Sunday it was time to do just one last cache before we all left. Wemnog and myself accompanied killercache and fonecacher to Hockerley Tracks http://coord.info/GC2XAT2 I am not going to post a photo of this one as it would give too much away and it isn't fair on cache owners or other cachers to post spoilers.      

The events continued in to the following weekend when we had the first of the two launch events for the Nottingham to Nottingham TB race. The weather was a little unpredictable for this one so we decided not to risk the orignally planned barbeque and went for another chilli, this time with meatballs. Again, we were well chuffed with the number of people who turned up, including helennbrian and their family all the way from Essex and thepanteras from Peterborough.  After the event it was time for the hotel to go live so we had to rush out and place all the racing bugs in to the hotel. The total number of UK entries came to 45 which went far beyond what I originally expected when I came up with the idea for the race.

The following day we held the Breakfast Club event, again this was to publicise the hotel and to help get some of the racers moving. This final event was again well attended and I think that we gave the breakfast chef a bit of a shock as more and more people continued to turn up. In the end our group was so large that we had not only taken over one large alcove of the pub, but had to spread out in to other areas. It was a shame that some people arrived just as the chef was shutting down. The reason being that they got stuck in traffic due to the amount of people around heading out to watch the Nottingham Marathon. Sorry Border Caz, I was looking forward to a long chat with you.                                                                                                                                                

In The News

The Nottingham to Nottingham race made the news on Groundspeaks own blog yesterday. We got a nice write up which you can read here http://blog.geocaching.com/2011/09/nottingham-to-nottingham-travel-bug-race/

Finally, back to some serious caching this weekend. We have a trail of 48 caches to do over 20 miles or so at some point. I am sure there will be more about it next week.

Thanks for reading, have a good week and see you soon.