Burgerhead

Fantastic, thank you all for your quick replies. I'll go ahead with it and note that KB section 6 just so the reviewer is happy that it's ok. Thanks for your help! Will.

Aaaagghh - "too close"!

Hi, just a quick question. I have a great idea for a puzzle cache. There is another cache just over 0.1 miles from the coordinates of the actual cache which should be fine, however, the coordinates of the parking place for my cache which would be what is actually published are less than 0.1 miles from the existing cache. So the cache itself will be at least 0.1 miles away from the existing cache, but the the published coordinates for the parking will be too close. Is this ok? A possibility is that I could publish some slightly further away parking coordinates which are available, but this seems a little silly as then everyone who does the cache will end up parking a third of a mile further away than they have to. The other possibility is to just make it a standard cache but this particular location lends itself really well to a puzzle cache with a fun story. Also the location is not really flexible as there is a particular feature of the location that is the whole point of the cache. Thanks for your help! Will.

Yeah I suppose. Maybe multiple categories is a little bit much, but even just an optional one click 5 star rating on the log page would be pretty cool. I see what you mean about Xbox Live, but I bet most people would go that one extra click when they're filling in a log anyway if they felt strongly that a cache was good or bad.

I'm fairly new to geocaching, so maybe I've missed something, but there seems to me to be a better alternative to that suggested in the OP. While it seems fairly obvious that requiring any members to place caches would lead to a surge of poor quality caches, it seems to me from what I read on these forums that there are a reasonable number of low quality caches around anyway. What about incentivising the placement of high quality caches by introducing some kind of favourite points based reward system? The favourites points system is already in place, but as I understand it, it is only used to advertise the fact that a cache is popular and therefore probably a really good cache. But what about taking that a little further and using them to measure how good a hider a particular member is, and reward them for it? At the very simplest level, internet based rewards that could go on a member's profile - something along the lines of: 5 favourite points total: bronze hide medal 10 favourite points total: silver hide medal 25 favourite points total: gold hide medal 50 favourite points total: platinum hide medal 5 favourite points for an individual cache: expert hide medal 5 expert hide medals: master hide medal You could do the same kind of thing with geoachievement coins and pins that are already sold for the finding of geocaches (100 finds, 1000 finds etc). For example the first four medals I listed here could be geocoins of the appropriate colour, with a design incorporating the blue favourites points rosette in the middle with the appropriate number inside it eg a silver geocoin with a rosette in the middle displaying "10". I am sure this kind of thing would at least encourage the placement of high quality caches. Also, it seems to me that while useful, the favourites points are not the most comprehensive way to rate a cache. It would require far more work to integrate this second idea into the website, but what about a review system that could be built into the existing log system, so that when you sign the log, you can rate the cache based on various attributes? I haven't thought too hard about what those attributes might be but for example: Container: 0-5 stars Hiding place: 0-5 stars Views: 0-5 stars So you would click on the appropriate number of stars, and then when you submit your log, these ratings get added to an average that is displayed at the top of the cache page next to where the favourite points are shown. That way cache quality would be far more obvious to geocachers searching for them on the website, and as such it would hopefully motivate people to hide good quality caches as they wouldn't want their cache to have no stars as nobody would bother going looking for it! I appreciate you can just read through the logs to get an idea of what a cache is like, but this would give a a few simple scores that would be displayed at the top of each cache page, as well as in any search lists, and it would make it far more obvious whether a cache was good quality or completely crap! I know I wouldn't want to hide a crap cache if I knew it was going to be rated by everyone who found it, but that's just me, and I wouldn't want to hide a crap cache anyway!

Ah man, found out who the owner was yesterday - it actually turned out to be a lot easier in this instance than I thought it was going to be! Emailed them last night with my request and they replied this morning to say . . . no. Oh well guess I'll just have to start again! Hi Mandy! Yes I have indeed been finding a few of your caches (would be finding more of them if I didn't have so much work to do!) - thank you very much I'm having a lot of fun finding them! The event in August sounds like fun! I've actually got something else pencilled into the diary on the 20th in which case I will be away from Durham, but I am still waiting back to hear from someone about that so I might well be able to come along. I'll let you know when I do.

Thanks for all the help so far! I had indeed checked MAGIC map which didn't help this time, but I did not know about 'definitive maps' - a quick google and I have now emailed my local Rights of Way Officer to see if they can help. It is indeed one of the council's footpaths and I have sent them all of the details so fingers crossed. I will let you know how it pans out. Thanks again!

Hello! I have just started geocaching recently and am eager to place my own cache. I've got some great ideas for a series of caches in the Lakes where my family lives, but that's going to take a little more experience and planning - for now I would just like to place one here in Durham if possible. I have found a lovely spot in a small wood near my house, on a really nice circular walk that has been a favourite from my doorstep for a while, and I would like to place an ammo can there for my first cache. I've had a good long read of all the guidelines etc etc, had a look at a lot of the info on the various UK resources such as follow the arrow and GAGB, and I have trawled through the forum here for useful info on permission. But to be honest I am still completely stumped as I just don't know who owns this piece of land. I have no doubt that whoever they are would have no problem with a cache being placed there - I have found a great spot just off a public footpath where it would be completely concealed and it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. However I have absolutely no clue how to find out who the landowner is! Does 'adequate' permission encompass these kind of assumptions if the landowner is unknown? Of course I would happily remove it if later on it turned out to be a problem but that is hardly the best way to do things. 1. Any advice on how to find out who the landowner is would be much appreciated, though I get the impression it is often all but impossible. 2. Given that the proposed cache would otherwise meet with all of the other requirements, how vital is explicit permission in these circumstances? I don't want to ruffle any feathers, it's just this seems like a bit of a grey area and I imagine I would ruffle more feathers if I just went ahead and placed it and it turned out to be less of a grey area than I thought! I could just put a bit more time into finding another location with a more obvious landowner (park, nature reserve, NT etc) but that would be quite limiting, and this is a great spot (in my opinion!). It's just a little frustrating the only problem being not knowing who to ask! Thanks for your help, Will.