News & New Caches 162

We have one new cache and three events to report since our last post:

GCB0NY4 Hand-me-down by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Events

GCB0MMV Christmas Stroll up Tryfan by swindon_leys D1/T5
When: 25th December, 2024
Where: Tryfan Summit
Time: 12pm-12.30pm
No plans for Christmas Day? This event could be just what you are looking for.

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?
This event will see the start of a new TB race, see below.

2025 TB Race

As part of our 10th anniversary and geocaching’s 25th anniversary we will be having another TB race starting on 1st January 2025 finishing on 31st December 2025. There will be prizes for the furthest traveled and most countries visited. Rules and details in our next post.

TB Race 2021 Update

Do you remember this TB race? The original race was for one year, starting on International Geocaching Day 2021 and finishing on International Geocaching Day 2022, with prizes for the furthest traveled.
We decided to continue the race as a test of endurance with the winner being the last TB in circulation.

6 TB’s took part in the original race there are now 4 still traveling.

HQ Win the Race TB owner lostnwet
Traveled: 136,706km
Current Location: France in the hands of *Mana*
13 Countries Visited: UK, Ireland, France, Canada, USA, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Sark, Jersey, Guernsey

Racing Dragon owner Ann@Birdbrook
Traveled: 72,903km
Current Location: Czechia in the hands of Pe_Bo
10 Countries Visited: UK, Portugal, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Denmark, France, Poland, Czechia

Draco owner Naturesbyte
Traveled: 57,168km
Current Location: Puppy Dog’s TB Hotel, Nevada, USA
10 Countries Visited: UK, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, France, USA


Welsh Sea Pottery owner escapefromwork
Traveled: 9,168km
Current Location: RAL [7] Whitby Road, Bristol, UK
2 Countries Visited: UK, Ireland

Halloween Video

GCAZ0QW Come and Monster Mash with 9US by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1.5

We would like to thank everyone for attending and taking part in our activities. Bet you can’t wait to see what we are planning for next year!

News & New Caches 161

We have no new caches or events published in our area since our last post.

Event Reminders

GCB07G5 CITO 2024 Season 2 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T3
When: Sunday 24th November
Where: The Old Bridge, Morfa Parc, Caernarfon
Time: 12pm -2pm
Haven’t already got your CITO 2024 Season 2 souvenir? Then come and join us for our 25th CITO event, a litter pick at our regular site in Caernarfon. This may be your last chance to acquire this souvenir as CITO 2024 Season 2 ends on November 30th.

As Storm Bert is set to hit us hard on Saturday we may cancel this event and just meet for a panad and cake. We will assess weather conditions Sunday morning and make an announcement through the cache page if we are canceling.

Christmas Dinner

GCAZ9WX Christmas Dinner – Nosh & Natter 73 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
Where: Tafarn Yr Afr/Goat Inn, Glandwyfach, Porthmadog LL51 9LJ
When: Friday 29th November
Time: 7-9pm or when the last person leaves
Dress Code: Anything Christmas

Please note all food for this event has to be pre ordered

This is the final call for food orders, we need your choices today, either message us through our geocaching profile, your will attend logs or contact us through the comments.
The Christmas menu is available here.

New 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.

We will be hosting events on both New Years Eve and New Years Day which we hope to have published by our next post.

Llangollen Canal Trip

To answer a few questions that have arisen from our last post. We will be starting at Trevor travelling to Llangollen, it takes just over 2 hours to reach the turnaround point. See map below:

At the moment we have no confirmed dates, we are just gaging interest as we are trying to plan our event calendar for 2025. There are 10 places on a boat, if enough interest we will try to book 2 boats. Boats get booked up along time in advance for weekend hires, so we need to book early to book two boats. Unless we can get a very good deal, current proposed dates are Saturday 22nd or 29th March 2025. Cost will be around £18-£20 per person. Dogs are allowed. Boat hire times are from 9am – 4pm so we would be meeting up around 8.45am at Anglo Welsh boat yard.

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.

There are very few geocaches currently along the canal but we will make every effort to pick any up as we pass.

News & New Caches 160

Just two new caches since our last post:

GCB0B8M War Memorial #2221 ~ Capel Curig by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D1.5/T1.5

GCB0DGR Mawddach Meander – Iron Bridge by CazzaB80 Traditional D2/T2
An addition to the existing Mawddach Meander series. The series follows the Mawddach river along a cycle path through stunning scenery from Dolgellau to Barmouth. We can highly recommend this series for both cyclists and walkers.

Christmas Dinner Reminder

GCAZ9WX Christmas Dinner – Nosh & Natter 73 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
Where: Tafarn Yr Afr/Goat Inn, Glandwyfach, Porthmadog LL51 9LJ
When: Friday 29th November
Time: 7-9pm or when the last person leaves
Dress Code: Anything Christmas

This is the final call for food orders, we need your choices by 22nd November, either message us through our geocaching profile, your will attend logs or contact us through the comments.
The Christmas menu is available here.

Village Hall Series

There are village halls situated across every county in the United Kingdom and The British Isles. They are at the heart of community life, providing a hub for social activities, classes and services. Village halls are typically used for a variety of public and private functions and events.

The Village Hall Series started in 2013 with the first cache placed by GeoJaxx in Denmead, Hampshire.  It has steadily grown in popularity and currently can be found in 78 counties in England, Scotland, Wales, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
For more information about the series visit Village Hall Series

Village Hall Series Profile Badges
Since October 2024 Village Hall Profile Awards are now auto-updating. There are 15 levels available for finders and hiders.

​Awards are available in large grid or slimline versions for both finders (in red) or hiders (in yellow)  
Large grid style – shows all achieved levels in colour and those you are working towards in grey.
Slimline version – shows only the level you are currently on.
To generate your profile badge visit Village Hall Series Award Badges and fill your details in the simple form and follow the instructions.

Llangollen Canal Boat Trip

Is anyone interested in another boat trip on the Llangollen Canal heading this time into Llangollen?

News & New Caches 159

Two new events have been published since our last post:

GCB07G5 CITO 2024 Season 2 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T3
When: Sunday 24th November
Where: The Old Bridge, Morfa Parc, Caernarfon
Time: 12pm -2pm
Haven’t already got your CITO 2024 Season 2 souvenir? Then come and join us for our 25th CITO event, a litter pick at our regular site in Caernarfon. This may be your last chance to acquire this souvenir as CITO 2024 Season 2 ends on November 30th.

GCB03DF Caernarfon yn Rhagfyr (Caernarfon in December) by FfiLli and Blueteddy
When: Monday 2nd December 2024
Where: Tafarn y Porth, 9 Eastgate Street, Caernarfon LL55 1AG (Wetherspoons)
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Two Hampshire cachers are visiting Caernarfon and would like to meet up with local cachers to discuss our fascinating hobby.

Free Public Transport

Do you have a Welsh Concessionary Travel Pass? Did you know you can travel free on some trains in Wales?
You can travel for free between:

You’ll need to get a free ticket from the ticket office before you travel. If there is no ticket office or if it’s closed, you can get one from the Conductor on the train.

We can highly recommend a trip on the Cambrian Coast line, we recently travelled from Porthmadog to Machynlleth. The line was completed by 1869, an incredible feat of Victorian engineering following beautiful coastline for most of the journey. The railway line is pretty dramatic; in places it clings to high cliffs and burrows through tunnels hewn from the rock.

Machynlleth is a very pretty town full of character with many independent shops, lots of cafes and restaurants, well worth a visit.

For the geocacher there are currently the following caches and Ad Lab:
GCA1D24 A year at Kew visiting Machynlleth by LizMar2010 Multi D2/T1.5
GCAR3R6 War Memorial #2091 – Machynlleth by MrMagnaDefender Earthcache D4.5/T1
GCAR3QE Machynlleth Clock Tower by MrMagnaDefender Earthcache D2/T1.5
Ad Lab Machynlleth- Ancient Capital of Wales created by Oldquincepie

Here are a few photos from our day out:

News & New Caches 158

We have four new caches, 2 traditional, a mystery and earthcache since our last post. Please note 2 are Premium Member only.

GCAZZDZ Bwlch Mawr by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5
GCB00T0 Ffynnon Gybi by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T3.5

Premium Member Only:
GCAZP4R Church Micro 15278…Borth-y-Gest by ECOBAKE Mystery D3/T2
GCAZT5M Church Micro 15283…Dolbenmaen by MrMagnaDefender Earthcache D2/T1.5

Event Reminders

Saturday 9th November sees ChepstowRomans, Storming the Castle 2024 series of events. They are hosting 6 events at castles from Conwy Castle to Goodrich Castle, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. Looks like a fun road trip.

GCAZDVE Storming the Castle 2024: Conwy Castle Bonus by ChepstowRomans D1/T1.5
When: Saturday 9th November 2024
Where: Castle Square, Conwy
Time: 8am to 8.30am

GCAZDVQ Storming the Castle 2024: Gwrych Castle Bonus by ChepstowRomans D1/T2
When: Saturday 9th November 2024
Where: Gwrych Castle
Time: 9am to 9.30am

GCAZDVEY Storming the Castle 2024: Flint Castle Bonus by ChepstowRomansD1/T1.5
When: Saturday 9th November 2024
Where: Flint Castle
Time: 10.30am to 11am

GCAZDW3 Storming the Castle 2024: Whittington Castle Bonus by ChepstowRomans D1/T2
When: Saturday 9th November 2024
Where: Whittington Castle
Time: 1pm to 1.30pm

GCAZDW7 Storming the Castle 2024: Ludlow Castle Bonus by ChepstowRomans D1/T2
When: Saturday 9th November 2024
Where: Ludlow Castle
Time: 4pm to 4.30pm

GCAZDWP Storming the Castle 2024: Goodrich Castle by ChepstowRomans D1/T1.5
When: Saturday 9th November 2024
Where: Inn on the Wye
Time: 6pm to 7pm

On Monday 11th November why not join the Chester Cache Chasers on their day out in North Wales for a quick lunchtime get together.
GCAZ9W6 Trearddur Troubadours by Chester Cache Chasers D1/T1

Sea Shanty Cafe, Treaddur Bay - Tyn Llain Bed and Breakfast, Anglesey

When: Monday 11th November 2024
Where: Sea Shanty Cafe, Lon St Ffraid, Trearddur Bay, Holyhead LL65 2YR
Time: 12.45pm-1.30pm


Event Review

GCAZ0QW Come and Monster Mash with 9US by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1.5

For this years Halloween event we started planning several weeks ago. We decided to make a couple of new simple props for the evening but after being inspired by several YouTube videos our ideas became increasingly more complicated. The 3D printers have hardly stopped, our kitchen table became an art studio and the garage a spray paint/carpenters workshop. Amazingly all projects were completed on time. With the dry weather we were able to start setting up outside a few days before enabling us to have a test run on lighting.

We would like to thank everyone for attending and taking part in our activities, Pete for the BBQ, souvenirs and 3D printing and all the special effects.
I’ll check the Bingo next time!

Carole, RichieBlod, has made the following excellent short video:

Here are a few more pictures:

I bet you can’t wait for next years event… I already have a few ideas!