The 9 Usual Suspects have been around since 2014, we are a group of Geocaching friends based in North West Wales of diverse ages and abilities. Our primary purpose is to get together, place caches, hold events, leave our environment in a better state than we found it and most importantly have fun. On average we hold about 20 events a year from monthly Nosh ‘n’ Natters, several Cache in Trash Outs (CITOs) and hosting the Geocaching Souvenir moments.
News & New Caches 172
Again no new geocaches but we do have the folllowing new Ad Lab to report:
Secret Rhos / Cyfrinach Rhos created by smart_ginger 5 locations nonsequential
A circular walk around Rhos-on-Sea highlighting some of the interesting and less well known features of the town.
Severn UK Mega 2025

Since 2008, the UK Mega has been an annual roving event to showcase different areas of the UK. It is regularly attended by up to 2000 people and has become a fixture in the calendar of many geocachers, both from the UK and abroad.
In 2025 it will be held in South West England:
GCAWMQ8 Severn UK Mega 2025
When: Saturday 2nd August 2025
Where: Woodhouse Park Activity Centre, Fernhill, Almondsbury, BS32 4LX
Time: 10:00 to 16:00
On the day of the Mega Event there will be trade stands, refreshments, entertainment and some special Adventure Labs, plus the chance to meet old friends and make new ones. Camping and Side Events will run all week from 28th July to 3rd August 2025.

Woodhouse Park Activity Centre is a Scout activity centre and campsite to the North of Bristol run by Avon Scouts. The site occupies 36 acres (14 hectares) of land on the west side of the A38, to the north of Bristol. The centre is enclosed by woodland with views extending over the two Severn bridges and is easily accessible from the M4 and M5. The perfect location for this years Mega event.
Is this going to be the last UK Mega event of this format with a week of activities? As yet there is no confirmed UK Mega event for 2026.
Event Reminders
We have a special guest from UK Mega committee, Marnee, better known in the geocaching community as Mutchie, visiting our area to promote and answer any questions about this years Mega event. She will also be selling Mega merchandise to raise funds for this years event.
GCB23HF Boar on Tour Visits North Wales by Severn_UK_Mega_2025 D1/T1.5
When: Friday 7th February, 2025
Where: The Palladium, 7 Gloddaeth Street, Llandudno LL30 2DD (Wetherspoons)
Time: 6.30pm to 8pm
GCB22FR 9US & Severn UK Mega Team present Ski Saturday by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T2
When: Saturday 8th February, 2025
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle LL54 6BB
Time: 2pm to 5pm or when the last person leaves
‘Ski Sunday’ is returning to the virtual slopes of the Nantlle Valley but this year on Saturday 8th February! Why Saturday? Because we will be having a special guest in attendance, Mutchie, a representative from Severn UK Mega 2025 team.
Wrap up warm, join us either as a competitor or spectator for a fun filled afternoon. Refreshments including hot drinks and, of course, the Cache Bar will be available throughout the afternoon.
Please log ‘will attends’ to ensure an event souvenir, this also helps us with planning and catering of the day.
News & New Caches 171
Again another very quiet week in North Wales for geocachers with no new caches or Adventure labs to report. Just an event reminder.
Event Reminder
Our first N&N of 2025 and we are back at Snowdonia Parc, Waunfawr.
GCB22EV 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 74 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
When: Thursday 30th January, 2025
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves
New Locationless Cache for 2025

GCA2025 Where’s 25? – Locationless Cache by Geocaching HQ D1/T1.5
As part of Geocachings 25th anniversary celebrations HQ have published this Locationless cache. The cache will be available to log throughout 2025 by posting a picture of a ’25’ found somewhere in the real world.
Here are the logging requirements:
- Include one (1) photo of yourself or a personal item next to an already-existing 25. Ideally, the 25 should be something that others may visit if they know the location coordinates.
- The 25 can stand on its own or not. It can be a numeral or spelled out. It can be in any language or ancient numbering systems. Get creative!
- In the spirit of the original Locationless Caches, you are encouraged to include the coordinates where you found the 25 in your online log.
Logs that do not include a photo will be deleted. The cache page will be archived and locked on January 1st, 2026
2025 Cache Hiding Themes

Firstly we must apologise for being totally unaware that there was a ‘Cache Hiding Theme’ for every month in 2024.
By introducing themed caches Geocaching HQ aim to inspire geocachers to hide and find caches that showcase the creativity, innovation, and sense of adventure that make geocaching special.
The 2025 themes are:
- Frogs January 28th – March 5th, 2025
- Back to Nature March 26th – June 5th, 2025
- Hidden Gems June 25th – September 5th, 2025
- Blast from the Past (25 Years of Geocaching) October 1st – December 5th, 2025
Ways to participate:
- Hide a frog-themed geocache between January 28th and March 5th, 2025. Nominate your cache by completing this form.
- Find a frog-themed geocache between January 28th and March 5th, 2025. Nominate the cache you found by completing this form.
- Share on Instagram: Post photos and tag @geocaching. Use the hashtag #GeoHT25 for a chance to be featured on our Instagram Stories.
Every three months Geocaching will feature geocaches from that quarter’s theme on the Geocaching Blog and their social media. As yet no souvenirs have been announced for taking part as either a hider or finder.
News & New Caches 170
It’s a very quiet time for geocaching here in North Wales, no new caches or events to report since our last post.
HQ Announce ‘Treasures’ a New Feature

Starting in March 2025, ‘Treasures’ will be a new collectible game feature. The digital treasures will be like previous challenges, Mystery at the Museum and the magic items in Signal’s Labyrinth. Unlike those challenges when digital treasures were temporary and disappeared when the promotion ended, these ‘Treasures’ will be a permanent feature. Geocachers can collect these digital items by finding and logging caches that meet specific criteria set by HQ to form a ‘Treasure Collection’. The amount of treasures needed to complete a collection will vary. The treasures will placed in caches with certain D/T ratings or cache types or a combination of both making some collections easy to complete while others will be very difficult.
Not all completed Treasure collections will receive a souvenir.
As the release date approaches HQ will be announcing more details.
2024 Statstics
At the beginning of every year Geocaching HQ release stats on the previous years geocaching. As Geocaching is a global game I’m always surprised to see how few active participants there are, with a world population of just over 8 billion, only 1,846,540 geocachers found at least one cache and less than 60,000 geocachers hid a cache in 2024! Are Adventure Labs taking over?

Maybe we ought to do 9US stats….
Victorian Geocaching or the Evolution of Letterboxing
It is beyond doubt that the introduction of railways in mid-19th century to Great Britain transformed the population’s ability to travel. Stage coach journeys that were time-consuming and costly were swept away by the quicker and affordable Railways, this allowed people to reach distant towns and cities in just a few hours and in previously unimaginable numbers, and so a boom in domestic tourism was born. One popular destination for these new travellers was Dartmoor, from london this journey previously had taken about 5 days by stage coach, but when the railway line was built in 1845, it was as little as 5 hours away and could be reached for the cost of about £2.
Dartmoor had captured the public’s imagination through novels like Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, R. D. Blackmore’s Christowell, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, as well as numerous paintings that showcased its wild, rugged beauty.
Residents of these emerging tourist hotspots quickly seized the opportunity to generate income, offering accommodation, local transport, printed guides, and organised tours.

It was in this climate that Letterboxing was born. The first record of a container being placed was by James Perrott a local guide and master fisherman. The earliest mention was by William Crossing, who wrote in his 1854 guide to Dartmoor that “James Perrott of Chagford set up a small cairn at remote Cranmere Pool on North Dartmoor. Inside, he put a jar with his calling cards for visitors who had ventured to the lonely, bleak spot to pick up.” The 16-mile walk from Chagford across boggy, rough moorland and was difficult even in the best conditions, it soon attracted hardy tourists looking for adventure on the moors. These intrepid travellers began leaving their own calling cards, which most Gentlemen carried to prove they had made the trip. This eccentric practice caught the public’s imagination and became popular among the growing number of tourists flocking to the area.
In 1888, a small tin box replaced the original jar, hikers began leaving self-addressed postcards for the next visitor to collect and mail back to them. The next person to visit the container would gather the mail and post it from their hometown using either the newly established red pillar boxes or their local Post Office, giving rise to the name “Letterboxing.” The practice on Dartmoor slowly expanded, with additional letterboxes established the next being at Taw Marsh in 1894 with many more placed over the decades.

Letterboxing has grown into a global, informal hobby that combines orienteering, art, and puzzle-solving. Participants hide small, weatherproof boxes and share clues to their location through catalogs, websites, or word of mouth, some detective work is always required to find the final location and the container. Each box contains a notebook and a custom rubber stamp. Finders stamp their own notebooks and then use their personal stamp in the letterbox’s logbook to show they’ve found it. The system is far less organised than modern-day geocaching, but for many, that’s part of its charm.

With the advent of Geocaching, a type of cache called the “Letterbox Hybrid” was created. These caches may use clues instead of coordinates to guide players to the cache container. Sometimes, the final container is not at the posted coordinates, but it always has a stamp for letterboxing that is meant to stay with the cache. Unlike traditional letterboxes, these are regulated like regular caches, and their locations are published on geocaching.com with their own icon. The oldest Geocaching Letterbox Hybrid still available as of this writing is “The Standing Stone” (Northumberland) GCE6DA. There are now approximately 3,800 Letterbox Hybrids listed in the UK.
Finding the Original Letterbox

Cranmere Pool is located in the middle of a triangle formed by three rivers, and the landscape is an extreme swamp, representing the challenge of letterboxing. It demands good navigational skills, a high level of fitness, and an eye for detail.
News & New Caches 169
Just 3 new events to report since our last post:
GCB22EV 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 74 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
When: Thursday 30th January, 2025
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves
GCB23HF Boar on Tour Visits North Wales by severn_UK_Mega_2025 D1/T1.5
When: Friday 7th February, 2025
Where: The Palladium, 7 Gloddaeth Street, Llandudno LL30 2DD (Wetherspoons)
Time: 6.30pm to 8pm
GCB22FR 9US & Severn UK Mega Team present Ski Saturday by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T2
When: Saturday 8th February, 2025
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle LL54 6BB
Time: 2pm to 5pm or when the last person leaves
Piratemania UK 2025

GCB0V77 Piratemania 17 Sudeley Castle – SAILING WEST
When: 26th July, 2025
Where: Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Cheltenham GL54 5JD
Time: 10am to 10pm
Cost: £5 adult, £1 child Only payable for Day visitors
This year Piratemania is berthing somewhere in the 1,200 acre grounds of beautiful Sudeley Castle, a Grade 1 listed privately owned castle close to the medieval market town of Winchcombe.

The castle and gardens have featured in many films and is famous for being the home of Katherine Parr, the last and surviving wife of King Henry VIII. Her elaborate tomb can be seen in St Mary’s church in the castle grounds. A little know fact about Katherine is she was married 4 times, her 3rd marriage being to Henry, this is a record for a Queen of England.
Currently we are waiting for details for camping, an announcement is expected around Easter.
Is This The Best Geocaching Challenge Ever?
GCAJFR0 České pivo, České zlato! / Czech beer, Czech gold! by Seedcorp Virtual D5/T1

While planning a trip to Prague later in the year this cache came to my attention initially for the 5 difficulty rating. As most geocachers are aware many of 9US regular event attendees enjoy a pint of good beer. To claim this virtual cache 50 breweries/micro breweries have to be visited, a challenge we are excepting. The 50 breweries can be any where in the world, but must include the brewery at the cache page coordinates. Is this just an excuse for more P&P stops? Probably.
Join us on this quest and look out for forth coming events at our local breweries. Let’s start with this months N&N at Snowdonia Parc, Waunfawr, not just a pub but a microbrewery. Here is a link to the beers they brew Snowdonia Parc Real Ales
News & New Caches 168

Happy New Year everyone!
Just a short post to start the New Year, we have just two new earthcaches published since our last post:
GCB1NX9 A Tale of Two Rock Types by Mr MagnaDefender Earthcache D2.5/T3.5
GCB1NXG Criccieth Coastal Engineering by Mr MagnaDefender Earthcache D1/T2
And our 2024 video:
Please like and subscribe to our YouTube chanel.
Let’s hope 2025 will be a great year for us all filled with lots of fun and many geocaching adventures.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
News & New Caches 167

We hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. In our area there has been no new caches or Ad Labs published since our last post. But we do have some event reminders.
Event Reminders

GCB0QRK 9 Usual Suspects Say Goodbye to 2024 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1.5
When: 31st December, 2024
Where: Anglesey Column Cafe & Information Centre
Time: 11am-12pm
Our last event of 2024 and a chance for a quick catch up before the New Year Celebrations begin. There is no better way to start your celebrations than meeting up with your geocaching friends! Please log will ‘attend logs’ as we need to give the cafe numbers in advance.

GCB0PTH 9US Discover 2025 with a Beach Clean by 9 Usual Suspects CITO D1/T3
When: Wednesday 1st January 2025
Where: Beach Car Park nearest the Airport
Time: 11am to 12pm
Why not blow away those New Year cobwebs and join us for a litter pick along the beautiful beach of Dinas Dinlle?

GCB16T1 9 Usual Suspects TB Race Launch by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
When: 1st January, 2025
Where: Airport Cafe, Dinas Dinlle, Caernarfon LL54 5TP
Time: 12.15pm – 1.15pm
An event to launch our 2025 TB Race. TB race rules can be found here. Not entering the TB race? This is a chance to catch up, swap TB’s and enjoy some geochat while watching the airport activity.
New Year Souvenirs

Celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of 2025 by earning two new souvenirs, Logged 2024 and Discovering 2025. To earn the souvenirs find one geocache or Adventure Lab® location, all geocache types count including events.
Logged 2024 is available from 24th to 31st December.
Discovering 2025 is available from 1st to 8th January.
Quiz Answers
- Which song includes the lyrics “They’ve got cars big as bars, They’ve got rivers of gold” Fairytale of New York, The Pouges (1987)
- In Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, what was the first name of Scrooge?
Ebenezer - What colour are mistletoe berries?
White - Which song includes the lyrics “It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid”
Do they know it’s Christmas – Band Aid (1984) - In Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone what did the Dursleys give Harry for Christmas?
A 50p piece - Which single has been number 1 in the charts in 2023 & 2024, but only made number 2 when it was released in 1984?
Last Christmas – Wham (It’s been in the charts 21 times over 117 weeks) - Elvis Presley isn’t going to have a White Christmas, he’s going to have a….?
Blue Christmas - According to the song, what did my true love give to me on the eleventh day of Christmas?
Eleven pipers piping - What fruit is used to make a Christingle?
Orange - Three of Santa’s reindeer’s names begin with the letter “D.” What are those names?
Dasher, Donner & Dancer - If you’re born on Christmas day, what’s your star sign?
Capricorn - What is glühwein?
A German version of mulled wine - When do the 12 days of Christmas start?
Christmas Day - What is the Grinch’s dog called?
Max - How many states in the US have a town called ‘Santa Claus’?
Three – Indiana, Arizona and Georgia
Happy New Year
We would like to take this opportunity to Thank everyone for their support and wish you all a very Happy New Year, may 2025 be a year full of fun and adventures.
News & New Caches 166

We have one new cache to report since our last post:
GCB11G4 War Memorial #2225 ~ Ysbyty Ifan by two nosy parkers Multi D1.5/T1.5
And just one bad cracker joke:
Why are Christmas trees no good at sewing?
Because they alway drop their needles!
9US Christmas Quiz
A little something to keep you entertained while waiting for the turkey to cook.

- Which song includes the lyrics “They’ve got cars big as bars, They’ve got rivers of gold”?
- In Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, what was the first name of Scrooge?
- What colour are mistletoe berries?
- Which song includes the lyrics “It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid”?
- In Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone what did the Dursleys give Harry for Christmas?
- Which single has been number 1 in the charts in 2023 & 2024, but only made number 2 when it was
released in 1984? - Elvis Presley isn’t going to have a White Christmas, he’s going to have a….?
- According to the song, what did my true love give to me on the eleventh day of Christmas?
- What fruit is used to make a Christingle?
- Three of Santa’s reindeer’s names begin with the letter “D.” What are those names?
- If you’re born on Christmas day, what’s your star sign?
- What is glühwein?
- When do the 12 days of Christmas start?
- What is the Grinch’s dog called?
- How many states in the US have a town called ‘Santa Claus’?
Answers in the next post…..
And Finally
We would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas/Nadolig Llawen

News & New Caches 165
We have one new event published since our last post. We have lots of dates for 2025, souvenirs and our events.

GCB16T1 9 Usual Suspects TB Race Launch by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
When: 1st January, 2025
Where: Airport Cafe, Dinas Dinlle, Caernarfon LL54 5TP
Time: 12.15pm – 1.15pm
An event to launch our 2025 TB Race. Not entering the TB race? This is a chance to catch up, swap TB’s and enjoy some geochat while watching the airport activity.
2024 9US Video
We are currently putting together a video of our 2024 adventures. If you have any pictures or video you would like included please contact us.
Confirmed Souvenirs for 2025
Here are the confirmed souvenirs for 2025 and dates that they are available:
- Discovering 2025 January 1st-8th
- Cache In Trash Out®, Season 1: March 1st–May 31st
- Pi-Day: March 14th
- March Equinox: March 20th-23rd
- Pajama Day: April 16th
- Blue Switch Day: May 2nd-4th
- June Solstice: June 20th-22nd
- International Geocaching Day: August 16th
- Cache In Trash Out®, Season 2: September 1st-November 30th
- World Postcard Day: October 1st
- International EarthCache Day: October 10th-12th
- Adventure Day: October 17th-19th
- Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF): November 6th-16th
- Farewell 2025: December 24th-31st
9US Event Calendar 2025
Please find below our event calendar for 2025. Event dates may change up until publication.
Wednesday 1st January GCB0PTH 9US Discover 2025 with a Beach Clean D1/T3
Wednesday 1st January GCB16T1 9 Usual Suspects TB Race Launch D1/T1
Thursday 30th January Nosh & Natter 74

Saturday 8th February Ski Saturday The Severn Mega will be in attendance
Thursday 27th February Nosh & Natter 75
Saturday 8th March CITO Season 1
Thursday 27th March Nosh & Natter 76
Thursday 24th April Nosh & Natter 77
Saturday 17th May Llangollen Canal Boat Trip
Thursday 29th May Nosh & Natter 78
Saturday 7th June Bardsey Island?
Thursday 26th June Nosh & Natter 79
Wednesday 23rd July Nosh & Natter 80
Thursday 24th-27th July Piratemania
Monday 28th July-3rd August Severn Mega
Saturday 16th August International Geocaching Day, 9US 10th Birthday Party
Thursday 28th August Nosh & Natter 81
Thursday 25th September Nosh & Natter 82
Thursday 30th October Nosh & Natter 83
Saturday 1st November Halloween Party
Sunday 9th November GIFF
Saturday 29th November Nosh & Natter 84, Christmas Dinner
Wednesday 31st December Farewell 2025
Llangollen Canal Boat Trip
Saturday 17th May Llangollen Canal Boat Trip

We will be starting at Trevor travelling to Llangollen, it takes just over 2 hours to reach the turnaround point. See map below:

All day boats are equipped with the following: cutlery, crockery, a kettle, 2 burner hob, fridge, sink and toilet. There’s indoor and outdoor seating on all day boats. We will be stopping for lunch some where en route, probably The Sun (marked on map) where we may hold an event. Dogs are allowed. Boat hire times are from 9am – 4pm so we would be meeting up around 8.45am at Anglo Welsh boat yard.
There are very few geocaches currently along the canal but we will make every effort to pick any up as we pass.
Cost will be around £20 per person. There are 10 places per boat, if enough interest we will try to book 2 boats. To book a place contact us, we will need deposits of £10pp.
Any questions? Contact us.
News & New Caches 164
We have one new cache to report and our new TB race.

GCB11JR Church Micro 15301…Ysbyty Ifan – St John’s by two nosy parkers Multi D1.5/T1.5
TB Race 2025

As part of 9US 10th anniversary celebrations we are having another TB race. There will be prizes for the furthest travelled, most countries visited and special prizes for any TB that makes it back to our New Years Eve 2025 event. To enter the race you do not have to attend our event at Caernarfon airport on New Years Day but you do have to dip the TB into the event as all distances are to be calculated from this events coordinates.
Race Rules
1) The race will last for one year, starting on 1st January 2025 and finishing on 31st December 2025.
2) The start will be from 9US event GCB16T1, 9 Usual Suspects TB Race Launch all TB’s to be dipped into this event.
3) The TB can be ‘dipped’ by the owner into another cache before it is to be released into the ‘wild’. No hanging on to it and bringing it to next year’s event!
4) A country is as defined by Geocaching.com.
5) TB’s distance to be recorded in KILOMETRES, not miles and start at zero!
6) There is no limit to how many TB’s you can enter.
Any questions contact us. Oh, The judges, Pete, decision is final!