The Hole-in-the-wall Gang

Well done from us too

Well done

I believe that the males and the workers die off when the temperature drops in winter leaving the Queen who goes elsewhere to hibernate ( behind tree bark etc ). The nest is never re-inhabited.

This is a good reason to carry a topical antihistamine cream / spray when out caching ( good for nettle stings as well ) . I would agree that you should place a warning on the cache sheet. It would seem an unfortunate course of action to destroy an inhabited wasp nest that was not in a human inhabited area. Partly because they do some useful work in preying on other insects that cause more widespread damage and partly because there might be 4000 wasps in a nest come summer time and it would be unwise to agravate them without protective clothing . In any event the wasps will abandon the nest at the end of Autumn. I know that no-one had mentioned destroying this particular nest so I was just commenting in general

Good work Jim. It seems like the FC are slowly accepting Geocaching on land that they manage. Let hope that the word spreads internally.

Bluetooth transmits at a maximum power of 0.1 watts and only does so for a small proportion of the time even if there is an open serial port connection. consequently, the heating effect on your skin is negligible. It is almost certainly not due to RF burns which would require several watts continuous power before you noticed any heating effects. Perhaps you are seeing some hypo allergic reaction to holding the device in your hand or maybe the pressure of holding it in your hand has caused an irritation ?

duplicate post

Excellent acheivement Ann & Brian

I also have a dialogue in place with FC regarding placing a cache on their land in Collingbourne woods in Wiltshire, I have been speaking to a forest ranger at their Marlborough office who has been quite positive in his response however he has been obliged to pass on my requests to the Forest of Dean office which is the administrative authority covering Wilts. They have not responded yet and a follow up call to The Forest Ranger has indicated that they are "considering their policy towards geocaching" and that it was "waiting in a pile to be dealt with". My initial approach was at the end of April which subsequently included sending a set of information which included information on what I specifically wanted to do, Dave's (Mancunian Pyrocacher) introduction letter, CITO info, GAGB, the Hampshire county council policy and the FCC north Wales policy. My last conversation was at the beginning of June. I am taking a patient approach to this and hope that they will be able to find the time to formulate their response. It seems that the Forest Rangers are positive about geocaching and CITO but the FC management are being cautious. I have also had pointed out to me, a Government Draft Consultation paper defining the e-government priority services for 2005 which includes the line; "Direct promotion of, and initiatives around, healthier lifestyles (e.g. information and downloadable / interactive maps for local cycle and walking routes, geocaching initiatives)." It is my intention to send a copy of this document to the FC at Forest of Dean office to further strengthen our case as this is a tacit indication that the government is aware of and positive towards geocaching. Of course, I will be sure to relay any response I receive. Cheers, John -------------------- Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy. Isaac Newton.

Nice one Marc edit SP.

Also from a parent's perspective; a rating of 5 is and has been a clear warning to us not to take our young children on that cache and to take care ourselves. However, if a cache has a low rating then perhaps it is more pertinent to warn of hazards. Personnally, I would appreciate if a cache page warns of any risk that may not be obvious. This might be a warning about an unfenced deep hole, quarry, half fallen tree being held up by a branch etc. We know that the countryside holds risks but it doesn't hurt to have advanced warning of any potential pitfalls. One of our caches which is a 2 terrain rating warns of a wobbly stile that has to be crossed. Not much of a risk I know but I wouldn't like to be the one crossing the fence when it gave way Cheers, John

Well done guys

Well done to the Esscafe girls who were 1st to find our Physician's Stone cache yesterday which was their 301st find. Way to go ...

Way to go .....

Mighty fine piece of work

As mentioned, there are plenty of great caches around Romsey. Also, if you travel north towards Andover (20mins) there are some more nice caches, Quantum Leap Part 1 is a really great Multi and is in a nice location ( our kids really enjoyed it ), also The Cockatrice is in a really nice location where you can paddle in the stream on a warm day. Buryed Treasure ( one of ours ) is a short walk in an interesting location. There are plenty more great ones around the area. Hope you have a nice holiday, John.

Seems like a good idea . We'll be accessability info to our caches.

I suspect that if commercial organisations were to get actively involved in geocaching then we may find that they would want to control it more and more just like large corporations do in other sports. They would inevitably require 'more bang for their buck' as they pursue sales generated by this form of marketing and so would do what is right for them rather than what is right for geocachers. I guess that we might see that geocaching would be come less of an environmentally aware, friendly pastime where we have some fun and enjoy the countryside and instead could tend towards becoming a materialistic pursuit where our greed may overcome our altruistic side. I'm not entirely a luddite and can see a place for sensible commercially sponsered caches but only if it really is for the good of the whole caching population rather than for the lucky few who find the 'golden ticket'.

Photo 24 is James and myself from The Hole-in-the-wall Gang. Cheers, John

If you are running MemoryMAp Nav you can put a mark down and then in (Menu , overlay, settings ) switch the position format from D M.M to BNG. Not sure if fugawi works like this ?

Remind me never to creep up on you in the woods John Might I suggest that if you are concerened about being alone that you consider getting a dog Perhaps a neighbour or friend might lend you their dog if you weren't prepared to take one on full time.

Thanks Daisy& Me that works just fine

I've just started using this myself and can confirm that it is pretty good , however I can't see a way to search for caches near a location. Can anyone advise ?

Well done from us too Andy

Nice one Stuey We'll be staying down your way at the end of August so hope to take in some of your caches.