Vimes

Speaking as a fellow Potteries cacher, the prospect of yet another micro in the area fills me with complete apathy. Can I suggest that some thought is put into placing a cache as there really have been some really naff caches in the area lately.

All signed up now, thanks guys

Great idea, count me in. But why the log in using Facebook though? Not everyone uses it.

So you're comparing the passage of millions of feet with perhaps a few dozen vehicles and saying that they are both equally guilty of erosion. Probably so. Thousands of feet a year or a few dozen vehicles. Does one cause any less damage than the other? Just trying to add some perspective. If we are honest 4x4s will always get a bad press. And before I get jumped on, I am a walker and a 4x4 driver.

"Path Erosion in the Lake District Erosion can be defined as the loss or substantial alteration of vegetation and soil structure, due in part to the concentrated pressure of people. This is not just a modern day phenomenon. In 1819 a Lakeland traveller arriving at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Langdale, via Stake Pass from Borrowdale, complained that the route he had just travelled was seriously damaged, worn and in a worse condition than when travelled 10 years previously. Today the Lake District attracts over 12 million visitors per year. This large number of visitors puts the environment under great pressure. It has been estimated that over 10 million people use the National Park’s paths annually. With so many feet pounding these routes, many Lake District paths have become huge open scars, visible from miles away. Eroded paths are not only unsightly, but unpleasant to walk on and can lead to habitat loss as well as damage to the heritage, archaeological and natural history qualities of the area." The above is a quote from a fact sheet from The Lake District National Park Authority. One of many bits of info availiable on FOOTPATH erosion. Just to put a bit of perspective on this, wherever people go, be it on foot, horse or vehicle we will cause damage to the ground we travel over. There are irresponsible 4x4 drivers, horse riders and walkers everywhere, but thankfully they are a minority. Try Googleing " Footpath Erosion" and look at some of the evidence, none of it caused by vehicles.

So should all responsible walkers who wish to walk off road be members of the Ramblers Association too? Why? If it's not too presumptuous a question? I did not say 'should' but unless a member of such an organisation, you would only have access to os mapping which does not have any info on TROs, condition of road, problems previously encountered etc on it, hence 'responsible'. The rules regarding driving off road are completely different to walking so a comparison is not really justified.

Here's an interesting statistic "In the last 10 years, 8 people in Britain have been killed by cows"

All responsible 4x4 owners who wish to drive off road will be a member of an organisation such as The Green Lanes Association ( www.glass-uk.org ). Most, if not all the information required is available here and if not then yes, a call to the council may be necessary. If a right of way that is shown on a map has a Traffic Regulation Order on it then it should have signs to indicate this, unfortunately this isn't always the case, as with footpaths, byways are not always maintained the way they should be.

Apparantly, in the last 10 years, no one has died from an Adder bite in the UK, but 8 people have been killed by cows

Looking forward to this one. If you need any help, Mark, just give me a shout!

The Icon file name has to be identical to the OV2 filename it represents. Had the same prob with one of mine a while back, turns out I'd typed one letter wrong by mistake.

Recent post from Jeremy here.. He's working on it..

Only took 15 mins to get onto the site this time, then got an error when I tried to post this message. What is going on?

Took 20 mins to get onto the site at lunchtime today, just taken nearly 15 at 6.30 in the evening. This certainly isn't the first time. Does anybody have any idea what's being done to rectify this?

Just spent 20 minutes trying to get in to the site, definitely getting worse. Not good

Can't believe no one's mentioned 'Pipkins'...

We'll be heading down there on the Saturday from The Potteries and have a couple of spare seats if anyone is interested.

Ordered 2 silver, hope the order's gone through ok...

Only had my Sportrack Map since Dec04, noticed the cracks after reading this Forum. I have sent mine back to Magellan via the uk distributor with a promise of a replacement in a couple of days. That was 2 weeks ago and still no sign... will keep you all posted as to what happens.