Calling all London cachers!

[+Brian~!]

This is more of an opinion piece - although it's other people's opinions I'm interested in!

 

Basically, what do people think is missing from the central London cache circuit? We have a large thanks to Nickie, we have the majority of cache types (the only type that seems to be lacking are Letterbox Hybrids as we have plenty of the others, and probably more Wherigos than most cities).

 

But is that what people are after, or is it the missing difficulty/terrain parts? The obvious thing missing there is a 5/5, but how would you do that in central London that wouldn't put the cacher in danger (or bring Geocaching into disrepute - after all, you could drop a waterproof box into the missing of the Thames and make it a puzzle to find the coords, but I think the River Police might not like it too much if people suddenly start whipping out scuba gear in the middle of the river on a Wednesday afternoon.

 

Thoughts?

 

Brian

[+Beach_hut]

As occasional cachers in London (about a couple of times a year although I don't think we've been for a year), we quite like the variety that there is.

 

Maybe more wherigos as we've lost three (owned by the same CO archived them all, I think as they were being done remotely using the emulator?), and definitely more letterbox hybrids, but there is a nice plentiful supply of virtuals, earth caches, puzzles and others.

 

Obviously, we're stuck with the two or three webcams that there are (has one been archived in the last year or so?)

 

Generally, big thumbs up

[The Hearse]

Imagination!

[+MartyBartfast]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

[+Beach_hut]

Imagination!

 

?

[team tisri]

In an ideal world there would be more caches that weren't film pots and keysafes but unfortunately in the real world anything much bigger would be muggled almost as soon as it was placed.

[+Cache U Nutter]

Certainly 'imagination' IS NOT the problem here.

Security issues are the problem

There are numerous opportunities for quite audicious caches - under bridges, up poles, tunnels etc but the plethora of CCTV cameras and suspicious muggles make 5/5 caching a short lived activity.

Even if the caches are reviewed in the first place [not that they would actually break any guidelines - but that is maybe a different subject altogether]

They would be muggled or reported to the Police in no time at all.

Central London is also not a place where many cachers live and generally speaking you tend to get 'dirty' caching for 5/5's so usual work gear [suits etc] are not suitable.

Likewise your average tourist cacher would be unlikely to have a wet suit or climbing gear available on hand.

 

Good luck to anyone who tries however

It should be said that there are a number of really good extreme caches in outer London boroughs however.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Cache U Nutter

[+Cache U Nutter]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

 

A cache was published in Hampton Court Park last month - a Royal park why did this get through the red tape ?

[+MartyBartfast]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

 

A cache was published in Hampton Court Park last month - a Royal park why did this get through the red tape ?

 

Oddly enough, according to http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks Hampton Court isn't run by the Royal Parks, whereas Brompton Cemetary is!

[+Cache U Nutter]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

 

A cache was published in Hampton Court Park last month - a Royal park why did this get through the red tape ?

 

Oddly enough, according to http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks Hampton Court isn't run by the Royal Parks, whereas Brompton Cemetary is!

 

It certainly used to be, Henry VIII did all his hunting there !

I aggree that the blanked ban on Royal park caching is somewhat ludicrous. So to is the fact that virtuals are not allowed any more- I would certainly place a number of 5/5 caches in the centre of London if they would be allowed. Geocaching is bereft given the present guidelines.

[+zarbi&zarbibird]

In an ideal world there would be more caches that weren't film pots and keysafes but unfortunately in the real world anything much bigger would be muggled almost as soon as it was placed.

Ah, you obviously haven't found our Wonder of Waterhouse cache then It's a regular and a good place to drop TBs.

[dodgydaved]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

 

A cache was published in Hampton Court Park last month - a Royal park why did this get through the red tape ?

 

Oddly enough, according to http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks Hampton Court isn't run by the Royal Parks, whereas Brompton Cemetary is!

 

 

Along with The Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and The Banqueting House (in Whitehall) it is run by "Historic Royal Palaces"

[+Brian~!]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

 

The problem is that speaking from experience with Government, it'll have been written down in an internal policy document. And if the old pen pushers have moved on, then the new ones will simply follow the policy without even knowing the reason why it was created in the first place.

 

However saying that, I wish they'd allow Earthcaches in public areas (i.e. on existing paths etc). I'm not sure if there would be anything specifically to place there which isn't already within London as I'm not a Earthcache placing expert. I understand their concerns about cachers trampling down areas they wouldn't want - but I also think that while it wouldn't be used necessary to promote the parks themselves, they certainly could place their own caches to generate footfall. I think we're on our way there slowly following the Museum of London creating it's own cache last year, and perhaps if a few other institutions see Geocaches as a way to indirectly promote themselves then perhaps the Royal Parks may review it's policy.

 

After seeing how the National Parks in the States view Geocaching (which admittedly vary from state to state, but some states heavily endorse it), it rather sucks how the Royal Parks responded. I would even be happy to see Royal Parks limit cache placement to only themselves - as I think they could create some truly brilliant caches in the setting.

[team tisri]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

 

The problem is that speaking from experience with Government, it'll have been written down in an internal policy document. And if the old pen pushers have moved on, then the new ones will simply follow the policy without even knowing the reason why it was created in the first place.

 

However saying that, I wish they'd allow Earthcaches in public areas (i.e. on existing paths etc). I'm not sure if there would be anything specifically to place there which isn't already within London as I'm not a Earthcache placing expert. I understand their concerns about cachers trampling down areas they wouldn't want - but I also think that while it wouldn't be used necessary to promote the parks themselves, they certainly could place their own caches to generate footfall. I think we're on our way there slowly following the Museum of London creating it's own cache last year, and perhaps if a few other institutions see Geocaches as a way to indirectly promote themselves then perhaps the Royal Parks may review it's policy.

 

After seeing how the National Parks in the States view Geocaching (which admittedly vary from state to state, but some states heavily endorse it), it rather sucks how the Royal Parks responded. I would even be happy to see Royal Parks limit cache placement to only themselves - as I think they could create some truly brilliant caches in the setting.

 

If there's a place worthy of an earthcache the chances are it's a place that people would visit anyway. Maybe people would visit armed with cameras or small children rather than GPS units but it's hard to see the increased footfall due to geocachers being a problem, especially if something is already a tourist attraction.

 

It's hard to see how, for example, the protected view from Richmond Park to St Pauls could be compromised by people going to see it.

[BOBBLES WORLD TOUR]

In my view what's missing are caches in all those acres of wonderful Royal parks, but there's nothing we can do about that then again maybe enough time has passed since the ban, we've shown the authorities that we're prepared to abide by their rules, maybe some pen pushers have moved on, so I wonder if another approach might be in order?

 

I can only agree. Members of the GAGB.Let's see you work some geocaching magic please.