- This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I found this cache yesterday GC324PX, in a wall, i had to move three stones to get to the cache one of which was quite large and heavy. I don’t think it was in its original place as the previous finder had said it was in the open and rehid it (with the best of intentions).
I know that the DNP guidelines say that caches and letterboxes should not be placed in dry stone walls but there are caches still in walls. I know this is not the only cache on Dartmoor that is placed in a wall, we found one on wednesday as well doing the Hangar Down Yomp, perhaps the cache owners placed these and did not realise the guidelines existed. So by creating this topic i hope cachers old and new will take note. This is really a pet hate of mine, so sorry about the moan but surely there is no need to put caches in walls especially on Dartmoor.
I couldn’t agree more reb10, but I don’t think it was the fault of the previous finder but of the CO who placed it there. This was my log of just a year ago “First of 8 caches on a short circular walk around this part of the moor. A very easy find without the hint, but as others have said, this cache should not be in the wall. TFTC.” As I noted then, I was NOT the first to mention this, but clearly the CO has taken no action.
I also wrote this in my log for the Hangar Down Yomp “A very easy find in about the first place we looked, so TFTC
. It’s great to see some new cachers placing caches 
and I really want to encourage them, but I know I won’t be the only one to mention this, but caches should not be placed in dry stone walls. It would be far better sited away from the wall. I’m sorry about the moan 
.”It seems that you and I are the only ones who seem to care about this issue – what do others think, please speak up here and give us your views.
We all know that caches shouldn’t be in dry stone walls. When submitting a new cache we tick a box to say that we understand the rules etc!
Not long ago a cacher became well known to us all by making a bit of a stir when a cache didn’t meet the Dartmoor Letter Boxing Criteria. For a while this had the right effect. We should all do this all the time. What we need to do is not just record the fault in the log but to place “needs maintenance” or even “needs archiving” notes on the cache. This will eventually alert the reviewer who can then insist on corrective action being taken.
ie Don’t bleet but make a proper noise!
I was surprised to find two caches in walls in National Trust properties.
At Dunsland there is a cache in a brick wall. Once found it is obvious, but if your GPSr first takes you further along the wall one could be tempted to start pulling random bricks. Not a good idea.
The other, one of Devon’s Oldest Caches, is at Killerton in some old but important stone ditching. For the urban cachers, a stone ditch is a dry stone retaining wall. Clearly, removal of stones half way up the wall leads to considerable damage. I see the log following mine recorded a DNF as they refused to search in the wall. In hindsight I should have done the same.
I am disappointed the National Trust has not asked for them to be moved. Any reviewer reading this thread may also note my dislike of the NT using geocaching as an advertising platform. By encouraging people to trample over their property just to get feet through the gate shows the mindset of the NT hierarchy. I mailed the reviewer regarding this when he published caches in a North Devon property obviously set by the NT but I did not receive a reply. However, that would be a different thread. GH.These sort of threads (topics) really annoy me, if we moan on this sort of website so that the world can see, landowners can see that people have been placing caches where they should not, they WILL NOT let us place caches on their land. So take Hobo’s advive, I quote “What we need to do is not just record the fault in the log but to place “needs maintenance” or even “needs archiving” notes on the cache. This will eventually alert the reviewer who can then insist on corrective action being taken.
ie Don’t bleet but make a proper noise!”
StationMaster, surely if the guidelines were being followed caches would not be where they shouldn’t and landowners would not be in a position to complain, and as Hobo says when a new cache is placed a box is ticked to say that you understand the rules. And surely it is better that a site like this makes people aware of the guidelines as Dave did in May.
On the cache in mention the owner has not logged in since April, so probably wouldn’t respond to a needs maintenance log. So should the cache be archived and left in place? or should the next responsible cacher to find it remove it and let the reviewer know the situation thus archiving it, my choice would be the latter.
I agree with reb10 in that this forum is precisely where these issues ought to be discussed. However, I’m beginning to realise that this is just a symptom of a far bigger problem, geocaching itself! But I don’t want to get off topic here, just enough to say that the values some of us clearly hold are not shared by others – but that is another whole discussion.
As regards caches in walls, I can assure you all that it is not a problem confined to Dartmoor. Judy and I are currently spending a few days in Cornwall, with the main aim to complete HALO – and that will certainly be another topic for discussion!!! Today we found at least 3 HALO caches in dry stone walls. They are of a different construction in Cornwall, being made mainly of slates rather than granite blocks, but the same should surely apply. One of these caches was placed on top of a wall and was hidden using slates that had clearly come from the wall, although I’m not suggesting that they were removed by the CO, but they had been used.
Re the NT, I was very surprised to see that one of the caches placed in Castle Drogo by NT staff is in one of their walls! So what hope is there for getting the message across?
I see this cache has recently been archived by the reviewer because it does not comply with the guidelines. But that still leaves the cache in
place, so perhaps the next person to be in that area could remove it and get a cache container to reuse as well.This cache and its owner highlights another problem that could easily be solved. The owner only ever found 57 caches but hid 19! It’s only with the experience of finding caches that you understand what makes at least a reasonable cache to hide. If you had to find at least 100 caches before you hid any, that would show that you had at least some understanding of geocaching.
As for this particular cache, I think it was archived because when I asked for another cache by the same owner to be archived, the reviewer looked at all of the caches and reb10’s Needs Maintenance log was enough to do it. Almost all of these 19 caches have either been archived or need maintenance!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
