How did you first hear about geocaching?

[+The Chaos Crew]

I saw a thread like this a while ago in the general forums, but I’m interested in how my fellow Brits (and Irish peeps ) first discovered the hobby.

 

I originally found out about it via a throwaway mention on an arts and crafts forum I frequent, back in early 2008.

 

But I got to thinking about this yesterday, and I wondered whether I would have discovered it between then and now if I hadn’t noticed (and been sufficiently intrigued to google it) that one little mention back then.

 

My only friends who geocache, are those who I have met through geocaching, and I can’t recall ever seeing it mentioned on the news / on a TV programme etc – other than those programmes I was directed to via this forum eg the Radio 4 programme a few months ago, or the recent quiz show that had some cachers as panellists. I wouldn’t have heard/seen those otherwise.

 

The reason I thought on this yesterday, was that I was sending a Postcrossing postcard, and on the recipient’s profile it said that she and her family go geocaching every weekend.

 

I’m pretty sure that is the first time I have naturally come across a mention of geocaching in all this time.

 

It sometimes feels, because we talk about it amongst ourselves so much, and bring every little media write-up to each others’ attention, that the hobby is so mainstream now. But most “normal” people I talk to still don’t seem to have heard of geocaching. And like I say, apart from seeing that one little mention by chance almost 3 years ago, I think I would also have been blissfully ignorant until reading that Postcrossing profile.

 

It’s such a big part of my life now, we plan most of our weekends around caching, that it’s weird to think that if I hadn’t been browsing that crafting forum that day, and hadn’t spotted that particular post, and hadn’t had the time/inclination to google it….it doesn’t bear thinking about lol

 

So – how did you discover geocaching? And if you had missed that first opportunity, would it have been years like in my case until you came across it again?

[+speakers-corner]

I saw a thread like this a while ago in the general forums, but I’m interested in how my fellow Brits (and Irish peeps ) first discovered the hobby.

 

What about the Welsch and Scots

 

Anyway I found out about Caching when I was visiting my brother in the New Forest. Walking on the heath, he wanted to show me the sub pens there. All of a sudden he vanishes and starts loking around. "What are you looking for?", I ask, nothing was the reply. Look (to my wife), theres a foxhole, "Where?" says my brother and dives in head first. That was my first find without me knowing what a Cache was. After that he explained what Geocaching was and I have been hooked ever since. Been at it now since March 2007 and wont be stopping for a long time.

[Ephemeral Moment]

One of the pupils at the school where I work mentioned it a while back, the teacher he used to cache with has left so I took it up to fill the gap for him

 

We now have a small group who go caching

[+The Chaos Crew]

 

What about the Welsch and Scots

 

 

I was kind of lumping them under the "Brit" banner - sorry to all the proud Welsh, Scottish, and Cornish Independence activists

 

What's a "sub pen"?

[+dogastus]

Well, I came across Geocaching in a most obscure way.

 

Way back in 2003 I was considering buying a new compact camera and I was liking the look of the Canon IXUS400. I did a lot of research and Googling to find out people's experiences with it. One description was from a scientist who was working down in Antartica who used it to record his life down there. He happened to mention that he was going to hide a container in the snow and fill it with a few goodies and a logbook. He called it a Geocache and I assumed it was some sort of time capsule like the people at Blue Peter hid once. Just out of interest, I Googled Geocache and was totally amazed by what I found. What really got me was that there were several of these caches within a couple of miles of where I live - even back then. I was fascinated by this 'underground' activity going on right on my doorstep. I soon had my GPSr on order and will always remember the excitement of seeing the distance going down to zero and finding my first cache. Back then, I wasn't sure if it was just going to be a passing fad that I would get bored with after a few weeks later. Well, here I still am, so it seems to be taking a long time to pass!

[+The Chaos Crew]

Well, I came across Geocaching in a most obscure way.

 

Way back in 2003 I was considering buying a new compact camera and I was liking the look of the Canon IXUS400. I did a lot of research and Googling to find out people's experiences with it. One description was from a scientist who was working down in Antartica who used it to record his life down there. He happened to mention that he was going to hide a container in the snow and fill it with a few goodies and a logbook. He called it a Geocache and I assumed it was some sort of time capsule like the people at Blue Peter hid once. Just out of interest, I Googled Geocache and was totally amazed by what I found. What really got me was that there were several of these caches within a couple of miles of where I live - even back then. I was fascinated by this 'underground' activity going on right on my doorstep. I soon had my GPSr on order and will always remember the excitement of seeing the distance going down to zero and finding my first cache. Back then, I wasn't sure if it was just going to be a passing fad that I would get bored with after a few weeks later. Well, here I still am, so it seems to be taking a long time to pass!

 

I’m actually really envious of those who discovered it early, like yourself dogastus. I wish I had been googling for info on that camera in 2003

[+speakers-corner]

 

What's a "sub pen"?

 

A submarine pen, it was used for bombing practice during the II-world war. It has now been filled in but when standing on top of it you can still see the craters. The Cache was GC115CT - Submarine Pens II it has since been archived.

[+The Chaos Crew]

What's a "sub pen"?

 

A submarine pen, it was used for bombing practice during the II-world war. It has now been filled in but when standing on top of it you can still see the craters. The Cache was GC115CT - Submarine Pens II it has since been archived.

 

oh that sounds interesting - pity the cache has gone

[+HazelS]

I'm a child of Simply Paul (not literally, thenkfully!!)

 

In early 2005, Simply Paul did a Video Diary article on Countryfile, and my Ex Mother in Law saw it and thought it was something we might be interested in as we already had a GPS for walking...

 

We did nothing with the webiste address she noted down for about 3 weeks, but then one Saturday we were bored, and looked it up.... 4 caches that day, and 9 the following, and we were hooked!!

[+redsox_mark]

14 March, 2009. Was visiting some friends in Chicago. We were having breakfast and trying to decide what we were going to do for the day to amuse ourselves. One of my friends said "I know - why don't we go Geocaching". I said "what???" They explained, it sounded fun, and out we went. We found a travel bug in our first cache, and I was hooked, I brought it back to the UK, and found a cache close to home and put it in. Soon after I bought a GPSr, and now I'm addicted.

 

Funny enough, that weekend in March got my friends hooked too. At that time they had been members for about a year, but had only found a handful of caches... it was something they did occasionally, but they were not "hooked". After that weekend, they too became hooked... and so did another friend who also found his first cache with us that weekend.

 

I recently met up with these same friends in Hungary, and went caching with them there; that was fun.

[+The Blorenges]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

 

I was reading an article in a glossy magazine (it might have been Country Walking, or one similar) about Letterboxing on Dartmoor. I'd vaguely heard about it before but it was an interesting article...

 

Right at the end there was a brief addendum, something like "If you're interested in similar treasure hunting activities you may find these links helpful..." One of them was for geocaching.com

 

I was barely computer literate at that time (and I'm not that great at it now!) but I carefully typed in the URL to see what it was all about... and started reading...

 

After a bit I said to MrB (who wasn't MrB then, of course) "Have a look at this geocaching thingy - It's really interesting."

 

He then did the clever stuff of registering on the site. We didn't do much more at that time because we had two children, GPSs were fairly expensive and we were busy enough with other things.

 

We just kept it in the back of our minds.

 

It was another 3 years before we found our first cache and at that time he changed our registered account name (whatever it was - he can't remember) to Blorenge, which was the mountain where we found it. Very shortly afterwards he changed it to The Blorenges because there are two of us.

 

MrsB

Edited October 19, 2010 by The Blorenges

[+dfx]

i first heard about it when a friend told me about it. my first thought was: what a silly idea!

 

(and let's be honest - in a way, it is )

[+abanazar]

#1 Son's Cubs pack went "geocaching" locally one evening last year. #1 Son didn't even go on that trip. I almost ignored the whole notice (OK, so I admit selective reading of some School/Cubs/Clubs notices ), but eventually I googled and thought "Wow, that sounds really cool". I read up on it loads before finally buying an Oregon, but we hadn't even found a cache then. I was pretty sure we'd enjoy it, which is why I skipped the whole entry-level GPSr thing, but it still seemed an expensive risk at the time. Never looked back since though! I too wish I'd been in on it years ago, when it was a bit more secret ! And like you, I have often wondered when, or indeed whether, I would have heard of geocaching between then and now, if it hadn't been for that Cubs trip?

[+paulbarratt]

I was with smurf in a pub when 2 of our mates walked in and plonked a GPS on the table. Smurf perked up and said 'i've got one of those. what are you doing with one?' At which point they produced a printout of a local multi.

 

We forgot it for a month or so but saw it crop up on a couple of those American police dramas. One Google later and we both registered. We picked a multi for our first cache and promptly DNF'd it.

[+drdick&vick]

We had already got a Vista CX for walking purposes and one night when I was looking through the manual I spotted the Geocache Mode, googled it and now the rest is history.

[+Maple Leaf]

I'm a child of Simply Paul (not literally, thenkfully!!)

 

In early 2005, Simply Paul did a Video Diary article on Countryfile, and my Ex Mother in Law saw it and thought it was something we might be interested in as we already had a GPS for walking...

 

We did nothing with the webiste address she noted down for about 3 weeks, but then one Saturday we were bored, and looked it up.... 4 caches that day, and 9 the following, and we were hooked!!

 

Me too! .... although it was Paradiddle that spotted it/recorded it for me.

 

I wonder if he regrets telling me now as our last two years summer holidays have been 'Mega event' related!

[+Seganku]

I was interested in the background of a place called Little Church Rock in the Simonside Hills. I ran an internet search and one the links was for Geocaching.com. I registered straight away but it took me over a year to actually start caching

[+shantz_uk_&_cleverclogs]

I read an article in an in flight magazine on geocaching and as I used to do Letterboxing on Dartmoor some time ago and still enjoy walking thought this was something I could get into. Then as I looked more at the website I realised that caches were set just about everywhere on the globe and beyond, my job takes me to many places and this suits me as a hobby I can do without having to take too much equipment with me on buisness trips.

[+Teacosies]

I was searching the interweb for info on some new boots as I’d decided to lose some weight and worn out the pair I had. I found a reference to it on something or other and thought that sounds interesting. Found the first couple using my car GPS and a week later had a eTrex H from Amazon and have enjoyed finding and even not finding caches ever since. Apart from that is, film pots on 4/4 caches, gestamate coordinates, mag nanos on bridges ( just don't have any luck with em) the list could go on... But that's half the fun, oh and had my 3rd ever FTF today I love this pastime, takes us places we'd never go.

[reelcutter]

Went out with a friend in late 2002 to find three caches which we had to travel quite a distance to get. Got my own gpsr and signed up the following summer. I still use the same gpsr too a good old yellow e-trex.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Long story, short. (Or maybe not!)

 

Once upon a time...

Like September 2004...

 

I was reading someones blog.

Someone commented.

I went to their blog.

She was talking about 'Caching' with her daughter, and told how she found the 'Cache' but couldn't retrieve it, so went home and returned the next day to 'Do the business' with a 'Tool Of The Trade'.

 

Curiosity got the better of me, and after a Google search on 'Caching' found it used a gadget that told you where you were. The same gadget I'd wanted many years ago, but couldn't afford!

(I'm into maps and map reading)

 

Very few caches around, but there was an interesting 'Locationless cache' at the local airfield...

Antonov An-2 GC53D8

 

Registered an account on 27 September 2004

However, before the GPS arrived, Locationless were Archived..

 

In the meantime, found a girlfriend (not with the GPS!) we both enjoyed walking, went off and found one of the local caches, registered -under a joint name- and went from there.

The first cache listed as found, is actually the second cache we found, the first not being 'officially found'.

 

Following a split, and with a new caching name, I'm now just me -despite the 'and' ! -and finding work getting in the way of finding things...

(In the last week I've driven-and been driven- past and unable to stop!!!) loads of caches.

 

The SimplyPaul/Country File was a catalyst to pursuing the 'thing'* further!

 

* 'Thing' -Hobby/Game/Sport/Activity/Pastime/Obsession/etc.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Bear and Ragged

[+zarbi&zarbibird]

We stumbled across geocaching accidently when we found what looked like a little gravestone in the New Forest with a very odd name on. We Googled it when we returned home to reveal it was a virtual cache on geocaching.com and we've been hooked ever since! We keep meaning to look it up and re-find it. Must do that sometime....

[+agentmancuso]

I discovered it through the trigpointing website T:Uk, which used to show nearby caches. I did manage to ignore them for a good few years though..

[+Gushoneybun]

My wife heard about it early 2005 on a forum she visits someone mentioned it, it was just a passing comment that someone had been out caching. We created an account at the time but had neither a GPS or Tomtom in those days so after looking at a couple of caches on line that was pretty much it. I was then issued with a Tomtom at work in 2006 and one weekend we had nothing to do, so came back to geocaching.com, we could not remember our original password so created a new account, we were gushoneybun1 for a couple of years before getting the name from our original account moved onto this one.

[+Original A1]

I saw a thread like this a while ago in the general forums, but I’m interested in how my fellow Brits (and Irish peeps ) first discovered the hobby.

 

What about the Welsch and Scots

 

Anyway I found out about Caching when I was visiting my brother in the New Forest. Walking on the heath, he wanted to show me the sub pens there. All of a sudden he vanishes and starts loking around. "What are you looking for?", I ask, nothing was the reply. Look (to my wife), theres a foxhole, "Where?" says my brother and dives in head first. That was my first find without me knowing what a Cache was. After that he explained what Geocaching was and I have been hooked ever since. Been at it now since March 2007 and wont be stopping for a long time.

Welsh and Scots ARE Brits (along with the English)!

 

I found out about Geocaching through an e-mail which my brother e-mailed me years ago. It looked interesting and I thought I should try it someday, but then forgot about it. Fast forward to last year when I bought a GPS just to get myself out hillwalking more. It had a little button called "Geocaches"...

 

Not so much hillwalking, but certainly lots of walking...

 

[+FantasyRaider]

My eldest Son came to visit me in Wales with his new Blackberry phone in April 2009 and showed me the pre-installed Geocaching app.

We walked 350 feet down the road and found our first cache, walked another 600+ feet in the other direction and found another.

My Son went on to find 10 more caches; I went on to find another 1,050 caches and placed 100+ of my own..... My Son thinks I’m insane!

[+The Other Stu]

How bizarre is this....

 

I was on a "bargain" site, something like hotukdeals or MoneySavingExpert and someone posted up a "bargain eTrex yellow" or something.

 

Someone else said "Well, what would you use that for" and the poster suggested Geocaching. I clicked on the link and joined up because I wanted to find out what was local to me (virtually nothing). A couple of months later, I was in the Florida in a RadioShack and they were selling off a Garmin Geko for $40. So I bought one and the rest is history.....

Edited October 20, 2010 by The Other Stu

[+Jacaru & Wemnog]

CHICKENS!!!

 

We got some hens a couple of years ago, went on a forum to get some information and there was a thread on other hobbies. Someone said, "I go geocaching" No other information so I googled it and became hooked. Had an Etrex HC in hand within a couple of days and it has grown from there.

[+Delta68]

In March 2007, MrsD bought an Etrex so we could record how far we were walking when out with the dogs. She mentioned this a small Yahoo group she was a member of and a member from Scotland asked if she would be using it for Geocaching.

 

One quick Google later she'd found gc.com and registered a username

 

A few days later we went in search of our first cache GCRTJZ armed with a printout and the Etrex. The hint said 'In the base of a large tree' but this made no sense whatsover as the gps was pointing to where we had parked.

After checking a few trees I realised that the co-ords were for an information sign and we had to answer some easy questions.

Yes, our first find was a Multi and we didn't have a clue what that meant.

Well, actually it was number 1 in a series of three so I thought that 'Multi' meant that there were several caches related to each other in some way.

 

We were instantly hooked!

 

Now when we go out caching MrsD uses Oregon 300 and I use a Mio P550 with MemoryMap but the response is so bad that I use an Etrex H to back it up

 

This is our Second Mio (bought secondhand after the first one got soaked and died)

and our third Etrex although it is currently being replaced after falling from a railway bridge!

 

 

Mark

[+a2n]

Several years ago I heard a story on the news about "Letterboxing" and then a followup story on geocaching. I was intrigued, but did not suppose that this was all going on in my area. Then last year when I purchased a GPS for my car, it had a "geocaching" feature and I decided to explore that more. An internet search found Geocaching.com. After typing in my zip code to seek a cache I was absolutely amazed to find pages and pages of cache listings in my area!!! Well, let the fun begin!

I used the travel GPS (Garmin Nuvi) for the first few caching experiences and quickly discovered 2 things: 1. I am really going to like this; and 2. I need a hand-held GPS. So I bought a Delorme pn40 and just love it. I now use the car GPS to travel to locations and then switch to the Delorme for the 'hunt'.

[+The Chaos Crew]

thanks everyone for replying to this thread, it makes fascinating reading.

 

A few of you have mentioned Letterboxing, and I used to do this with my parents when I was younger - and Orienteering with my mum - so geocaching really is a perfect fit (especially given I'm a bit of a tech geek) and I'm kind of surprised / disappointed I didn't find out about it sooner, in a way.

 

Although, that said, it took me a couple of years to really get going with it in earnest due to home circumstances and various other stuff, so I probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything with the knowledge if I had found out about it earlier anyway…

[+T.R.a.M.P.]

Sometime around the beginning of 2005 a collegue at work brought in a yellow Etrex for some reason and all the Engineering dept geeks were interested. "What would you use it for?" seemed to be the most common question - and that was when geocaching was mentioned.

 

A quick sign up on gc.com to find a cache within two miles of home set by our local scout master! We found that one without a GPSr but were soon equipped and the rest is history.

[+Haggis Hunter]

For me it was Firth of Forth's fault. I was at work and was reading the Sunday Post and seen an article that she was interviewed for. I registered that day and found my first cache a few days later, without a GPS. Mrs HH bought me a Garmin Geko 201 for my Christmas and the rest is history.

[Deceangi]

For me it was a article in Computer Active Magazine in mid 2002, on GPS navigation. Which featured a sub article on Geocaching and this strange bloke called Moss trooper

 

One month later and a Yellow Etrex, which was promptly wrapped up by my O/H for Christmas day. Boxing Day I went out caching for the first time. Having a grand choice of 3 caches within 30 miles of Oldham . Found 2, DNF'd one, ended up soaked to skin and even that couldn't put me off continuing.

 

Little did I know when reading that article, I'd now be doing the same job that Moss Trooper was then doing

 

Historical note! Moss Trooper was one of the first UK based Reviewers or Approvers as they where then called.

 

Reading that article changed my life is so many ways , it gave me a huge number of friends, fantastic colleagues and has lead to me have more confidence in public speaking.

 

Deci

[+Andy_and_Alfie]

Had a Garmin Summit for my birthday in May 2005

 

Sat in draw for 5 months wondering what to do with it

 

Read this article in the Independent in Sep 2005

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/...rds-505852.html

 

Found 1st cache a few days later

 

Onwards ....

[+stanolli]

I first heard about it on the forum of a backgammon site I play on and hence I use the same name as there. A few folk were discussing a very difficult puzzle cache in Amsterdam I think. I love puzzles (although not great at them) so I had a look, but was beaten by the language barrier (that's my excuse anyway).

A few months later I was looking for a reason to do some exercise and it hit me that I could run to these places. Now I am addicted.

[+ivanidea]

I've been using gps's since 1995, and was active on the gps based newsgroups.

 

I remember reading about caching, where containers were hidden and co-ordinates were issued. I am sure this was over 10 years ago, and possibly before the error was switched off, and the site which published the coordinates was very basic (this was in the days of dial up - 56k if you were lucky). My nearest cache was about 120 miles away, so I didn't bother, and forgot about it. Most caches were in the USA.

 

November 2007, I was walking the Stiperstones with a group, with my gps clipped to my rucksack to record the walk, when we came across a family, each with their own gps, asking if I was geocaching too?

 

I had to google it when I got back home and saw how many caches there were now, so I registered, and found my first cache on the 1st December 2007.

[+Original A1]

That Clint Witchells who wrote the Independent article looks nerdier than I do (given he's describing caching as "Hide-and-seek for Nerds"). You could tell from the start that he was against it.

 

Oh well - his loss!

 

[Izzy and the Lizard King]

Reading that article changed my life is so many ways , it gave me a huge number of friends, fantastic colleagues and has lead to me have more confidence in public speaking.

 

Not to mention getting dressed up in your little red and white number every winter and giving female geocachers the opportunity to sit on your lap Ho! Ho! Ho!

Edited October 20, 2010 by Izzy and the Lizard King

[Deceangi]

Reading that article changed my life is so many ways , it gave me a huge number of friends, fantastic colleagues and has lead to me have more confidence in public speaking.

 

Not to mention getting dressed up in your little red and white number every winter and giving female geocachers the opportunity to sit on your lap Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

That little red and white number has been retired in favour of a much more slinky number and see eight years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of wearing it

 

Deci

[+NickandAliandEliza]

I had a yellow Etrex and was doing a couple of internet searches with a view to upgrading. Found the G.com website and thought what a sad bunch, but noticed there were a few in Epping Forest close by. Ali suggested we try to find one and so we did. Then we found another one. And then another.........

[+MartyBartfast]

When my father-in-law died in 2004 my mother-in-law gave me a stack of his old Walking mags, one of which had an article on other things you can combine with a good walk, which had about 2 column inches about Geocaching. I had a vague memory of having heard of it before and a quick search showed there were quite a few in Hampshire so an Etrex 'banana' was my Chirstmas present to myself that year and my first DNF was boxing day, I didn't get my first find until a few days later.

[+The QCs]

In March of this year, my 5 year old brought home a magazine from school (Primary Times) that had an article about Geocaching. She browsed it and said it looked good...the rest is history.

 

We both used to be heavily into Triathlons and running, but kids stopped us competing/training as much as we once would have. This seemed a great way to get out and about plus involve the whole family. The 5 year old loves it, the baby now knows how to search under benches and us adults are addicted! We've visited so many places close by that we never knew existed.

[+FantasyRaider]

What a really interesting thread this is!

Never enjoyed reading a thread so much ..... nice one.

[+The Chaos Crew]

In March of this year, my 5 year old brought home a magazine from school (Primary Times) that had an article about Geocaching. She browsed it and said it looked good...the rest is history.

 

We both used to be heavily into Triathlons and running, but kids stopped us competing/training as much as we once would have. This seemed a great way to get out and about plus involve the whole family. The 5 year old loves it, the baby now knows how to search under benches and us adults are addicted! We've visited so many places close by that we never knew existed.

 

Connor brings that home from school too - maybe we should start reading it!

[+frostbitex]

Summer 2009. Had arranged to meet workmate to pass over some paperwork at a layby/picnic area. He was late so had wee walk about killing time and i noticed a pile of rocks in the corner and something just seemed out of place. So had poke about and found this "lunchbox". Inside was a note explaning geocaching and bits+bobs inside. Did`nt think much about it and replaced.

December 2009 and flicking through a copy of the Daily Mail someone had left behind in my van saw a piece on alternative christmas gifts, a gps being one and a description of geocaching. After Googling came across these forums. Liked what i saw but could`nt justify splashing out on a gps. Then couple months later noticed you could input co-ords into my car sat-nav! Not ideal, but got my first 5 finds with it, but by that stage hooked and went out and bought handheld gps!!

[+nevryan]

Like HazelS I saw the video diary on Countryfile, checked for my nearest cache and went for a look. Having found my first one I went on to find 50 with map, compass and streetmap printout before a freind took pity on me and gave me a Garmin GPS12. My sister Gillywig is of course made of sterner stuff and has done over 900 without a GPS. I prefer to go paperless using Garmin GPSMAP 60 Csx with TOPO maps, iPhone for the HTML cache pages and Garmin Nuvi satnav with POI's for the roadwork side of things.

[+*mouse*]

My mum wanted to buy my Dad a GPS as a present for his 60th birthday. Being the techy one in the family I was given the job of researching and buying one for him. While I was googling it, found a couple of references to geocaching. Went out and found one without a gps - knew I'd be hooked. Ended up ordering two - one for me and one for Dad.....

[Surfski1]

Got myself a Garmin Satnav and registered it for the free updates, maps and speed camera data base on Garmin's site and saw a link, Geocaching. I thought what the heck is that? Looked into it and registered a few days later. Next day i loaded the coords to my sat nav and went searching for my first cache on a Hill Fort.

I was immediately hooked!

[+Sue and Bernie]

'twas cycling for us! We bought a GPS for routing us through the quiet lanes of Norfolk on our long bike rides, it eliminated the constant need to stop and refer to a map (twisting roads and high hedges soon confuse).

 

That lead to caching as a destination for our bike rides!

 

We do still use the bikes to get to our caches but these days we have to take them some distance on the car because we've cleared the local area over the years...