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What’s happening about geocaching on the Dartmoor ranges? Has this just been swept under the carpet by the reviewers in the hope it would go away?
This has been going on for years with the letterboxers, usually it is the stamp that disappears, but is could be the inner box or the outer, or most often the whole lot goes. The area between Cox tor and Princetown are either side of the road has been targeted by thieves for years. 🙁
I am surprised this subject is being dragged up yet again, I thought it had been done and dusted, most of us had moved on but seeing as my comments have been picked for criticism I feel I should reply. Like anyone else I am entitled to my opinions and I certainly do not have to explain myself to anyone!
Perhaps some cachers think getting themselves to the cache site deserves and “find” and the more of you there are in your party makes it difficult for a CO to delete logs “bully boy tactics” comes to mind.
Mystery solved of the floating cache it was my trail no 15 which should have been under the bridge at the end of the walk, it was signed on the 20th October and replaced by Candleford on the 23rd.
In fact the same cachers replaced no 2 as well and a note has been posted to say there are two caches on the site now, I’m not too bothered about it as they will be removed soon. I am wondering how many containers does Candleford carry? He/she obviously replaced 3 that we know of that day!A few days ago I was talking to Jane, (Hartshole Hunter) who I walk with now, she told me a chap from Mary Tavy she knows completely out of the blue said to her “I am trying to find out about geocaching, she told him she geocaches with me, anyway the reason why he wanted to know is that he was walking his dog on Gibbet Hill and found a geocache floating down the leat, I have no idea which cache this is or whether it is mine but he will be passing it on to Jane so I will have some idea then, I have had no reports of any missing on my trail, but now I am wondering if I have had a throwdown? Time will tell when I see the logbooks!
I had to pop up to White Tor this morning to sort out a problem with my new letterbox charity walk so decided to drop off a Dartmoor Way cache on the cycle track near the Sugar Factory. Just submitted it. I can put a few out but I won’t shove caches in hedges and as most are along lanes I won’t put many out.
If anyone would like to log this after your visit go ahead.
http://coord.info/GCW3YYI wanted to put out a cache like this ages ago which needed “local knowledge” to find it, I was refused and told all caches had to be found with a GPS co-ord. Not sure how this one slipped through.
I think some/most cache setters think there is a free for all where road side hedges or foot path hedges are concerned but all are owned by someone and that someone has to repair any damage caused. Fortunately for us we do not have any footpaths across our farm, but we do have some roadside hedges, we would not allow caches in them, after all I have seen the damage it could cause.
Like the comment “no obvious clear boundary to the Okehampton range to it’s east or the Merrivale range to the south.” someone who has so little knowledge of the area has no business interfering with Dartmoor Geocaching, perhaps we could organise a range pole walk for the reviewers, they can take a GPS reading of every pole and make up their own map! Anyone remember my old cache The Fat Range Pole, it was at Western Redlake at the only point on Dartmoor where all 3 ranges meet.
Looks like it is just Willsworthy then. Must make a note to myself must hide letterboxes really well to stop them being found by the army, you would think they would have better things to do!
I have wondered about Lord Darcy, he has been very active in the past with opencaching.org are very reasonable to deal with.
Well said CP, I had come to this conclusion years ago when a self-imposed geocaching ban was placed on Roos Tor!
I have just been looking the 2nd map, interesting seeing the bird nesting area, a lot more than I knew about, when I put my daughter’s charity letterbox walk out in the Doe Tor/Rattlebrook Hill area outside the range, the boxes on Rattlebrook Hill were refused due to bird nesting, this area seems to be clear on their map. A couple years ago Redroaming wanted to put her charity walk at Belstone and Oke Tor she was told to keep clear of Oke Tor due to bird nesting, again it is clear on their map. Then a lot of geocaches are being placed in the bird nesting areas but I suppose that is due to the reviewers not knowing, but from what I see the whole thing seem rather hit and miss anyway, nothing is stopping anyone from visiting these areas and after all birds are nesting all over the place. I read the other day that the biggest predator of birds is other birds!!
Hi Clownpunchers, Please could you send me a copy of the maps brentorboxer@yahoo.co.uk
Many thanks.Don’t forget the other opencaching this has been going for years, sadly not supported. http://www.opencaching.org.uk/
I have several on this site which will be removed when I get around to it due to lack of visitors.I live within walking distance of Willsworthy but rarely walk on they range because they are always firing, not an enormous amount of letterboxes are put there for that reason and people keep clear of Tavy cleave due to the bird nesting anyway. I see there are 8 caches in that area it will be interesting to see if they have to be moved!
Several boxes from my present charity walk has been placed on MOD property but outside the RP’s.I am assuming this MOD ban is only for Willsworthy as this is the only range they own. So down reality of the situation are we talking about the area within the 46 WD boundary stones or are we talking about the area within the range poles.
A few years ago I placed a letterboxing walk of 46 letterboxes one off each stone. There is quite a difference in some places between their boundary and the range poles, the best example of this is Standon Hill, it is within the WD stones but outside the range poles so there is full public access at all times.
On the other hand on the on the northern side of Willsworthy the WD stones go up the hill between Sharp Tor and Hare Tor the down Deadlake to the Rattlebrook, in this area the range poles and well to the north of these boundary stones to keep people out of the Sharp Tor and Chat Tor areas which I assume they do not own.
So if this ban is just on their land I could not put a cache on Standon Hill which has full public access but I could put one on Sharp Tor which is within the Willsworthy Firing Range!
As for the letterboxers, they will carry on as ever, the 100 club can’t control individuals that place boxes on the moor and pass the clues to their letterboxing friends.
It seems to me the reviewers have been heavy handed again with this un-necessary ban as far as Okehampton and Merrivale ranges are concerned similar to the self-imposed Roos Tor ban. (Even after discussing this matter with DNPA staff, who knew nothing of this.)
