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AntarcticMan

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Posts posted by AntarcticMan

    Cachers In Ascot Area?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    Jim, our revered (and retired) postman vaguely remembers them, he thinks. But is also certain that, unless they were cremated, they would most likely finish up in St Michael's, though some one from Lower Village might have frequented South Ascot (All Soul's?)

     

    I think he was a Surveyor - or something similar - and was involved in laying-out the sports field a block or two away, in the 1930's when men were unemployed and put to work on public projects. Sadly their last friend, a Miss Lewis, who was also my Aunts executor is probably long dead now. (I think I may have seen her grave in St Michaels. )

     

    I have a very moving photo of her brother Harry's widow and children. Harry was killed in WW1 and one of the little boys is holding a picture of his dead daddy. I guess all those children are also in their graves now!

     

    I wish I knew more about them - but it may be just too late. Anyway - thanks for your help - much appreciated.

    Cachers In Ascot Area?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    Thanks so much for your trouble. I'm struggling to find her in the Births Marriages and Deaths records, so it would have been a big help to find her actual dates from a gravestone. Its a puzzle, as I have a memory of her executor mentioning a grave stone - so I dodn't think she was cremated and the ashes scattered.

     

    It's amazing what you can find online these days - all I knew about her brother was his name and the fact that he once commanded a submarine in WW1. A quick search online found his service record, a picture of his submarine, and a picture of him taken in 1947 when he was captain of the Ryder Cup Golf team! But all I can find of my Grt Aunt Dorothy is one mention in the 1901 census.

     

    But I must say that Mapsource, Google Earth and my trusty GPS are all proving very useful tools!

     

    Diana Dors was THE British movie star when I was a child. Britains answer to Marilyn Munroe - makes me feel old to think she is dead and buried already!!

     

    Cheers - and thanks again,

     

    Richard

     

    You're right - I've just found it - its at the end of Kiln Lane, off Silwood Rd! I didn't even know of that one.

     

    A colleague has just told me that Diana Dors is also buried there (somewhere near N51 24.129 W0 37.926 - or that end of the cemetary she thinks)

     

     

    Well, I set off today after work to see what I could see. The Municipal cemetery is fairly small so it didn't take long to look round there, unfortunately no sign of any Blackmans. Your waypoint for Diana Dors (whoever she may have been) was quite accurate though.

     

    dianadors.jpg

     

    Then I went to Holy Trinity C of E, Church Road, which is substantially bigger. Alas I could find no Blackmans here either, I may have missed them I suppose, although I did have a good look around, especially in the areas which were from the right era.

     

    So, no smiley for me, just another DNF...

     

    Diana Dors was an actresss and at the hight of her career was classed as another Marilyn Monroe. I thought she was great but obviosly not that great that the young ones cant remember her LOL. The part that has puzzled me on seeing the photo of her grave is why her hubby Alan is not on there?

    When I saw the photo it reminded me of when she did the video with Adam Ant....Prince Charming??? Now I can hear you saying.....who's Adam Ant LOL

     

    Lolly

     

     

    Cachers In Ascot Area?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    You're right - I've just found it - its at the end of Kiln Lane, off Silwood Rd! I didn't even know of that one.

     

    A colleague has just told me that Diana Dors is also buried there (somewhere near N51 24.129 W0 37.926 - or that end of the cemetary she thinks)

     

     

    I also will have a look and, if anyone else gets around to it before I can, don't forget there's the Municipal (I think that's the right word) cemetery at the back of Sunningdale, about 1/2 mile N of the church.

     

    Eckington

    Cachers In Ascot Area?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    Thanks all - I'm very grateful! :bad:

     

    I probably should mention that her husband - Fred Blackman - died sometime in the early 1960's - so she may be in the same grave, dated then and not in the early 80's when she died.

     

    She used to live at 24 Lower Village Rd., and used to cycle to church until she was well into her 70's - so I'd guess she wasn't traveling too far.

    Do You Have A Garmin Street Pilot I3?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    I'm pretty pleased with my I3. I also have a Medion PNA 150 which has a bigger screen and a slightly less irritating voice - but it cost £220, has been back to Medion twice, and the map 'freezes' quite often.

     

    The I3 seems to do the job pretty well- and the interface is amazingly simple and well-thought-out.

     

    But did you know that if yours came with the version 7 maps you can send the little transflash card back to Garmin UK for a free upgrade to ver 8??

     

    I don' t have the details to hand but a quick search on Google should expalin all...

     

    Try searching for 'Freepost Garmin' or look around on www.pocketgpsworld.com

    Cachers In Ascot Area?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    :bad: A bit off-topic, but I wonder if a kind cacher in the Sunninghill or Sunningdale area would be prepared to do me a very big favour??

     

    I live near Cambridge and on a recent trip down to Bristol stopped off in the Ascot area for the first time in 29 years to try and find the grave of my great aunt who died sometime in the early 1980's when I was living in Africa.

     

    I had time to scuttle around two cemeteries, GPSr in hand, All Souls in South Ascot and St Michaels & All Angels in Sunninghill but could find no sign of her grave.

     

    The only other place I can think she could perhaps be is Holy Trinity C of E, Church Road, Sunningdale?

     

    If some kind person would be prepared to have a look around the churchyard for a Dorothy Muriel Blackman (probably with her husband Fred Blackman) - who was born in 1898 and died sometime around 1980 I'd be very much obliged indeed as I don't know when I'm likely to be down that way again.

     

    I'd like one day to pay my respects - but also, the dates on the stone would help me research my family history.

     

    TIA!

     

    AntarcticMan

    Idea For New Cache In Mossel Bay

    in South Africa

    Posted

    BTW I made the coords of the tree:

     

    S34 10.826 E022 08.484

     

    I think this would make an ideal cache for tourists to do, as some of the caches along the Garden Route and elsewhere are a bit of a physical challenge for old f**ts like me! I've had to give up on two recently... <_<

     

    I'm sure there are many other sites of historical interest too - The Hugeonot Memorial in Stellenbosch is one that comes to mind.

     

    (If anyone has emailed me, I'm afraid my home account uis doing strange things and I only see emails that are more than 4 days old!)

    Idea For New Cache In Mossel Bay

    in South Africa

    Posted

    BTW I made the coords of the tree:

     

    S34 10.826 E022 08.484

     

    I think this would make an ideal cache for tourists to do, as some of the caches along the Garden Route and elsewhere are a bit of a physical challenge for old f**ts like me! I've had to give up on two recently... <_<

     

    I'm sure there are many other sites of historical interest too - The Hugeonot Memorial in Stellenbosch is one that comes to mind.

    Idea For New Cache In Mossel Bay

    in South Africa

    Posted

    Here's the text of my idea - no doubt it, and the name, could be improved on!

     

    QUOTE

     

    Worlds Oldest Geocache

     

    In 1500 Pedro de Ataide, Commander of one of Cabral's ships, on his return journey from the east, left a letter of importance in a shoe or iron pot under or near a large tree in Mossel Bay.

     

    In 1501 this letter was found by Joao da Nova, Commander of the Third East India Fleet en route to India. In this way the first Post Office in South Africa was founded. The large tree, a Milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme) has been declared a national monument and is generally known as the Post Office Tree.

     

    It is thought most probable that he buried the message in a container and left an engraved stone as a guide to where it was to be found - something the indigenous people would not have been able to read. (Koisan geo-muggles?)

     

    Only now can we recognise that he also created the worlds first geocache right here in South Africa! Joao da Nova may not have had GPSr in order to find it, but recreations of navigational instruments of the day may be seen in the nearby museum which is well worth a visit.

     

    http://www.diasmuseum.co.za/

    UNQUOTE

     

    I was hoping to do it as a virtual - but it would not be too difficult to hide a small micro on or near the tree itself. I guess ideally one would write to the administrators of the Museum and get there approval/cooperation. Failing which, one could use the date on the plaque to decode the position of an offset cache?

    <_<

    Walkie Talkie?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    I have a pair of cheap (£29) walkie-talkies I got from Maplins. I'm currently in South Africa and was able to speak to my wife at a distance of 12km's - I was on top of Sir Lowry Pass and she was in Somerset West - so this was strictly line of sight. She was able to read the hint to me (I was standing on top of a mountain in a fair old gale) which saved the day!

     

    Very handy gadgets! :D

    Regularity Of Cache Placement

    in South Africa

    Posted

    I've found planting caches can be more fun than finding them...!

     

    In the UK we have the advantage of Ordnance Survey mapping and a small country loaded with history, so it can be a lot of fun finding sites of historical interest simply by scanning local maps etc.

     

    I've done two nice caches in Seapoint recently that had the advantage of some unique history which gave added interest to a place I had often visited (my sister used to live there).

     

    Although I enjoy the occasional challenge, I usually prefer at least some of my caches to be simple and reasonably easy to access, but with some added twist.

     

    Hope you find planting caches as interesting and as much fun as I do!

    Idea For New Cache In Mossel Bay

    in South Africa

    Posted

    I wonder if anyone in or near Mossel Bay would like to create a new cache??

     

    I tried to submit an idea that to me seems a 'natural' (can't imaging why nobody has thought of it already!) But as both a 'virtual' and a 'holiday cache' it had little chance of being approved, (it wasn't) but could be done either as an offset or micro-cache if anyone local was interested?

     

    It involves the idea that the worlds first geocache was in fact created here in South Africa (not the USA) and was planted over 500 years ago... :D

     

    Please email me if you'd like to hear the idea!

    Visiting Somerset West

    in South Africa

    Posted

    Thanks folks.

     

    GSAK is worth a look if you're a premium member, as you can import pocket searches.

     

    eg: I was able to ask for a list of 500 caches within 500kms of Cape Town which I then imported into GSAK.

     

    So I now have all the waypoints and all the crib-notes in my lap-top to take with me. I've also used GSAK to export all the waypoints into mapsource so I can see them on the map. Makes it very easy to see which caches are close to a chosen route for example.

     

    You can also put the crib-notes into a cheap Palm 3 or similar (cost next to nothing on Ebay) and do so-called 'paperless caching' although I've found using it to look stuff up in the field a bit tedius on such a slow machine... But more practical than carrying 500 'cheat sheets' around of course!

     

    As it happens I found a friend who was able to loan me his copy of City Select which I now have in the laptop and the GPS. I see what you mean about its limitations, but still nice to have - wouldn't want to pay that price though, even if I was still living in SA!

     

    Can't wait to get there and get caching! I know at least two of the sites so won't need my GPS - but some of them look quite challenging to say the least!

     

    I've done most of my caching in and around the Fens here in East Anglia - not too many mountains in these parts - I think one of the local caches is only a metre or so above sea-level - and its 100km from the sea!

     

    :blink:

     

    Cheers!

    Visiting Somerset West

    in South Africa

    Posted

    Many thanks Discombob - I''ll be looking out for those. I've got a list of caches in GSAK now and have also ordered the VEZA cd's from the CSIR which I hope will have arrived at my ma-in-laws by the time we arrive. At least they are a bit cheaper than Garmin City Select.... (GBP150 here!)

     

    I've often found that its the geocaching that 'makes' the holiday - getting you to places you wouldn't otherwise see, so I have great hopes for the Cape!

    :rolleyes:

    Visiting Somerset West

    in South Africa

    Posted

    Hi there - I'll be in Somerset West and the Garden Route for a fortnight, starting 9th Jan. Can anyone recommend some good caches to look out for please?

     

    I'm wondering if anyone has Mapsource City Select for SA and might be willing to load up CT area to my Etrex Vista....? Can't afford to buy it for just a short visit!

     

    Cheers,

     

    Richard

    (Ex Jo'burg - From a wintry Cambridge,UK)

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