+Graculus Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 There has been discussion in the Facebook Reviewers Tea Bar about whether Somerset should be in the South West Region or Southern Region. I've created a poll inviting your vote and comments in the GAGB forum here. Please go and have a look and vote Thanks Chris Graculus Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk Geocaching.com Knowledge Books Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) The GAGB forums seem down at the moment Edit: It's back up. A gerbil hiccup? Edited January 25, 2011 by Simply Paul Quote Link to comment
+Mad H@ter Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Being the instigator of the discussion in the tea room, I thought that I would just add a little to the OP. I have no real problem as to which region Somerset sits in, although SW does seem more appropriate, what we need is for consistency in the application of the region otherwise it becomes a pointless (some may think it is anyway []) requirement on listings. The vast majority of caches placed in Somerset (and surrounding areas) have been categorised as being in the SW despite actually being in the South, so it seems that the majority of cache hiders have made a decision. So once the vote has been completed and therefore a majority (of voters) agreement reached will the regional boundary be policed at review time? If not the vote IMHO will be pointless and the status quo will remain. Quote Link to comment
+Graculus Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) Will it be policed? When I reviewed the South West just about every Somerset cache was listed in the SW. This meant I had to edit the page to change it to Southern, post a reviewer note to advise the owner I'd done that then publish the cache. Or I could disable the cache with a reviewer note asking the owner to make the change and submit the cache again for review. It meant a lot of extra work. Clearly people of Somerset (and Bristol/Bath) all think they are South West so in the end I let them stay that way. Unfortunately there is no 'flag' that pops up to say where a cache actually is when we review it. I've lived in the West country for many years so know it quite well and generally can work out which county a cache is in. If I'm not sure I check Google maps. I change the obvious Wiltshire/Dorset ones to Southern. Some will obviously get missed but they do get checked. So, to avoid having to tell all the Somersetshire people they are really in Southern England and to avoid extra work for us it makes sense to me for Somerset to 'move' and the regional map be updated. The poll was to see whether Bristol/Bath should also be included. Personally I don't think Dorset or Wiltshire fit in South West as both counties extend a long way Eastwards but I included them to see what people thought. Chris Graculus Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk Geocaching.com Knowledge Books Edited January 25, 2011 by Graculus Quote Link to comment
+SaltercreaseRangers Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) GAGB offline - but happy to read that Somerset will be listed in the Southwest If you grew up watching Gus Honeybun on ITV then you're in the Southwest Relive the golden age of TV here Edited January 26, 2011 by SaltercreaseRangers Quote Link to comment
+smstext Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 SW, but funnily enough ive found many shops class their swindon shops as being southwest too. just look at it this way somerset scrumpy is made in the southwest Quote Link to comment
+keehotee Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Lots of people seem to have voted Bristol into the South West - but how many of them actually live in or near Bristol or the South West? I'm from the South West, but now live just outside Bristol - and they are poles apart. Geographically you might just squeeze that part of modern Bristol south of the Avon into the South West via North Somerset. But historically, politically and socially Bristol is not part of "the south west". It's WEST - along with South Glos, and Gloucestershire (of which it used to be a part). Unfortunately the situation as it stands is muddied by having to choose from South West, South, and West Midlands - none of which really apply - hence the use of south west by most people in Bristol as the "least wrong" option! Rather than move Bristol into yet another wrong category, can't we have the West Country for Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, BANES and South Glos - where they belong? Quote Link to comment
+Hampk Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 My gut feeling, having been born in Devon, brought up in Dorset, and spent a couple of years living in Somerset, is that they are all part of the South West. Or indeed, the West Country Dorset, Devon, Somerset - the accents are all very similar. Hampshire, Wiltshire? Bit different.. Mind you, I live in Stoke-on-Trent now - perhaps best to not mention accents Quote Link to comment
+Gushoneybun Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 GAGB offline - but happy to read that Somerset will be listed in the Southwest If you grew up watching Gus Honeybun on ITV then you're in the Southwest Relive the golden age of TV here I have been to Cornwall on holiday but otherwise have no connections to the SW, assuming that was aimed at me:D Quote Link to comment
+SaltercreaseRangers Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) GAGB offline - but happy to read that Somerset will be listed in the Southwest If you grew up watching Gus Honeybun on ITV then you're in the Southwest Relive the golden age of TV here I have been to Cornwall on holiday but otherwise have no connections to the SW, assuming that was aimed at me:D not intentionally - can you please push the Magic Button ? Edited January 27, 2011 by SaltercreaseRangers Quote Link to comment
+redsox_mark Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I'm in Bath, and I consider it South West (and voted that way). (West Country would also be OK). Certainly when I see the choice today of "South West England" or "Southern England", I want to choose South West. Quote Link to comment
+Guanajuato Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hampshire, Wiltshire? Bit different.. Having lived in Basingstoke for 4 years (I got let out for good behaviour) and a sister on the hants/wilts border, I can but agree! Quote Link to comment
+FollowMeChaps Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Unable to vote as I can't sign into the GB site (again). I live there and having spent most of my working life in the region I can say that Somerset is certainly well within the SW which is why I always mark my caches as being there. The SW includes Glos', Wilts', Dorset and all points SW of them. It is so politically, culturally, organisationally, economically, etc.. For Groundspeak to think it knows better and come to another definition is just plain daft. Why don't we stop playing politics and start playing geocaching. Quote Link to comment
+redsox_mark Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I think the problem is the existence of the geo-region "Southern England". I suspect very few people in the south of England, given the current choice of - South East England - Southern England - South West England Would pick "Southern England" as where they live. If you get rid of "Southern England" then you can use the map FollowMeChaps has shown, and I think most people would be happy. I say most, as there will always be some exception... Quote Link to comment
Deceangi Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Unable to vote as I can't sign into the GB site (again). I live there and having spent most of my working life in the region I can say that Somerset is certainly well within the SW which is why I always mark my caches as being there. The SW includes Glos', Wilts', Dorset and all points SW of them. It is so politically, culturally, organisationally, economically, etc.. For Groundspeak to think it knows better and come to another definition is just plain daft. Why don't we stop playing politics and start playing geocaching. My Bold above Groundspeak implemented the list given to them by the then UK Reviewers. The current query is being made one of the UK Reviewers about a possible change in the boundary (something which again does not have anything to do with Groundspeak) in response to cachers in Somerset already voting with their keyboards. The reason we went for regions and not counties is that there is currently 3 Lists Historic (pre 1974 and which have no relation to modern practices, for example Flintshire in Wales was in 2 parts divided by another county) Ceremonial which are not widely used, and political which are regularly messed around with (1974,1996, 2009) so which do you go with there? Wales with artificially created 14 Administrative areas or the current Wales with 22 Counties (but with which part of Historic Flintshire is in Wrexham) oh and the now current Cheshire split into 2 (2009) After extensive discussions the UK Reviewers at that time, decided to go with Regions instead. So instead of a drop down list that bears no relation to fact of around 150 names. We ended up with 14 Regions. No it's not perfect, but it's a workable solution. And is one which will not be affected by by any UK Government rearrangement of the Counties list. Being a born and bred Mancunian, I was born and raised in Lancashire, come 1974 and The Government decided to create Greater Manchester as a County, move forward to 1996 and Greater Manchester as a County Council is dissolved and the power passed to the local councils jointly. So if we'd gone for Counties, I'd say Mancunians would have a right to list caches under Lancashire, despite Greater Manchester being listed, or would it? Remember the Historic list after all states that Greater Manchester does not exist. The dropping of Humber from Yorkshire and Humberside, was a simple name change within the Database Fields, Groundspeak have already stated that they can not add or delete Regions for the UK. The tweaking of the Region boundaries is something strictly for the UK Community to resolve. Clarification I'm the only current UK Reviewer who was involved in the discussion in regards to Counties versus Regions. There are KML file downloads available showing the boundaries of the Regions if anyone is not sure or needs it Deci Quote Link to comment
+FollowMeChaps Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 .....After extensive discussions the UK Reviewers at that time, decided to go with Regions instead. Exactly my point. It shouldn't be the UK Reviewers even with the very limited consultation of the forum when there are nationally agreed regions already in place. No it's not perfect, but it's a workable solution. And is one which will not be affected by by any UK Government rearrangement of the Counties list.How's that, given a region uses the county borders - any change WILL effect it. Quote Link to comment
+Slogger007 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 As the Government view Wiltshire as being in the South West, as do most Wiltshire people, I believe that is where it should be classified. Why does geocaching feel the need to re-write regions? Even the EEC hasn't tried to do that! Also surely this is a question that should be determined by the relevant locals for each county. I have no interest in determining where Oxfordshire should reside, or even Humberside, so this question should be determined by those that live in Somerset / Bristol / Wiltshire and Dorset. Quote Link to comment
+FancoverFive Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Well, I've always assumed I was in the 'West' going by the BBC regions - here in North Wiltshire we get 'Points West', people down in Cornwall and Devon get 'Spotlight' (for the South West) and down in Salisbury they receive 'South Today' (for the South). So I consider myself neither in the South nor the South West, but "South West" is, literally speaking, closer to "West" than "South" is. Quote Link to comment
+abanazar Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I live in Wiltshire. FWIW I voted SW. I think I have also, wrongly, selected SW when hiding some/all my caches. But to be honest, I've never paid much attention to that particular field, since I've never used it when finding, querying, or hiding (apart from having to fill it in of course). If I learnt that it was an important field, I might pay more attention to it. I always assumed that the Reviewer would pull me up if it was critical and I set it wrongly. To be honest, when filling out the Hide-A-Cache form, I've always found it ironic that a game based on accurate GPS coordinates has to ask me for an arbitrary geographical region. Surely "the system" knows exactly where my coordinates are pointing, and could e.g. automatically route it to the correct Reviewer (if that is one of its uses) Quote Link to comment
+drsolly Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Could we have independence for Bucks? The Bucks Liberation Organisation has a huge membership and growing. Quote Link to comment
+Wavvy Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Could we have independence for Bucks? The Bucks Liberation Organisation has a huge membership and growing. Seconded. Quote Link to comment
+thekennelat79 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Please don't mention Home Rule for the Isle of Wight! Quote Link to comment
+SaltercreaseRangers Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Long live the Peoples Republic of Cornwall !! Quote Link to comment
+Hellspaw Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 (edited) I have caches in Wiltshire on the border area with Somerset which up until recently have always been accepted as South West and my Berkshire ones as Southern. The AA always refer to Wiltshire as the Southwest. I quite like the distinction Edited February 24, 2011 by Hellspaw Quote Link to comment
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