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.

James Perrott, Dartmoor Guide

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

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.

Dartmoor stamps

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, Okehampton, Dartmoor

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

One brewery that has to be visited

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

Download Ai Generated, Happy New Year, 2025. Royalty-Free Stock  Illustration Image - Pixabay

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.