The Wombles

I enjoyed reading this thread and was amused to discover that despite being a Charter member, I’m a long way off qualifying for a Bigcall Challenge never mind actually finding one. There are very few Charter members left on this (UK) side of the pond.

I’m getting an error 500 when I try to edit my own cache pages today. I can see the cache pages and enable / disable them, just not edit them. The error message tells me to check twitter, which I did. Twitter has no information.

This doesn’t work for me. When I attempt to use the Streetmap link from a UK cache page then I get the following error message “404 Error for /newmap.srf”

I also have this problem. Can someone please post here when there is a fix or progress?

I am really sad to hear this, I knew John through many mail exchanges over the years although I never had the opportunity to meet in person. He was a genuinely nice person who was always helpful and a real gentleman. My condolences to his family, he was held in high regard by even those who had the briefest of acquaintances with him.

Here's a UK Charter Member checking in (I don't visit the forums very often these days). I certainly considered membership as a donation to start with, we were keen to see geocaching succeed and this was a good way to help that to happen. I used to print every single new cache in England and kept them in a folder which got transferred continuously from house to car!

Matt, I tried to negotiate the Royal Parks. The other two aren't / weren't mine, and it's up to those people to comment if they wish.

I've psoted an update about this on the GAGB forums which can be found here.

There is an update on the negotiations with MoD regarding their geocaching policy on GAGB here.

This is the official announcement of elections for Chairman and committee for the year 2012-2013. Cut off date for being GAGB member and able to vote: Monday 1/10/12 Nominations for chairman open: Wed 17/10/12 Close of nominations for chairman: Weds 24/10/12 Election for chairman: Thurs 1/11/12 – Tues 6/11/12 Nominations for committee open: Thurs 8/11/12 Close of nominations: Thurs 15/11/12 Election of committee: Fri 23/11/12 – Thurs 29/11/12

We recently polled our members on this subject and they voted 136-6 to move to a single database which has now been ratified by the committee. People who are currently Forum Members and not GAGB members (as shown in their forum title or in their profile) will have their accounts locked unless they change to GAGB members before the 1st June 2012. This can be done by contacting upgrade@gagb.org.uk People who do not become GAGB members will still be able to read our public forums as a guest and their previous posts will still be recorded.

Several years ago GAGB was asked to enable non-members to join our forums and therefore to post without becoming GAGB members. This was agreed and resulted in two databases, one recording GAGB membership and another recording forum membership. The use of two databases has resulted in confusion (for example people don’t understand why they can’t vote as GAGB members even though they are forum members if they haven't joined both, and sometimes the incorrect status is shown in forums) and results in an ongoing maintenance overhead to keep records correct. We are now considering moving back to a single database and therefore only allowing members to post in GAGB forums, although our General Forums would remain accessible for all to read. It is interesting to note that GAGB facebook group now has over 500 members and is a very active group. We now invite members to comment on this proposal and vote in this thread. This poll will run for two weeks. Members can view the poll here

I was FTF on this cache (sorry, that's Fifth To Find) and re-reading the page reminded me that this was an enjoyable one. Glad to see older caches being adopted and kept active.

I've requested the contact details and will follow up when I get them.

Results of the election can be read here

GAGB are now running a consultation on Fire Hydrant Signs on the GAGB forum. Please post responses in this thread.

Committee elections end tomororw, please remember to vote.

Voting in the GAGB committee elections starts tomorrow Tuesday 22nd November and runs through to Saturday 26th November. GAGB members can access the voting details here.

Further to Lord Boogie's post, nominations for the committee close tonight and can be found here link to GAGB Voting will take place Tuesday 22nd - Saturday 26th November.

No takers?

Thanks

GAGB has received a request from a land manager in Aberdeenshire for a local cacher to place caches. Details and volunteers in this thread on GAGB please.

No-one there today when I passed this phonebox, and no smoldering remains either. Apparently this suspect package wasn't blown up

Following consultation, the GAGB committee have reviewed the comments and suggestions, and have decided to modify the "Urban" guideline as shown below. One of these changes is to move away from defining "Urban" to focussing on overlooked locations and where finders could be considered suspicious. We are working with ACPO to provide the Police with a process for reviewing suspicious packages which will include online access, mapping tools and ideally cache reference numbers to speed this process. New guideline follows: Caches should be hidden so as to minimise the chance of security alerts, particularly where there is a liklihood of finders being considered suspicious for example where a cache is overlooked by houses / offices / shops / people. When a cache is placed in an overlooked location, the cache owner should help finders avoid being considered suspicious by offering a clear and unambiguous hint on how to retrieve the cache quickly. Cache owners should mark caches externally with the relevant listing site reference (eg GCxxxxxx, OXxxxxxx, or OCxxxxx) wherever the cache is big enough for this to be written externally. This will offer the Police a better way to identify a suspect package as a geocache. Dave GAGB Chairman

Following the Wetherby Bomb scare we – the GAGB committee - have listened to the feedback on the Urban guideline and realised that we should have done this better. We’ve decided to run a consultation period on the new Urban guideline and invite cachers to suggest new wording for the guideline. This consultation will run until Friday night, midnight (BST). Discussions are ongoing with the Police both at the ACPO and individual Police Force level, so further changes may yet become necessary as a result of these discussions. We are also in dialogue with Groundspeak Reviewers. This guideline came from the response to the Wetherby Bomb Scare. A cacher (finder) was reported behaving suspiciously. The Police Force discovered a box wrapped in black tape and the Bomb Squad were called, who dealt with the box. The cacher received a caution. The guideline that we issued last Friday is as follows: “Urban caches should be placed to minimise the chance of security alerts. It is essential that micros and larger are marked externally as a geocache with the relevant listing site reference (eg: GCxxxxxx, OKxxxxxx or OXxxxxxx). Containers larger than 35mm containers should have clear sides to enable inspection without opening. Cache pages must contain the following wording: This cache meets the GAGB Urban Placement Guidelines” The purpose of the guideline is to alert cache hiders to the potential security concerns of placing a cache in an environment with muggles who may become suspicious of cache finders’ behaviour. We have described this as “Urban” and need a definition of Urban, proposals would be very welcome. Early discussions with the Police highlighted the need to have way to identify a cache quickly if it is identified as a suspect package. A listing site reference such as GCxxxxxx, OKxxxxxx or OXxxxxxx is the fastest, most reliable way to do this. Identification of a cache via mapping may also be useful but does require communication between an Officer on the ground and control room of a precise location to identify a cache, and does not cover the physical stages of multi and puzzle caches. A reference would ideally be carried on any container bid enough to carry it, we need to clarify the size of container. The Wetherby cache was deemed suspicious partly because it was covered in black tape and included a cable tie as a handle. This is addressed in the guideline by specifying clear sides for caches large enough to be of concern. However, this has raised questions about how easy it will be to check contents, the size of cache which this should apply to, and how to define this size. The requirement to include a reference to this guideline on cache pages is now being reconsidered by the GAGB committee on the basis that GAGB should make recommendations and not state requirements in guidelines. Such a statement would help draw attention to the guideline so a recommendation to include the guideline is being considered. Comments can be made on identical postings on the GAGB forum, GAGB facebook page or Groundspeak UK forum and will be reviewed by the GAGB committee. On a related note, I would welcome volunteers from Police Officers within the caching community who are willing to become Points of Contact for their Force. Please contact me through my profile. Dave Edwards Chairman GAGB