Hi fellow 'cachers,
Just wondering if anyone is keen on helping to set up a Little Quest Wales, in the similar spirit to Little Quest England? Wales is, of course, perfect 'caching country.
Little Quest England takes 'cachers on a tour of the Ceremonial Counties of England which depending on how you count them is 46 to 48; all leading to a final quest 'cache site - basically, it's a massive long term multicache. Sadly, I've only collected one, so have a very long way to go.
The idea is to set up one 'cache per county, in a spot that is possibly historically, geographically, or symbolically special about that county. All these 'caches have a number or other clue pointing to a final 'cache location. So if we are to set it up, which counties do we choose? I think we have three options:-
(1) Preserved Counties of Wales
The preserved counties of Wales are the current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. They are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996.
Obviously, it'd the quickest to set up, easiest to manage and the dullest overall! There are only 8:
Clwyd
Dyfed
Gwent
Gwynedd
Mid Glamorgan (Morgannwg Ganol)
Powys
South Glamorgan (De Morgannwg)
West Glamorgan (Gorllewin Morgannwg)
(2) Historic Counties of Wales
The historic counties of Wales are sub-divisions of Wales. They were used for various functions for several hundred years, but have been largely superseded by contemporary sub-national divisions, some of which bear some limited similarity to the historic entities in name and extent. They are alternatively known as ancient counties.
This is the nearest parallel to Little Quest England, and expands the list to 13 counties (still manageable):-
Anglesey (Sir Fôn)
Brecknockshire (Sir Frycheiniog)
Caernarfonshire (Sir Gaernarfon)
Cardiganshire (Sir Aberteifi or Ceredigion)
Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin or Sir Gâr)
Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych)
Flintshire (Sir y Fflint)
Glamorganshire (Sir Forgannwg or Morgannwg)
Merionethshire (Sir Feirionnydd or Meirionnydd)
Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy)
Montgomeryshire (Sir Drefaldwyn)
Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro)
Radnorshire (Sir Faesyfed).
(3) Principal ares of Wales
For local government purposes, Wales has since 1 April 1996 been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas.
This is overstepping the mark I think, by including all the current local government areas in Wales. Sadly, it places the three historical counties of Brecon, Monty & Radnor in Powys; concentrating government in higher populated areas - thereby limiting some geographical choices in the entire challenge by concentrating them elsewhere. It expands the list up to 22 though, so a bigger challenge:-
Blaenau Gwent
Bridgend (Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr)
Caerphilly (Caerffili)
Cardiff (Caerdydd)
Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin)
Ceredigion
Conwy
Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych)
Flintshire (Sir y Fflint)
Gwynedd
Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn)
Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful)
Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy)
Neath Port Talbot (Castell-nedd Port Talbot)
Newport (Casnewydd)
Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro)
Powys
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Swansea (Abertawe)
Torfaen (Tor-faen)
Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg)
Wrexham (Wrecsam)
To be honest, I've not even set a 'cache myself yet, so am not necessarily putting myself up to lead the project. I'm really trying to spark ideas and interest. Geographically, I'd be up for Montgomeryshire/Powys. Any thoughts?