News & New Caches 99

Five new caches and an event have been published since our last post:

GCACEYB The Tree-O Squad by JSWhitehead21378 Traditional D3/T1.5
GC6RC4B A bridge to nowhere by Gumpay Traditional D2/T2
GC9Z20R Take a seat by Mossfamilymacc Traditional D1.5/T2
GC9Z219 Carreg y Defaid by Mossfamilymacc Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Premium Member Only
GCACNPA The geocaching bug by seanx90 Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Event
GCACR6T Trotting in to Prestatyn by TeeferTheCat Event
When: Saturday 14th October 2023
Where: The William Morgan, 29-31 High Street, Prestatyn LL19 9AH
Time: 6.30-7.30pm

Event Reminder
GCAB70R 9US Celebrate International Geocaching Day 2023 by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T1.5
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle
When: Saturday 19th August, 2023
Time: 2.00pm-6pm (the bar will remain open until the last person leaves!)
Games Start Time: 2.30pm
BBQ: 5pm
Trackable Raffle Draw: 5.30pm
9 Usual Suspects invite you to join them in the beautiful Nantlle Valley to celebrate International Geocaching Day, the theme for this years event is ‘An Afternoon in the Pub’. There will be darts, dominos and a pub quiz, fun for everyone. If intending to be there please log a ‘will attend’ to enable us to plan catering for the day.

Piratemania 15 Pirates Royalists & Roundheads

GCA2BBR Piratemania 15 Pirates Royalists & Roundheads

This years Piratemania was held in the village of Naseby, Northamptonshire. The village is famous for the ‘Battle of Naseby’, fought in open fields on the foggy morning of the 14th June 1645 between the 14,000 strong Parliamentarian New Model Army (Roundheads) and the less than 9,000 Royalist army (Cavaliers) of King Charles I. After nearly three years of conflict, this was the decisive battle of the Civil War. Only about 4000 Royalists escaped the field, most of whom were either cavalry or senior officers, some seriously wounded. The main royalist field army had been literally destroyed. The King had lost his best officers, seasoned troops and artillery. All that now remained was for the Parliamentarian armies to wipe out the last pockets of Royalist resistance, which it did within the year.

Naseby village hall was a perfect location for this years Piratemania with everything on one site, camping on the large, level, playing field, an excellent children’s playground featuring a pirate ship and plenty of on site parking. The village has a very friendly well stocked shop and we can highly recommend the pub, The Royal Oak, where we had a few P&P stops plus Sunday Lunch. Shame the weather was not a little kinder, I have never seen so many Pirates wearing down jackets!

We all enjoyed the new caches, though one road section was a bit hairy with small children, the adventure labs were fun especially the night ones, but the best bit of ‘pirates’ is to catch up with geocaching friends. This year a record 5 of the original 9 Usual Suspects in attendance, we were also accompanied by more friends and reserves than in previous years.

Sunday nights quiz saw the Usual Suspects Team return a respectable score of 54 out of a possible 64. After the quiz came the geocoin auction to help raise funds for next years Piratemania. We know how hard it is to raise funds to support 9US, it must be a nightmare trying to fund a Mega event. So we had donated one of our slate coins which made £51.00!

News & New Caches 96

No new caches, just a couple of events have been published since our last post:

GCAB75D The great garden of Gwynedd by Young Heed Event D1/T1.5
When: Monday 24th July 2023
Where: Garth Point Garden, Bangor
Time: 5-5.30pm
Young Heed is attending a conference in Bangor and would like to meet local and not so local geocachers.

GCAB70R 9US Celebrate International Geocaching Day 2023 by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T1.5
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle
When: Saturday 19th August, 2023
Time: 2.00pm-6pm (the bar will remain open until the last person leaves!)
Games Start Time: 2.30pm
BBQ: 5pm
Trackable Raffle Draw: 5.30pm
9 Usual Suspects invite you to join them in the beautiful Nantlle Valley to celebrate International Geocaching Day, the theme for this years event is ‘An Afternoon in the Pub’. There will be darts, dominos, a quiz, and other activities, fun for everyone.

Event Reminder

GCA7B67 The Chens on Tour 2023 – Llandanwg by The Chens Event D1/T1
When: Saturday 15th July 2023
Where: Y Maes Caffi, Llandanwg LL46 2SD
Time: 11-11.30am
The Chens are touring our area and would like to meet local and not so local geocachers.

Dorothea Slate Quarry Captured on Film

Dorothea Quarry is a fascinating place full of industrial history which as the buildings and structures decay is slowly being reclaimed by nature. We have recently had 5 caches published here, anyone who has or is about to visit may find the links below of interest.

The following film links and text is taken from the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales.

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-men-against-death-a-story-of-peril-in-our-time-1933-online

The year is 1933, ‘C H Dand, a publicist and scenario writer, here turned his hand to film- making and produced what is believed to be the first sound film made and set in Wales. He used Dorothea Quarry, Tal-y-sarn and the men employed there to enact a dramatic story, the (lost) second reel of which would show a rock taking its revenge on the men for blasting away its supporting slate by collapsing. The quarry’s assistant manager makes a daily risk assessment of the “angry rock”.

Dand’s film shows the scale of Dorothea Quarry in the Nantlle Valley, possibly the deepest man-made pit in the northern hemisphere, the equipment used and the dangerous nature of the work. The film was premiered at the newly opened Plaza Cinema in Pen-y-groes, its audience the very quarrymen who had taken part in the drama, together with their co-workers and families.’

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-rails-to-talsarn-1962-online

The year is 1962, Horse-drawn railway: ‘Prince’ and ‘Corwen’ pull slate wagons from Pen-yr-Orsedd quarry to Tal-y-sarn station, guided by Mr Oswald Jones, guard/driver.

‘The horse-drawn railway from the station at Tal-y-sarn to Pen-yr-Orsedd quarry was part of a longer line – originally all horse-drawn – that ran from the quay at Caernarfon to the quarries of the Nantlle Valley. ‘Prince’ and ‘Corwen’ pull the wagons on this section that closed in 1963. They were probably the last horses used by British Rail. They are guided by Mr Oswald Jones who uses wooden sprags in the wheels as brakes. Oswald’s father, aged 81, helps out at Tal-y-Sarn.

The Nantlle Railway was the first quarry railway to provide a passenger service also. The section from Tal-y-sarn to Pen-yr-Orsedd quarry continued until 1963, the only British Rail horse-drawn line. This footage was shot and is narrated by David E Sutcliffe, a Bull Bay-based BBC stringer (i.e. he would provide the BBC with newsworthy footage from his area) and local cinema operator, not long before the railway ceased operation altogether.’

For a history of the Nantlle valley quarries visit penmorfa.com

News & New Caches 95

One new traditional cache and a couple of new events to report since our last post:

GCAA10B Buddy Boy 2 by Teamtart Traditional D2/T1.5

Events

GCAB60H CITO, A487 South, Quick Pick by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T4

When: Sunday 23rd July 2023
Where: Lab-by, Caernarfon By-pass
Time: 11-12pm

We stopped here looking for a hide for a new cache after doing a maintenance run on some 9US caches. We were horrified by the state of this lay-by. It is not some where we would want to encourage geocachers to stop and search for a well hidden cache. We had already removed 2 bags and a carrier bag full of bottles, cans and general litter from the lay-by on the other carriageway. Why can’t people be responsible and take their litter home with them? Please note there is a very steep bank involved in this litter pick. Parking is limited at the published coordinates, if anyone could car share it would be appreciated.
Note: This not a souvenir event

GCAB6AZ 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 59 by 9 usual Suspect D1/T1

For this months N&N we will be visiting The Cube a kebab/burger van at Brynrefail, a quick catch up before we head off for Piratemania. Our last event here was way back in April 2017. Let’s hope for a dry, warm, sunny evening!

When: Wednesday 26th July 2023
Where: The Cube, Brynrefail, Llanberis
Time: 6.00pm to 7.30pm or when the last person leaves

Please note the earlier start time.

Wheel of Challenge, Streak Star!

Bryan, lostnwet, contacted us about a problem with the latest challenge, Streak Star:

‘Not too sure ad lab caches count towards your streak for this next challenge???
Ian (Browni) has ad lab finds for the first 2 days but he didn’t get the souvenir [:(]
I think “Geocaching.com” may be broken though!!!
We and Kevin (Snakes77) both have ordinary finds on the first two days and we’ve both got a new souvenir [:P] Check out our profiles and you’ll see we’ve both been given “Project Ape Cache Finders” souvenirs ? (Personally I’m not complaining as I can’t afford a trip to Brazil for that one) [;-)]’.

Geocaching has tweeted:

‘The issue with the souvenirs not awarding for Wheel of Challenges: Streak Star has been resolved. We will retroactively award souvenirs to players who should have received them and hope to release this fix soon. Thank you for your patience as we continue to work on this.’

But no mention of the ‘Project Ape Cache Finders’ souvenir which still shows on some Geocachers profiles.

And Finally……

We have the above caches left on the display table at our Maker’s Magic event……. please contact us to claim them or they might get released into the wild!

News & New Caches 94

Nine new caches, 7 traditionals, a multi and an earthcache have been published since our last post:

GCA9NZC Bright Eyes Revived by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D2/T3.5
GCA9RBX Fly Over by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D3.5/T1
GCA9WT2 The Gateway to Talysarn Hall by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D3/T1.5
GCAAC90 Take a Break, Look at that View! by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D3/T2.5
GCAADDX Out for Zero by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D2.5/T2
GCAADZA Cornish Beam Engine House by 9 Usual Suspects Multi D2/T2
GCAAM10 By the steamtrain tracks bye e+l Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCAAPCB Kyle’s Cache by Destructo405 Traditional D2/T2.5
GCAA66P Coedydd Beddgelert a Cheunant Aberglaslyn by The Magna Defender Earthcache D3/T3

Wheel of Challenge, Streak Star!

The Wheel of Challenge, ‘Out and About’, finished on Sunday 2nd July. There is no break as the next challenge, Streak Star! started on Monday 3rd July and finishes on Sunday 6th August. For this challenge it is all about how long you can keep a daily find streak going. There are 3 souvenirs available.

Easy Souvenir is awarded after completing a two day find streak.
Medium Souvenir is awarded after completing a seven day find streak.
Hard Souvenir is awarded after completing a twenty eight day streak.

We presume all cache types, events and Adventure Lab stages count as a find.

This souvenir is not connected to the leaderboard. Premium members can keep track of streaks statistics in the Geocaching® mobile app and also see detailed statistics including streaks on the website.

The next challenge will be announced on the 1st August.

Events Reviews & News

GCA5MYF CITO 2023 Season 1, Let’s Make Spaces for Wildlife by 9 Usual Suspects

Do you remember the seed bombs we made at this event? The above photos are from Ali showing her success including a bumble bee feeding on the borage flowers.

GCA9NXV 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 58

All I can say is ‘All the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry’……… When we put this event in for review the weather was fab. Sunday we checked with the chip shop who confirmed they would be open, luckily Jen also checked and tipped us off that they were going to be closed. Only one thing for it, dig out the BBQ! The morning weather looked very much against us, grey drizzle that by lunchtime had deteriorated to heavy rain and strong wind. But once again the weather god took pity on us and gave us a lovely sunny evening with some amazing cloud formations. Thank you to everyone for attending and making another memorable 9US event.

GCA8D3G Maker Magic: 9US Get Creative….. by 9 Usual Suspects

Custom Cache Display *Photo Andy, YnysMonBirders*

We spent most of the week leading up to this event looking at weather forecasts, Saturdays weather varied from dry & sunny to heavy rain & strong winds. We decided to go with just one tent, squeeze everything into the bar and covered area. A very BIG THANK YOU to Richard & Elaine for answering our call for help in setting up on Friday, especially their assistance in putting the tent up in the rain!

What a fun day it turned out to be with lots of geochat and the usual banter. The makers table and the 3D printing demonstrations proved very popular. After the BBQ it was not long before Mike started the games.

Knife throwing is definitely a new one for 9US! The bar stayed open till late………. amazingly there was not too many headaches Sunday morning!

I must apologise to everyone who wasted there time looking for the 2 caches that had gone missing before they were published. I will try and get them replaced this week.

We would like to Thank everyone for sharing their original caches, can’t wait for Bess’s Friends cleverly constructed caches to go ‘live’, all the contributions of food and drink, the team of washer uppers and everyone who supported us by buying raffle tickets. Lastly Thank everyone for attending without your support there would be no events.

Other Bits

I apologise for the event to Ballast Island not happening, we hope to reschedule later in the year.

A date for your diary, our Halloween Party will be Friday 3rd November from 6pm until the last person leaves.

News & New Caches 93

Just 3 new earthcaches have been published since our last post:

Premium Member Only
GCAA1JW Syncline or Anticline? by The Magna Defender Earthcache D3.5/T3.5
GCAA1GE Go With the Flow. by The Magna Defender Earthcache D2.5/T1.5
GCAA66R Criccieth Castle Columns by The Magna Defender Earthcache D2/T2.5

Event Reminders

GCA9NXV 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 58 by 9 Usual Suspects

When: Wednesday 28th June
Where: Car Park Dinas Dinlle
Time: 6.30pm to 8.30pm or when the last person leaves

For this months N&N we are doing something a little bit different by holding the event outside on the picnic benches at Dinas Dinlle. Either bring your own picnic or grab fish and chips from the highly recommended Surfer Chippy. (We have confirmed that they will be open.)

Let’s hope for a lovely sunny warm evening!

Please note the earlier start time of 6.30pm

Maker Magic

GCA8D3G Maker Magic: 9US Get Creative…..

Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle. LL54 6BB
When: 1st July 2023
Time: 2.00pm-6pm (the bar will remain open until the last person leaves!)

We are planning another fun afternoon of creativity with plenty of laughs and geochat.

Pete will be running a 3D printing workshop with the usual demonstrations plus taking a look at the advantages and disadvantages of 3D printed containers. In the makers area there will be a wide variety of materials, tools and containers for you to make unique geocaches. Help will be at hand if required. Need some inspiration? Then take a look at the large display of hand crafted containers on display.

As part of the event we will be running a competition for favourite custom local geocaches giving everyone a chance to vote for the winner. Please nominate your chosen caches in your ‘will attend’ logs remembering to quote GC code.

All refreshments are free, with coffee, tea and soft drinks available on a ‘self service’ basis through out the event, later in the day the bar will be open and we will be lighting the BBQ. To help us with planning and catering for the day please could you log ‘will attends’ in advance, include number of persons that will be attending and your nomination for local favourite caches.

We have very basic camping available and space for the odd caravan/motorhome, please message us for details.

Please note we are a working small holding and do have chickens, geese and sheep so no unruly dogs!

As part of our weekend of Maker Magic Celebrations there will be a few new caches going live at 6pm Friday evening………. all with interesting containers.

News & New Caches 91

Several caches and an event to report since our last post, plenty to keep you busy over the weekend.

GCA9BRM Choo Choo! Off to the lake we go! by CheesyPasta Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCA9BPC Bondys trail #2 by CheesyPasta Traditional D1.5/T2.5
GCA9GND The Sunken Gardens by Glaslyn1 Traditional D2/T2
GCA9BT2 Pandy Hill by CheesyPasta Traditional Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Premium Member Only

GCA9KNY Bath House Ruins View by Qniu25 Traditional D2/T2.5

Event

GCA9NXV 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 58 by 9 Usual Suspects

When: Wednesday 28th June
Where: Car Park Dinas Dinlle
Time: 6.30pm to 8.30pm or when the last person leaves

Please note the earlier start time of 6.30pm

Wheel of Challenge, Out and About

Monday saw the start of ‘Out and About’ the latest souvenir challenge, there are three new souvenirs for easy, medium, or hard levels of the challenge. The more days you find a cache the more souvenirs you will earn. As in previous challenges all types of cache count and remember Adventure Lab stages count as a cache, maybe worth doing each stage on a different day……….

Earn the easy souvenir for this month by logging a find on five different days.
Earn the medium souvenir for this month by logging a find on ten different days.
Earn the hard souvenir for this month by logging a find on 20 different days.

The next challenge will be announced on Tuesday 27th June.

News & New Caches 90

There have been no new caches or Adventure Labs published since our last post.

This event is out of our area but as Suli is a regular attendee at our events we feel it deserves to be mentioned here. Shame it is on a Monday evening.

GCA9BR5 A Ten Year Celebration with the Hitman (2013-2023) by Hitman D1/T1

9 Usual Suspects Re-visit Ynys Enlli

GCA5EAK 9 Usual Suspects Re-visit Ynys Enlli Event by 9 Usual Suspects

Firstly we would like to Thank everyone who attended and making another fun 9US adventure.

After a week of very good weather and a good forecast for the weekend we were shocked when Pete picked up the message to confirm our sailing that there was some doubt in it taking place. There was high winds forecast for the afternoon, the 9.30 crossing was going ahead as planned but we had to call back at 8am when a more accurate assessment of the weather could be made. With FfiLli travelling on the 9.30 boat the event would have at least one attendee! At 8.02am we gathered around Petes phone to hear that we were in luck the boat was sailing as planned but to be prepared for ‘very wet crossings’.

The weather made for some ‘interesting’ crossings, especially the return journey where I think we all got very wet apart from Captain Colin and Bryan who managed to secure the only dry standing spot on the boat!

The highlight of the outward journey was getting close to the puffins, guillemots and other sea birds. On our arrival we headed to the cafe to set up the event, here we found the other 3 attendees who had arrived on the earlier boats enjoying the offerings of the cafe. During our four hour stay there was lots of comings and goings from our base at the cafe as everyone called in for refreshments as they explored the island, found the Ad Labs and caches. The breezy sunshine ensured we all dried very quickly.

For our return journey the breeze had developed into quite a strong wind making for some choppy seas and lots of spray soaking us all. Once in the shelter of the mainland the sea calmed and the boat stopped bouncing as the waves subsided. On our way out we had all commented on the large sea cave not ever expecting to get close let alone enter, but now on flat water, in we went. Amazing rock formations and such clear water, what a treat!

After thanking and paying Captain Colin we all headed up the hill to the carpark before finishing the cake and heading home. Just a fabulous day out.

Souvenir Challenges

Mays Wheel of Challenges finishes on Monday June 4th, so there is only a few days left to gain the 1,000 points to earn both souvenirs.

Junes Wheel of Challenges starts on Monday 5th June and runs until Sunday 2nd July. This challenge is all about seeing how many days you can get outside and find a geocache. There are three new souvenirs for easy, medium, or hard levels of the challenge.

Earn the easy souvenir for this month by logging a find on five different days. Earn the medium souvenir for this month by logging a find on ten different days. Earn the hard souvenir for this month by logging a find on 20 different days.

News & New Caches 84

Two new caches and an Adventure Lab have been published just in time for the Easter break.

GCA6MZR Saron: Rest & Reflect by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5

Premium Member Only

GCA6J8X Mackenzie Pier by Glaslyn1 Multi D2.5/T2

Adventure Lab
Ynys Llanddwyn/Llanddwyn Island created by RichieBlod 5 locations nonsequential

This Adventure Lab is based upon the legend of Saint Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers and a little history of the beautiful isle.

Event Reminder

GCA5MYF CITO 2023 Season 1, Let’s Make Spaces for Wildlife by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Friday 7^th April, 2023 (Good Friday)
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle, Caernarfon LL54 6BB
Time: 2.00-4.00pm

GIFF Returns in 2023

This year sees the 10 anniversary of Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF), it began in 2013 as part of the annual Geocaching Block Party held at Geocaching HQ, in Seattle. The finalist films were screened in a park near HQ and it was a huge success. This event was successfully repeated again in 2014, but in 2015 awful wet weather forced the outdoor event to be cancelled. With the finalist films ready to be shown an alternative plan was made and the film festival was released to geocachers across the world to be shown at GIFF events. This was very popular with geocaching community with 449 GIFF events hosted in 46 different countries, one of those events was hosted by 9 Usual Suspects at Witch’s Brew, Pwllheli. Since then GIFF has become an annual event in 9US’s calendar.

There was no film festival in 2022 due to HQ focusing on the 20th anniversary celebrations that had to be deferred from 2020 due to Covid 19.

To mark this special anniversary year gold has been chosen for the colour of GIFF 2023. The GIFF 2023 Souvenir will be available to anyone attending an official GIFF Event from Thursday, November 9th to Sunday, November 19th. 9 Usual Suspects will be hosting their event on Sunday 19th, venue yet to be confirmed.

Have you ever fancied making a film? GIFF 2023 may be the time to make your red carpet debut……
The deadline for submitting a film for this years GIFF is August 3rd.

GCA31ZX 9 Usual Suspects Present Ski Sunday by 9 Usual Suspects

Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle LL54 6BB
When: Sunday 15th January, 2023
Time: 2-4.15pm or the last person leaves……

The Cache Bar will be open, hot drinks available all afternoon and fondue will be on the menu.

GCA3214 9 Usual Suspects Say Hello 2023 by 9 Usual Suspects

Where: Ty Coch Inn, Porthdinllaen, Morfa Nefyn, Gwynedd LL53 6DB
When: Sunday 1st January, 2023
Time: 12.30-1.30pm or when the last person leaves

Please note the Ty Coch does not open until 12pm, food is only available until 2.30pm and there is no table reservations.

Time	Type	Height
03:29	low	0.86m
09:03	high	5.2m
15:55	low	0.42m
21:37	high	5.06m

Tag: Event