Inaccessible waymarks

[Country_Wife]

I've looked in the intro guidelines and I couldn't find anything about this, so I'm asking the more experienced folks for advice.

tha

I recently toured a site that is ordinarily closed to the public; it's a former brewery and brewery gardens. (It was a free tour that was open to members of the general public, for what that's worth.) I got some nice photos and locations of a few interesting waymarks in the old brewery gardens. Is it okay to post waymarks that are not ordinarily accessible? You can probably get a view of all of them through the fence, if that has any bearing on it. One would be mostly hidden behind foliage.

 

The site in question may be reopened to the public in the future; the redevelopment of the brewery is currently under review, and it's hard to guess what may happen, if anything.

Edited August 8, 2012 by Country_Wife

[+Max and 99]

I've looked in the intro guidelines and I couldn't find anything about this, so I'm asking the more experienced folks for advice.

tha

I recently toured a site that is ordinarily closed to the public; it's a former brewery and brewery gardens. (It was a free tour that was open to members of the general public, for what that's worth.) I got some nice photos and locations of a few interesting waymarks in the old brewery gardens. Is it okay to post waymarks that are not ordinarily accessible? You can probably get a view of all of them through the fence, if that has any bearing on it. One would be mostly hidden behind foliage.

 

The site in question may be reopened to the public in the future; the redevelopment of the brewery is currently under review, and it's hard to guess what may happen, if anything.

 

Just fyi, there are SOME categories that state the waymarked item MUST be accessible to the public.

[Country_Wife]

Just fyi, there are SOME categories that state the waymarked item MUST be accessible to the public.

Good tip, thanks! I may have seen some categories with that in the past but ignored i0, because everything I've done so far has been accessible.

[+BruceS]

I have no problem with waymarks that are most of the time inaccessible as long as there is at least some way to visit them whether that is just the annual tour or by making an appointment or whatever and that it is specified in the waymark how or when it can be visited.

Edited August 9, 2012 by BruceS

[+Ianatlarge]

Just on this topic, there are sites that exclude people on the basis of gender, religion, and probably other things I cannot think of. There are, for example, Buddhist sites in Thailand that exclude women. A degree of exclusion is to be expected in our regulated world. Even such minor matters as membership of specific organisations can limit access to a site.

 

There is something of a grey area here. I suggest we continue to blunder on, and if a waymark is at least partially accessible (e.g. you can see it from a distance), at least some of the time, to at least a percentage of waymarkers, then we waymark it.

[+Ianatlarge]

Just on this topic, there are sites that exclude people on the basis of gender, religion, and probably other things I cannot think of. There are, for example, Buddhist sites in Thailand that exclude women. A degree of exclusion is to be expected in our regulated world. Even such minor matters as membership of specific organisations can limit access to a site.

 

There is something of a grey area here. I suggest we continue to blunder on, and if a waymark is at least partially accessible (e.g. you can see it from a distance), at least some of the time, to at least a percentage of waymarkers, then we waymark it.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Not all Brewery's/Distilleries are open to the public.

But there may well be a gate, sign, or somewhere, you can view the premises from.

 

I say go for it, the photos of the 'inside' that may not be visible usually would make a great addition to the Waymark page.

 

(Unless the category specifically does not allow it!)

If in doubt contact the leader of the category, before you do too much work on the Waymark page.

[+Max and 99]

I attempted to visit three waymarks today that were on a military base. I've been to another military base, and knew to expect a request for my driver's license and car info. No problem. I had everything ready.

 

Come to find out (in an unpleasant and embarrassing way), that no way, no how, were we getting on that base unless we had a military I.D. Now I sure wish the waymark page had stated this information, since it would have saved us a trip out there. The waymark DID state that we should expect to show our driver's license, car registration, and insurance at the gate(as we expected), and even told us WHICH gate to enter, but even with those documents, there is NO PUBLIC ACCESS to the waymarks. These are not waymarks you can view from outside the base, so until I join the military I cannot access the cemetery and historical markers located within the base.

 

SO PLEASE if your waymark is only accessible to certain people and/or with certain restrictions, PLEASE clearly state that in the write-up!

Edited August 12, 2012 by Max and 99

[GT.US]

I wouldn't have an issue with someone posting a waymark that was not publicly accessible. More "visits" to a wayamark are online than in person. I would expect that the waymark should clearly state the limitations.

[+silverquill]

There are a lot of areas with limited access of some sort. Time of day, time of year, access fee, memberships, by appointment only, etc. For many categories these restrictions should pose no problems, depending on specific category requirements. If something is posted "no trespassing" or is otherwise blocked to ALL public access, then that is another thing. If one can't get to it to get personally acquired coordinates and take close-up photos, then the waymark can't be created in the first place. This should hold true unless the category specifically states that waymarks from a distant viewing point are acceptable.

 

There may be other sensitive areas. I recently was a guest on a U.S. military base. Some really cool places to waymark were there, but I would not do it because of security issues, and because only authorized people and guests are allowed on base.

 

My personal opinion is that visiting a waymark is not the ultimate goal of creating a waymark anyway. Documenting the site with photos and description - giving the location a voice - is also important. So general access is not the overriding consideration, as long as YOU can get there to create the waymark.

[+fi67]

My personal opinion is that visiting a waymark is not the ultimate goal of creating a waymark anyway. Documenting the site with photos and description - giving the location a voice - is also important. So general access is not the overriding consideration, as long as YOU can get there to create the waymark.

 

You are completely right, but any kind of (not obvious) access restriction MUST be part of the description.