grimpil

Isn't that star shaped? Although I can see your thinking. But no. Read the question carefully.

Complete change of subject & something healthy. Oranges, apples & tomatoes can be described as basically round. Cucumbers, marrows, leeks are kind of long. Pears are - well - pear-shaped. But what fruit or veg might have "triangular" ascribed to it? If no-one gets the answer in the next two days I may then be offline for a week so will return here when I can.

Cheers Marty! I did google after I posted my answer so knew I had it correct but did wonder if this forum had gone on holiday. So I had better come up with a new puzzle . . . . Back shortly.

Not seen any activity on this forum recently but just popped in for a browse & hey! There is a question to which I am pretty sure I know the answer. Fingers firmly crossed. . . . . Arthur?

Isn't it sad that we have become such a nanny society that people can no longer think for themselves without being giving instructions in words of less than 3 syllables in bold capitals & that the "me me me" prevalence overrides consideration of the consequences of their actions. I don't need a reminder on every wrapper not to drop litter.

I picked up a TB last weekend. Hesitated at first as I knew I would not be out caching again for a couple of weeks, but then I would be away on holiday so it would be a good chance to drop it in another area 200 miles away. Being fairly new to this & only having moved on 2 TBs previously on the days that I found them I thought it was only polite towards the owner to say in my log that I was hanging on to the TB & what my intention was. But I notice that in many logs the cacher who picked up a TB but then does not log an drop within a couple of days says nothing beyond having picked up the TB. Seems a little thoughtless to not just write a short sentence to let the owner know what is happening, whether it be collecting, dropping or hanging onto a TB for a short while for whatever reason. The more I read here the more I do wonder where the sense of being part of a community enjoying an interest that is shared on so many levels has perhaps gone. As the people who are active on this forum are only a small minority of the number of cachers out there so cannot imagine how many stray/abandoned TBs there must be in the world. The TB I picked up is now attached to my GPS so there is no way I can forget I have it & will carry it until I find a suitable cache to drop it in.

Dry stone walls (here in UK) serve three main purposes. They define boundaries, confine stock animals & provide habitat for all manner of small creatures - insects, small mammals, frogs, birds. Because they are man made they have an owner, whether a farmer, land owner, local authority etc so if you tamper with them to hide or seek a cache you are effectively trespassing on private property. Walls are not random piles of stone but are built in such a way as to be sturdy, structurally safe & weather resistant being laid to deflect rain from simply washing into the centre loose filled "cavity" between the two skins of the wall. They are strengthened by through stones & by the waller ensuring every stone he places sits firm & works with its neighbours. As someone who helps to repair these traditional structures I know only too well how much damage is caused by one stone being deliberately dislodged from it's carefully structured position & thus affecting several other stones around. Enough disturbance caused by eager cachers hunting for a cache will eventually see a final straw breaking the camel's back. That stone that you did not get quite back into position will be targeted by the next searcher & the rot begins. Meanwhile the further three stones you shifted in your search will likewise start to lose their role in the integrity of the wall. Of course mortared walls with gaps or holes are a different kettle of fish & each such opportunity to hide a cache should be considered individually. But hiding anything in one of our precious dry stone walls is a no-no. Unfortunately we get instances (usually caused by deliberate wanton vandalism) where to stop the structure of the wall becoming unsafe we have to cement on the coping/top stones. Which never looks satisfactory & is a last resort to preserve a wall from collapse.

Perhaps taking photos at/from/around a cache location that enjoys good views, interesting background features etc then uploading to the cache page is another way to show appreciation to the CO. Not only says "hey! I found this great place that I may not have discovered if I wasn't caching" but also shows future cachers why they should maybe head for that spot. As for carrying an actual camera - I find I get into conversation with other people so equipped, but not with phone camera users. Have no sense of inferiority because I use a traditional camera (usually compact zoom, sometimes DSLR). Perhaps I am old fashioned, but am one of those people who hung on to their vinyl music collection & now find myself a trendsetter. When it comes to thanking the CO I even try to say something positive about my DNFs - "great location, nice walk to here, probably me being totally doh! etc". Hiding & maintaning caches is obviously time consuming & at some cost to the CO so any acknowledgement beyond "." is perhaps a bonus.

Good point re mobile logging etc. I am one of those people who use a phone to makes calls, a camera to take photos, a GPS unit for navigating/caching & a desktop PC for typing stuff. One day I might enter the 21st century for real . . . . but somehow have my doubts! Although I did just type this on a tablet. LOL!

I wonder if the difference between logs that just say TFTC & those that are a couple of sentences or more reflects the age of cachers. In these days of text speak & Twitter we seem to have lost the skill of communication beyond minimum expression. I am old enough to have had to write proper thank you letters & I see writing logs to be an extension of that. When auntie had chosen a suitable gift I was taught to appreciate the effort she had made along with the expense. When I log my finds I try to make an individual entry that expresses my thanks for the effort made by the CO. Caching is not a "collect as many smilies as possible & move on" for me - it's primarily adding value to walks I would have done anyway. But it does seem for many to just be a numbers game. Which perhaps generates a "been there, found the cache, moved on, posted quick TFTC" attitude. I often go back to re-read my logs as a reminder of a good day out, so by being more descriptive I am almost writing a journal for my own benefit. And I enjoy reading other logs that have something to say about the places I visited.

Thank you to the script author. just successfully got OS Maps on my screen, as per my other post today.

OK - I am off there now!

Woo! Hoo! I am an incurable mapaholic & am never happier than when I have an OS map in hand. I did purchase OS mapping for my etrex 30x as I just enjoy looking at all the information on the maps when I am out walking & when I have downloaded caches onto the gps they make so much more sense to me than the basic pre-installed map or with the default geocaching background on the website. So when I found this instruction to install OS maps as on-screen background I whooped for joy. BUT then I read the instructions & despaired as I am no techie & am still on the basic science of all this stuff like extensions & plug-ins! However I gave it a go & after a few hiccups it all worked. At first I failed to read the instructions properly & did not install greasemonkey correctly. I am on an old PC on Windows7 & Chrome. I went back & read all the above posts & had a go at installing Tampermonkey. More puzzled staring at the screen but just kept clicking on things. Eventually found my way to the Mapsource field in point 20. Typed in that looooong string of characters & got an error message. Went through it again with a fine tooth comb, replaced a . with a , and bingo! it worked. TIP for the visually challeneged - type it on a word doc first in BIG typeface then copy & paste. So after all that waffle I just came here to say two things 1. give it a go & don't give up 2. a huge THANK YOU to ShammyLevva & everyone else who added comments & tips.

And it's an eleventh hour ding to dodgydaved! MartyB sadly pipped at the post! Yes - The Fossdyke Navigation runs for nearly 18km from Torksey Lock at the River Trent junction to the City of Lincoln.

When I learned of it last year I looked it up on a map & realised I had seen it many years ago on a visit to the area. Had not known then of it's ancient origin. Cannot really give any more clues without giving it away so if no-one gets it I will hand over to MartyB in 24 hours.

Has everyone sailed away? Or are you all up a creek without a paddle? I learned this interesting fact from a quiz last year & it did have almost everyone (including me at the time) stumped, which is probably why I have remembered it. I don't recall seeing Timothy & Pru on this one.

Nope! That was the answer I expected to get. You need to navigate further east & much further back in history.

Cheers Colleda! OK staying with a waterways theme try this one. What/where is the oldest canal in the UK that is still in use?

Trent & Mersey Canal and River Weaver. A remarkable piece of engineering & well worth the ride!

And for those of us who don't give two hoots about promotions, souvenirs or number acquisition it is equally annoying to return from a day out which included finding caches to discover we cannot post the logs in the evening. I wasted an hour entering 3 logs over & over - either they refuse to submit or they duplicate themselves. It is not good enough for paying customers!

So I am not alone. Took me an hour to post 3 logs. Only 17 to go! At least I have finally deleted 2 duplicates. Sigh!

Grr! Trying to log todays finds & either I sit watching things spin round from 5 minutes then my log does not appear. Try again & it suddenly appears twice on the same cache. Now it refuses to delete the duplicate! Had exactly the same problem last weekend. Don't have time to sit & watch paint dry! Is it the site or is it my PC on a go-slow mission?

I had a go at a few earthcaches but will not prioritise them unless one happens to be at a location I am visiting anyway along one of my walking routes. But I do read the details of many ECs on the site as they can be interesting & informative & the COs obviously put in a lot of work to creating them. Of the ones I did find some told me new information about familiar locations & one led me to a place I had walked near dozens of times over decades & was unaware of.

>>>And whom did you pay these 6p per cache to? The people who hid them for your pleasure to find?<<< Cache owners are under no obligation to hide caches & even if they do they are under no obligation to add them to a website so that other people can find them. AFAIK you can submit caches to the website at no cost. Even basic members who do not subscribe can use the facility. My £24.99 is the fee I pay to help make a professional website available to both COs & those who seek to find. I could elect to find as many or as few caches as suits me & the Premium fee gives the widest choice. The more I find the less the cost per cache, although even if I had only found ONE at £24.99 it would still have been good value compared to the gym membership!! And a helluva lot more fun! I hope my pleasure in finding caches is equalled by the pleasure a CO gets from setting a challenge & receiving kudos & feedback from appreciative cachers. Send me full details of a cache for me to find, within a few miles of my home or where I intend to holiday this year (Devon, Lake District, Greece) & I will send you 6p when I find it! I see your net cost over 2 years of free membership has been NIL pence per cache - you deffo got yourself a bargain!

>>>>Curious, what's the incentive for you, as you seem to suggest that the incentive is simply a smiley<<<<< I don't give a monkeys about the number of smileys. Is anyone interested in how many I got? Why would they be? All they do is remind ME of places I have visited & when. Surely it is the people who don't sign the log but post a "found it" online are the ones concerned with how many smilies they achieved. I do see many instances where it seems to be a competiiton as to who can get the most. If someone gets 300 caches in 24 hours am I supposed to be impressed? Sadly not - I just wonder what they missed along the way! The point of geocaching for me is to find the cache & sign the log. BUT I don't go out just to look for caches. They are an added extra to my other activity, not the activity per se. I go out for long walks mainly the objective of which is to enjoy the countryside, the views, interesting places etc etc. Or I visit particular places like parks, gardens, historic monuments, churches. Any caches in the locality are just a bonus, liking hoping to see a deer, an unusual flower, a mushroom etc along the way. Even the point of discovering a nice pub en route is to enjoy a pint of real ale. But I didn't just go out & head for a watering hole as an objective in itself. I have no interest in power trails, drive bys, racking up record numbers in 24 hours etc etc. However if I have spent a few minutes solving the riddle of the hiding place then leaving my name on the bit of paper it is a satisfying bonus on the day - like sinking that pint, smelling that flower or eating that mushroom. Geocaching in isolation is pretty pointless!