Tag: 9 Usual Suspects

News & New Caches 174

It is so good to see some new caches appearing. Clueless_Goose has been very busy with 3 new Church Micros on Anglesey and a new series of 20 caches following the old Bryngwyn slate railway.

GCB3BGF Church Micro 15348…Heneglwys by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5
GCB3BG7 Church Micro 15347…Coedana by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCB3B9E Church Micro 15346…Llannerch-y-Medd by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3/T2

BST – Bryngwyn Slate Trail

A series of 15 caches following the trackbed of the former North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways ‘Bryngwyn Branch’ – now a community owned footpath. The railway once served the slate quarries surrounding Moel Tryfan, as well as passengers from Rhostryfan and Bryngwyn Stations. The line carried slate and passengers down to Caernarfon and beyond, but closed with the decline of the slate industry in the early 20th century. The rails were lifted during the 1940s for the war effort, though some interesting features still remain en route.

For the full experience you can step off the WHR train at Tryfan Junction, complete the series, and return for the journey back. By car, parking is easiest at Rhostryfan former station, allowing you to split the series into two halves. It is also possible to park on the verge at Tryfan Junction or up by the Drumhead right at the other end of the line.

The walk to Bryngwyn is easy-going with only a gentle (undetectable) uphill gradient. The permissive footpath along the trackbed ends abruptly at Bryngwyn Farm, where the final cache (15) is hidden, but if desired, you can roughly follow the remaining trackbed along lanes and the old Bryngwyn Incline to the ‘Drumhead’, where the railway once diverged into several private tramways serving the individual slate quarries. There are three SideTracked caches along the track, plus two additional bonus caches for those willing to follow the trackbed all the way from the end of the footpath to the Drumhead. All in all that’s 20 caches, some simple, others more challenging…


GCB34XH REALLY SideTracked – Bryngwyn by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5
GCB3CGP REALLY SideTracked – Rhostryfan by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5
GCB3F5A REALLY SideTracked – Tryfan Junction by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3.5/T1.5
GCB3CED BST 1 – Rhaeadru by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T2.5
GCB3EME BST 2 – Twnel by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3/T2
GCB3F98 BST 3 – Mwsogl by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3.5/T2
GCB3ETN BST 4 – Giât by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2
GCB3F9E BST 5 – Golygfa Llanddwyn by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2
GCB3F9K BST 6 – Iorwg by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3.5/T2.5
GCB3F9V BST 7 – Pentref by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2.5/T1.5
GCB3CGG BST 8 – Giât Moch by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2.5/T2
GCB3FB3 BST 9 – Ffens by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3/T2
GCB3CG8 BST 10 – Steil by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3.5/T2
GCB3CG3 BST 11 – Onnen by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2.5/T3.5
GCB3CFT BST 12 – Pry Copyn by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3/T3
GCB3FBA BST 13 – Gwely by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2
GCB3CFH BST 14 – Postyn by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2
GCB3CFB BST 15 – Arwyddbost by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3.5/T1.5
GCB3CEY BST +1 – Inclên Bryngwyn by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2.5
GCB353C BST +2 – Y ‘Drumhead’ by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2.5/T2

Event
GCB3F98 Pi Day Party by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Saturday 15th March, 2025
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle LL54 6BB
Time: 3.14pm to 5.14pm or when the last person leaves

This event is part of 9 Usual Suspect 10th anniversary celebrations, 10 years ago ‘A Slice of Pie’ was one of our first events.

Join us for a P, P & P! The plan is to have as many different types of pie as possible for us all to sample, I think we can do better than our first attempt. There will also be a new Mystery Cache appearing very close to this event enabling us all to get the Pi Day souvenir. See below:

Pi Day 2025 Souvenir

Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi), observed on March 14th because the date (3/14) corresponds to the first three significant digits of π (3.14). The tradition began in the United States and has since gained worldwide recognition.

To earn earn the Pi Day souvenir find and log any Mystery Cache between Friday 14th March and Sunday 16th March. All non-Premium Mystery Caches are open to everyone throughout the weekend on the Geocaching® app from 11:00:00 UTC on Friday 14th March until 10:00:00 UTC on Monday 17th March, 2025.

Llangollen Canal Boat Trip

We have booked a day boat for Saturday 17th May. Cost is £20 per person, to book a place we need a £10 deposit. We have a few spare places, if you would like to join us please contact us asap.

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.

Any questions? Contact us.

News & New Caches 173

We have 4 new events for your diaries:

GCB34NR 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 75 by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Thursday 27th February, 2025
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

GCB34PF CITO, A487 North, Another Quick Pick by 9 Usual Suspects CITO D1/T4.5
When: Wednesday 5th March 2025
Where: A487North Lay by
Time: 11am to 12pm

GCB34QK CITO 2025 Season 1 by 9 Usual Suspects CITO D1/T3
When: Saturday 8th March 2025
Where: The Old Bridge, Morfa Parc, Caernarfon
Time: 2pm – 3.30pm

GCB34RZ 9 Usual Suspects Cake and a Brew by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T1
When: Saturday 8th March 20254
Where: Old Bridge, Parc Dre, Caernarfon
Time: 3.30pm to 4pm

75th Nosh and Natter!

This months Nosh & Natter is our 75th! Our first N&N was on Monday 9th May, 2015, at the Antelope Inn, Bangor with 9 attendees. Who then would have dreamt that 10 years later we would still be meeting up once a month. Over the years we have had 66 different geocaching accounts log an attended from all corners of the world. We can’t find any photos of the first event but I have found one from our first Christmas Dinner:

CITO Season 1, 2025

CITO Season 1, 2025 souvenir will be available from Saturday 1st March through to Saturday 31st May, 2025. We have 2 CITO events published for the beginning of March that by attending will earn the souvenir. We are planning more CITO’s later in the season.

Treasure Collections Update

This new feature starts on Monday 17th March.
Collection 1: Geocaching origins
In this collection there are four Treasures inspired by the beginnings of geocaching. To find, simply find and log Traditional Caches.
We are still unsure if there will be a Treasure in every Traditional cache or only hidden in a selected few. Also will the Treasure be visible prior to finding the cache or only revealed on logging.

Collection 2: Celebrating 25 years
To unlock Collection 2, Collection 1 must be completed. This collection has five Treasures that can be found by logging any cache that has a difficulty rating of 1.5 or lower.

The Treasures feature will be available in the Geocaching® app and on Geocaching.com starting 17th March at 17:00 UTC. If you log caches using third-party or Geocaching API partner applications, you will still collect Treasure but it will not be visible in the app. and you will not receive in-app notifications when a Treasure is found. Progress can be viewed on the Geocaching® app and on Geocaching.com.

Event Review

GCB22FR 9US & Severn UK Mega Team present Ski Saturday by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T2

Firstly I must say very big Thank You to mutchie from the Severn UK Mega Team for visiting us, answering all our questions and concerns regarding this years Mega. Our Wii skiing event has become an annual fixture in the 9US calendar. This years event was the downhill, which I thought was one of the easier disciplines but the course proved to be a lot trickier than I remembered. As always the activity on the slopes was very competitive giving rise to lots of banter and laughter. Big thanks to Pete for being time keeper, making sure the technology behaved itself, printing the souvenirs and medals.

Highlights of our day:

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 ADVENTURE PARK (2025) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)


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 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