UK-Wide Multi-cache

March 8, 2007

so where do we start? what do we have to do?

I have caches and caches ready to go :huh:

TOS

March 8, 2007

I was looking at pre '96 or something.

This seems current, but I can't see 30 caches for Scotland being feasible!

Why on earth not? Put me down for Aberdeen City (which is in Grampian along with Aberdeenshire)

:huh:

3.8k · March 8, 2007

How come Pharisee is nabbing Surrey - that's my patch!

I'll put my hand up for West Sussex then.

Because I was too slow to get Bedfordshire and anyway, my wife (MGAS) lives in Surrey but she very rarely visits the forum. It'll probably be hidden under her account...... So there :huh:

2.9k · March 8, 2007

so where do we start? what do we have to do?

I have caches and caches ready to go

TOS

Id guess it would need bookmark list to link them and maybe a consistent theme for page layout etc like the highest caches have.

Would people mind if they were a mix oy types eg puzzle,trad, multi and micro regular large etc.

1.3k · March 8, 2007

Fab Lancs location already agreed.... lock-n-lock ready to go! :huh:

3.9k · March 8, 2007

Old Gimmer and I are meeting up early next week to discuss the technicalities.

My personal feeling is that puzzles are a bad idea, by the very nature of the concept, people may well travel long distances to grab these caches and if you've got a puzzle wrong it hardly seems fair.

March 8, 2007

Sounds a great idea!

Shame my county and all the neighbouring ones are taken!

Edited March 8, 2007 by Berkshire SAR Dogs

1.3k · March 8, 2007

Motorway Mayhems have a webpage - perhaps this is something that would benefit from a similar kind of set up. :huh:

1.6k · March 8, 2007

Why not restrict cache placements to either an offset multi or traditional.

3.8k · March 8, 2007

Old Gimmer and I are meeting up early next week to discuss the technicalities.

My personal feeling is that puzzles are a bad idea, by the very nature of the concept, people may well travel long distances to grab these caches and if you've got a puzzle wrong it hardly seems fair.

Totally agree.... If I get to set one, it'll almost certainly be as straightforward 'Traditional'.

March 8, 2007

Hi everyone.

My proposal seems to have hit a nerve somewhere. Thanks for all the responses. keep them coming.

Thanks for all the offers to place caches, when this gets off the ground.

Already problems are appearing, as I expected. Some already noted are:

1 -Will it be feasible for the whole of the UK? Obviously the highly populated areas will be easy to cover, but how about the less populated such as in Scotland. As I said in my original posting, perhaps several sets of caches can be arranged on regional basis. By this, individuals could bag England, Scotland Wales and Ireland as triumphs in their own right and eventually bring them together as a UK triumph.

2 -What type of cache should we aim for? All the same e.g traditional or should we use all types. I personally favour traditional.

3 -How difficult do we make the caches? Do we put a limit on the Difficulty/Terrain levels? I think that the sheer task of visiting all the caches is, in itself, very difficult without making the individual caches very difficult.

4 -What is the definitive list of counties? The list already published by Rutson is very good (Thanks Ian) and I suggest that this be used, at least at the moment.

5 -What should the series be called, and how should it be presented.? I'm in favour of something like "UK Counties Quest" followed by the county name e.g "UK Counties Quest - West Yorkshire" but this may be too long a title. However having a common title format should automatically ensure that all the cahes appear together in listings. I also think that the page layout should be similar for each county similar to the US style as linked in my original post is good. It allows for all the usual stuff plus an area for info about the county etc. I will try to contact the US organiser to pick their brains and expertise.

6 -Final location? Thanks for the comments. Again this depends on a concensus. I'm inclined to go with the UK central point in Lancashire, (and that is very hard to say for a true Yorkshireman), but regional centres may be appropriate also if we go with the regional idea as in "1"

7 - Who else wants to get involved with the organisation? To be honest, I am only a begnner in Geocaching, and cannot even claim to have come-up with a truly original idea. My experience of actually organising something like this, and knowledge of what is possible is very low. I have already contacted another very experienced cacher in my locality and will be getting together with him to discuss possibilities very soon. But if you feel you can offer help then shout out. We need to do this project as a group.

Further comments appreciated, and carry-on booking the counties.

March 8, 2007

so where do we start? what do we have to do?

I have caches and caches ready to go

TOS

Id guess it would need bookmark list to link them and maybe a consistent theme for page layout etc like the highest caches have.

Would people mind if they were a mix oy types eg puzzle,trad, multi and micro regular large etc.

I agree! We'd also probably need a consistant naming convention so they are easily identified and searched for!

Think it'd be good to avoid puzzles too! Any preferences on difficulty & accessability? I guess they all need to be fairly accessible!

3.9k · March 8, 2007

As for the name, can't use UK if we're including Eire so "British Isles County Challenge"?

No way caches can start being placed yet, there needs to be a coding scheme set up, not to mention some way of retrieving the coords.

My thoughts are a sort of pyramid organisation. Maybe 5-6 regional sub-final caches in England, two in Wales, two in Scotland, 1-2 in NI and err... some in Eire. Each of these sub-finals would need to be found to gain coords for the final, if and when it ever happened!

In fact, given the time that there would be between now and it being found, is it worth even placing the final cache until a team or teams have found a few of the sub-finals?

1.5k · March 8, 2007

Can I just put in another poke at using the name "British Isles" instead of "UK".

That way we can try and organise it in Ireland as well. I think this would work very well if you go for the regional option.

March 8, 2007

My vote would be for traditional.

Is it not a challenge enough finding them all? :huh:

Edited March 8, 2007 by perth pathfinders

March 8, 2007

Lollybob can't post at work but have asked me to bag GREATER MANCHESTER please.

Yayayay!

Thanks Pup......Lock and seal box ready to go too!

March 8, 2007

Personally i'm not sure on the local sub-final caches. If you had limited time in an area and managed to complete that area of the country except for the sub-final cache, it would be a pain to have to travel back in order to do one cache before the final.

3.1k · March 8, 2007

I have 2 "spare" caches ready to go - and Lolly, they're PINK!!

I know crazyL200 Nick has bagsey'd Wirral, so I'll take Cheshire (sorry Bolas!!), since I live 2 miles from Cheshire, and work in Cheshire!!

In fact - most of my caches are in Cheshire, and I already have permission on an ace location!! yay!!

Oh - and Rutson... Wirral is NOT in Merseyside, nor is it in Cheshire - It's one of those odd places, My address is just Wirral... no other county!

Edited March 8, 2007 by HazelS

3.9k · March 8, 2007

Hmmm... that's a fair point. There will be a LOT of work in getting this thing off the ground. I was just thinking it'd be more justifiable if there was a chance it'd be worth it!

2.9k · March 8, 2007

My vote would be for traditional.

Is it not a challenge enough finding them all?

My vote goes to

Traditional regular

I see the american one has a logo

and a bookmark list

March 8, 2007

Can we bagsy Falkirk. We can take Stirling too if no one else wants it, but don't want to be greedy

3.9k · March 8, 2007

I have 2 "spare" caches ready to go - and Lolly, they're PINK!!

I know crazyL200 Nick has bagsey'd Wirral, so I'll take Cheshire (sorry Bolas!!), since I live 2 miles from Cheshire, and work in Cheshire!!

In fact - most of my caches are in Cheshire, and I already have permission on an ace location!! yay!!

Oh - and Rutson... Wirral is NOT in Merseyside, nor is it in Cheshire - It's one of those odd places, My address is just Wirral... no other county!

Crazy L200 said that Wirral is not a county. I understood it was half in Cheshire and Half in Merseyside. Wirral Technical Services Department certainly seems to think it's in Merseyside.

As I said before, counties lists are always controversial, there is not a single list everyone will be happy with.

March 8, 2007

For what it's worth, here's my suggestion for the definition of counties...

Use the HISTORIC counties of ENGLAND, as that's what people tend to identify with.

But use the CURRENT unitary authorities in WALES and SCOTLAND, as these have now become quite established.

or maybe I should get out more....?

Edited March 8, 2007 by Tortoiseshell

March 8, 2007

Fine with me - I too live very close to Cheshire but am pretty much equidistant between Chester and Stafford so Staffordshire suits me too :huh:

I know crazyL200 Nick has bagsey'd Wirral, so I'll take Cheshire (sorry Bolas!!), since I live 2 miles from Cheshire, and work in Cheshire!!

3.9k · March 8, 2007

At the moment, I have CrazyL200 for Merseyside, HazelS for Cheshire and TBH for Staffs. Feel free to shuffle about when folk can agree on whether the Wirral should be a separate entity.

March 8, 2007

Use the HISTORIC counties of ENGLAND

Does this mean Rutland is up for grabs ?

March 8, 2007

Does this mean Rutland is up for grabs ?

I'd like the opportunity to do the Rutland cache please...

J

Sadly not....

Edited March 8, 2007 by Bambography

3.1k · March 8, 2007

Yeah - Wirral really is an odd place...

Technically, I guess, it's Merseyside, but ask the post office, and they say it's not in either Merseyside OR Cheshire...

We like to think we are an entity all of our own!

March 8, 2007

Use the HISTORIC counties of ENGLAND

Does this mean Rutland is up for grabs ?

No, that's been taken.

Hmm, no-one for Greater London yet...

If I were to place one, it'd have to be fairly central... There'll be somewhere to put it, plus it'll give me an excuse to get out this summer. Before I agree, what sort of timescale are we expecting to have this done by?

Edit: Heh, just checked where the centre of Greater London is, and there happens to be a park nearby, and it's cacheless!

Edited March 8, 2007 by Edgemaster

3.9k · March 8, 2007

Well it IS a metropolitan borough council, so has status in it's own right.

As I understand it, The Wirral is Metropolitan borough within the Metropolitan County of Merseyside.

I was brought up in Timperley, which is similarly in Cheshire or Greater Manchester depending on how you look at it. (Technically in the MB of Trafford in the MC of Greater Manchester).

March 8, 2007

Is Essex taken? Does it have to be the middle? I would like to have a go.

Jennie's Mum

March 8, 2007

Well it IS a metropolitan borough council, so has status in it's own right.

As I understand it, The Wirral is Metropolitan borough within the Metropolitan County of Merseyside.

I was brought up in Timperley, which is similarly in Cheshire or Greater Manchester depending on how you look at it. (Technically in the MB of Trafford in the MC of Greater Manchester).

If you use some of the postcodes search facilities, Wirral postcodes come up maimly as Merseyside, but those in the south of the Wirral as Cheshire.

But most folk on the Wirral, prefer to use Wirral as thier address.

It is a Borough not a County, just as many of London suburbs are Boroughs of London.

I guess from a practical point of view, it would be good for Wirral to be counted as a county for this cache series (as it it is a very cache rich area in it's own right) and have the Merseyside cache on the Liverpool side of the river ??

Living on the Wirral, if it's to be the Merseyside cache, I'd place it on the Wirral anyway as it would be closer to home to maintain.

Either way, I don't mind.

Maybe one way of defining the counties would be to use the OS boundaries ??

I'd suggest each cache type should be the placers choice, within reason. If a multi, max two stages, for example, or if a puzzle, something that would easily be solved, without too much research needed. Maybe apply a max rating. Similary for terrain - a max guideline. Otherwise, those that are too difficult will be impossible for some people to get. (I'm thinking of the disabled or less able folk amongst us).

As with Motorway Mayhem, I think a webpage would be a good idea, (but who would maintain and run it etc... etc...) It would help standardise the cache page layouts etc.. by having certain text, background picture etc... available for download. Although, on the other hand, once all the counties are allocated, it would be a simple matter of sending everyone the format.

Judging by the way this idea and thread has taken off, is it possible to pin this one so that it's always at hand for those of us who need it for the disscussion that's bound to go on as things evolve.

March 8, 2007

If we are doing trad English counties I can do West Riding!!!!, failing that North Yorkshire. MaxKim. :huh:

3.9k · March 8, 2007

Will put you down for NY Maxkim, I was going to do WY until I realised the OP lived a couple of miles from me!

And yes, JM, Essex is taken :-(

1.7k · March 8, 2007

Looks like the centre of the UK is near Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire, althought there other centres depending on what method you use to calculate it

You mean here?

3.9k · March 8, 2007

I thought about this for France a couple of weeks ago, but doing all 96 départements would be a bit ambitious, especially as 6 or 7 still have zero caches. I might just e-mail 4 or 5 people around the country and get them to add a bunch of tickets to one of their existing caches.

Still, right now we're doubling our caches every 8-9 months or so. At this rate we'll catch the UK in about 2014...

March 8, 2007

This sounds like a great idea and if it isn't already taken I'll do Ceredigion... If thats already gone then I can do Powys instead as we live on the border of the two... The boxes are ready to go!

If it is a 'British Isles' thing will the Isle of Man be included too?

Al

3.8k · March 8, 2007

I've added this great idea to the GeoX Forum.

For those that don't know that is the OTHER Scottish/Irish forum that allows the English in. Don't worry we are well behaved!!

March 8, 2007

Err... Highland for me??

Actually this should be Inverness - shire, as Highland consists of the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross -shire.........

Edited March 8, 2007 by HighlandNick

March 8, 2007

Where shall the final "Target cache" be located?

I'd say that placing it somewhere near the geographical centre of the UK would be appropriate

Is that donnington park?

March 8, 2007

Whoopie Old Gimmer, as our caching mentor and person responsible for getting us into this, we bagsey NOTTINGHAMSHIRE for sure, and will offer Leicestershire and Lincolnshire as well if need be.

Grand plan.

March 8, 2007

Can anyone give a reference to a definitive list of counties. The harder I look the more confused I get.

At the moment I favour this listing from Wiki. This only covers Engand, I haven't really considered Scotland, Wales and Ireland yet. The advantage, IMHO, of the Wiki list is that it incorporates the metropolitan and smaller areas into a more traditional format, without including places such as Westmorland which appear on some other traditional lists, but sadly no longer exist.

Also, thinking about a collective name for the series I orignally suggested something like "UK Counties Quest". Others since have the word Challenge in their suggested title.

Looking here gives "Quest: noun: A long search for something that is difficult to find, or an attempt to achieve something difficult:". This seems most appropriate, and descriptive to me. The definition for Challenge is:- noun: (the situation of being faced with) something needing great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and which therefore tests a person's ability: Whilst this is also good it doesn't incorporate the idea of the searching aspect of the task. Both the above definitions have been edited slightly.

Edited March 8, 2007 by OldGimmer

March 8, 2007

Hi

I think it's a great idea. I read/watched the development of the US multi with interest.

I'd be happy to do a Cumbrian cache.

Cheers

Martlakes

March 8, 2007

Bambography phoned to tell me about this. We're new to setting caches, but could place one in Northants if it's still available.

Cassie's Crusaders

March 8, 2007

So what are the chances of me completing this on public transport

March 8, 2007

Hand up for Scottish Borders?

March 8, 2007

I'll take Aberdeen

March 8, 2007

Not many caches in Caerphilly, so reckon we could find a place for another one!

We do already have a cache ~ Caerphilly Collection 48 The Accumulator Cache, which if we considered using would definitely have a few more people muttering about W&M caches!!

Seriously, we are not that mean

March 8, 2007

Brilliant idea.

Bags Pembrokeshire.

March 8, 2007

We could also do Wrexham if no-one else closer can do it.

UK-Wide Multi-cache

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