Dragontree

That would cover things like mining adits and so on. That said, I have sometimes thought that there was nowehere to waymark active tunnels, but then they are often inaccessible or dangerous as a lot don't allow pedestrians (road tunnels, rail tunnels) but it's worth considering. Sometimes they will find a home in other categories, eg: WMDE9A Thames Tunnel Rotherhithe UK (Engineering Landmarks) WMDKJB Rotherhithe Tunnel Tunnel Approach Rotherhithe London UK (Freestanding Arches). WM46FR Greenwich Foot Tunnel Greenwich England UK (Official Local Tourism Attractions),WMDHTG Cattle Creep Cosgrove Northants (UK Historical Markers). WMZ2K Greywell [canal] tunnel eastern portal (Cave entrances artificial) If we take out active road and railway tunnels on safety (and boringness of picture) grounds, and pedestrian underpasses (no wow factor at all), abandoned train tunnels and "Cave Entrances Artificial" (redundancy) ... what are we left with? I was undecided when I started writing this, but I'm erring towards "nay" now. Having thought about it in some depth we have written the following (below), which prooved quite interesting during research. However, we too are erring on the side of 'No' due to the various factors. It's just a shame with the Canal Tunnels etc., but if we decide not to do this we'll pursue what Team Sieni suggests in the other categories and see what happens. We've had a Freestanding Arch declined for having a bit of fencing/low wall attached to it so can't see how that will work for us, but Cave Entrances Artificial might work. Anyway here is what we have written about Tunnels, it is a draft piece of writing, so bear that in mind: MANMADE TUNNELS Mankind has been endeavouring to discover methods of crossing natural obstructions for centuries. We have many types of bridges with various construction designs but when we can not build a bridge we often tunnel through the earth itself, or even under water. There are many tunnels, all vital to our infrastructure and they display some of the most marvellous feats of engineering. This category seeks tunnels which are safely accessible, are not disused railway tunnels and are of some interest. Therefore we are not looking for mundane subways/underpasses. Other tunnels we are not looking for are complete underground networks (such as The Underground), nor mines/caves. Any other tunnels which may fall outside of the category requirements will be considered with the Officers’ vote as the ultimate decision. Category Description: A tunnel is a method to cross an area of land, water or manmade conurbation where a bridge is not appropriate. They have an opening at either end enabling the person, vehicle or animal to traverse from one area to another; these are known as the ingress and egress. Generally a tunnel is longer than its width. As they are manmade passages they normally have a horizontal orientation with a vertical entrance. This is often sealed with a surround and many tunnels are lined with bricks/tiles/concrete etc. Lining techniques include sprayed concrete, steel arches, rock bolts and mesh. However, there are also tunnels which are bored through the earth’s rock and they are left with the exposed rock on display, sometimes with suspended netting to catch any loose rocks which fall. Investigations are always necessary before a tunnel is constructed. These assess the nature of the substrate that is going to be bored, with boreholes and pilot tunnel runs. Ground water is a major factor as is the type of soil or rock; this defines the machinery needed to create the tunnel. A method used to prevent ground water flooding tunnels, is to lay pipes which are cooled until the earth around them freezes, preventing leakage of water through the soil; another common way is to lay pipes and pump water out of the tunnel. The three main types of tunnel construction consist of: Cut and cover tunnels – these are areas of earth which are cut out then covered over once the structure of the tunnel is in place. Bored tunnels – bored through the earth or rock as it is and usually with a circular or horse-shoe cross-section. Immersed tube tunnels – these are tubes or even could be described as large pipes which are buried or sunk beneath water. Manual techniques of tunnelling include Clay-Kicking where an almost silent method of extracting clay was used. This was popular in the Victorian period and was used during the First World War. Today Boring Machines are used as they are fast, effective and automated. An operator still has to renew machinery parts and they rely on balancing the water pressure ahead of the tunnel to create a safe passage. This process replaced the method of using compressed air where the operator had to stay in a decompression chamber to relieve decompression sickness afterwards. Along the route of a tunnel there are often shafts. These are features in our landscape hiding an underground world beneath. Shafts are used to lower boring equipment down into the tunnel so it can be completed. When the tunnel is finished the shafts remain and act as ventilation points; these structures alone are feats of engineering in their own right with their circular, strong design. Tunnels need maintenance and stand-up time is an estimate as to how long the tunnel will stand-up to its purpose; supporting the weight and forces around and on top of it. Bridges are often cheaper to build, but tunnels are hidden, enable the earth to grow above them, can have entire cities above them and can be less easy to destroy in acts of war. They are not influenced by high winds and can cross longer distances. However, they do have their drawbacks such as when there is a fire; where do you escape to? Sometimes a tunnel can have a dual purpose and is built to be a double-deck accommodating both road and rail, or road and canal. They can even avert natural disaster providing an escape for flood water. …………………………………………………….. We are not looking for Subways/Underpasses as these are rated as being unsafe, especially at night, for pedestrians and are not the most salubrious locations. Just to confirm The Free Dictionary defines a Subway as follows: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/subway subway [ˈsʌbˌweɪ] n 1. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) Brit an underground passage or tunnel enabling pedestrians to cross a road, railway, etc. 2. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) an underground passage or tunnel for traffic, electric power supplies, etc. 3. (Transport / Railways) Chiefly US and Canadian an underground railway Other unsuitable locations for Waymarking which we must point out are tunnels used for sewerage, water, electricity and other utilities if access is not public and via a manhole/hatch. We will not accept children’s play area tunnels, these are often just pipes or play equipment covered over. All tunnels/underpasses which pass underneath a bridge/aqueduct, road/railway/canal are not fit for this category. We are interested in locations that are used by us all and are of interest. They must be tunnels which have been placed through the earth itself. Active railway tunnels are welcome here and some of these are the longest and oldest in the world. We can not accept Abandoned Rail Tunnels as these have their own well-established Waymarking category. Canal tunnels, both used and disused are welcome and these provide some of the most accessible and safe locations. Access to the tunnel is often via the canal towpath so photography and co-ordinates are easily obtained. Pedestrian tunnels are acceptable if they were once used for another purpose (except for a railway) and they are not just an ordinary subway/underpass. Underground railway tunnels will only be accepted if they are not part of a continuous network. We do not wish to include the whole London Underground as one waymark, but if there is accessible evidence that the tunnels are broken between the network, then waymark them and provide details of both ends. Other marvels in the tunnelling world include the walk-through tunnels in oceanariums. We are willing to accept these here if details of their construction is included. …………………………………………………………… A list of tunnels in the UK can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tunnels_in_the_United_Kingdom POSTING INSTRUCTIONS Please include an interesting description of your Waymark. Do not access unsafe or illegal locations in order to find a tunnel. Tunnels must be accessible for Waymarkers to visit and take photographs. They can often be seen from bridges, footpaths or from terminals or stations. We will only accept one Waymark per tunnel, so not a separate Waymark for one end and the other end. If a future Waymarker photographs the other end of an already Waymarked tunnel please Visit the tunnel and ask the Waymark owner or category officers to add your details to the Waymark. Include at least two photographs of the tunnel. One must be a close-up of the entrance and the other must be a view of the location with the entrance in the photograph. Use the zoom on your camera to obtain a shot of the entrance of the tunnel. Other pictures are appreciated to give your Waymark an interesting and valuable quality. Pictures of ventilation shafts can add value if these are accessible. Variables: Length Location End 1: Location End 2: etc.

On our trips around the UK we encounter many tunnels. We know there is a category for Abandoned Train Tunnels but could there be a category for other tunnels? There are many unique tunnels which are feats of engineering in their own right. We have come up with an idea thinking along these lines: 'Mankind has been endeavouring to discover methods of crossing natural obstructions for centuries. We have many types of bridges with various construction designs but when we can not build a bridge we often tunnel through the earth itself, or even under water. There are many tunnels, all vital to our infrastructure and they display some of the most marvellous feats of engineering.' This is only an idea at this stage and we would research and do more work on everything if people think it is a good idea. Notable examples of types of tunnels here in the UK are roads under water i.e. Channel Tunnel/Dartford Tunnel; water under rock/earth i.e. Canals; footpaths; cattle creeps. What do people think about this idea as a category? Obviously this would exclude Abandoned Train Tunnels as they have their own category. Dragontree

A very irritating and seemingly ever-increasing feature of logging Finds in the UK is just entering Found and the finder's Caching Name. Is it because of new technology used at GZ? If so, surely something can be added when back at a PC? Even if it was, how much you disliked the cache! Maybe it is just because some new cachers really can't be bothered? Groundspeak - would it be possible to make it a Requirement for that box? I thought at one time an entry was required to activate? What do others think? We feel like Deleting the entry!

A muggle rang us to give notice of the Programme this morning so we were able tune in and record. We thought this was a well presented and compiled view of Geocaching and certainly one of the best media coverages in recent months. Good to hear Alan taking part and gave him a call and he had not been aware of the broadcast time. Tried link but as Graculus says not working yet.

It would seem we are a step nearer a police state where the innocent are persecuted and the guilty seem to live a charmed life with a slap on the wrist. I imagine if there is the opportunity for an Earth Cache to be found in a Royal Park that would also be rejected. The Wildlife Trust who have an anti-caching policy will not permit an Earth Cache of an educational nature on their land. Earth caches require a telephone contact number of the landowner/manager and so they can even ban such caches by not sanctioning one.

Well, having witnessed this event over a considerable timespan in 'quite' close proximity, we can certainly state they deserved the 'Milestone' after today's efforts. We contratulate them for their efforts and keeping such high spirits right to the end . . . well they went off to get a DNF afterwards (sorry our phone was unavoidably off so the PAF didn't work). Congratulations to Dr Solly and Lady Solly and now on to 20,000! . . . and Paul I hope you mean exclusive?

Thanks for your help Guys. At least we know we were doing it correctly so will make a point of passing it on to those around that obviously live on another planet. This string can now end with a successful result!

Living in North Beds we define our Region/State/Province, call what you will, as EASTERN ENGLAND but all around us use a variety of descriptions. i.e. Southern England; South East England; East Midlands. This can be prove very confusing. Therefore, is there a map existing that indicates the split or even a county list for each area? Who can give us a comprehensive answer? Perhaps noone and the confusion will always remain?

I received the following reply from Groundspeak so you can see the action they can take is pretty limited and I have since reported the most recent one. They tend to do about 3 per address and then change. The Premium only one done may well have changed its classification since it was removed but this could be checked with the owner. A report by Watford Wobble indicates that perhaps his may well have gone to another 'firm'. Some of the comments on here do little to help the situation as the people concerned must be reading them and 'having a laugh'. Therefore it might be wise to communicate personally 'off Forum' with any ground breaking suggestions? Dragontree --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Groundspeak: Greetings Dragontree. Thank you for your informative message. We have taken action on those accounts which have been used to log cache thefts. It would not be appropriate for us to act on the other accounts assuming they may be used in a similar manner. We are sorry that caches are being stolen and hope it stops. The physical caches belong to their owners, and we provide no security for physical caches. Even if the identity of someone stealing caches can be determined somehow, our action is limited to enforcing the site's terms of use in the event we have adequate information to show that a violation of the terms of use exists. All behavior has a positive intent - the person stealing the caches has a reason for doing so and gains satisfaction from doing so. For the behavior to stop, either the reason for the behavior or the reward for the behavior needs to be removed. Since physical caches are the property of the cache owner, cache owners have the option of reporting thefts of personal property to the appropriate local police. The fact that the cache thief or thieves leaves messages on cache pages at least alerts the cache owner of the issue. Otherwise, there might be several DNFs before the cache owner would realize that their cache is gone. Sincerely, B--- W---- ---

Recently in Northants and North Beds we have and are experiencing a spate of Cache destruction by a person or persons registering under a variety of names and claiming to be protecting the countryside from our 'environmental trash' which they remove and destroy. Any comments or similar happenings where you are?

Recently in Northants and North Beds we have and are experiencing a spate of Cache destruction by a person or persons registering under a variety of names and claiming to be protecting the countryside from our 'environmental trash' which they remove and destroy. Any comments or similar happenings where you are?

Have recently read the article and agree it is one of the best pro-geocaching articles published. A lot more detail than last Sunday's Countryfile but no Michaela! Nice to see Pharisee get a mention. I think Mrs Grizzly means there were lots of quotes and none got lost!

Just received another 11 blank postings of visits to our caches and those on our Watchlist - What is going on?

: The Blank postings started yesterday and we have had 12 today of all types.

Well done Celia and Glen congratulations on making the target with time to spare. Some say you will now have to take a 'step up' or 'raise' your game for the next ton! AnD

We always consider the honour should go to the Cacher who actually makes the find. Surely it is sufficient reward for the others to log a find that they may not have otherwise been able to?

In Bucks, Beds, Northants and West Cambs we seem to be experiencing a deluge of cash and dash micros for Number Crunchers I presume? The theme seems to be if the there is a Supermarket or a canal bridge stick a micro there! Most are only a short walk and thick with muggles. We like caches that take you to interesting new venues with a nice walk to at least a small cache with swaps, log and disclaimer and room for geocions and TBs. There is nothing better than an interesting multi with a good theme or unusual hide. Most micros don't carry any reference to geocaching and some crave a decent log! We are guilty of completing these micros but they don't give us the same enjoyment other caches do. What views do others have on this subject?

It was all sorted quickly by Taz and WE know the reasons. However, I'm very worried about these 'colleges' ?

Baz has been reading my log re Taz, I presume? Thought you would have beaten me to them!

The two caches to which I referred were not placed, as I stated. Both owners were contacted and the first had published before he had arranged transport to get to the site, I would guess perhaps 20 miles from home. Yesterdays eg was an owner who placed it and then removed it to add some TBs. Why he couldn't bring the TBs to the Cache is beyond me. I suggested to both owners the correct procedure and hoped they would bear in mind for subsequent caches.

Recently I have noted the launch of a cache and travelled some distance to seek and perhaps get a FTF only to find nothing solely because the owner hadn't placed it. This is very annoying and time wasting. Have other cachers encountered this many times as it has happened to me twice in the last couple of months?

Female Dragontree is 27 but poor old male Dragontree is fast approaching 69! Female Dragontree crosses river by using fallen tree trunks but male Dragontree still clambers over the rocks at Durlston Head and lives to tell the tale! (Touch wood!)

We arrived at our name simply as the Dragontree (plant in pot) stands next to the PC so it all came very easily!