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Geocache upkeep


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I went caching on Dartmoor yesterday and whilst searching for caches came across about 12 maybe 15 letterbox hides. I was shocked by just how many letterboxes are now 'littering' the Tors, as a family we went letterboxing about 15 years ago when our kids were young, the boxes were not easy to find and most were well maintained, dry, contained a dry log book, stamp and pen, however things have obviously got out of hand. ALL of the boxes I found were in very poor condition, NONE had all the requirements to make them a good game piece and most were not really hidden, just openly placed. I found 2 letterbox hybrids and the contrast between these and the 'normal'letterbox hides was vast, they were well maintained, hidden out of view and just what I would want to search for and find!! Well done cachers!

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I went caching on Dartmoor yesterday and whilst searching for caches came across about 12 maybe 15 letterbox hides. I was shocked by just how many letterboxes are now 'littering' the Tors, as a family we went letterboxing about 15 years ago when our kids were young, the boxes were not easy to find and most were well maintained, dry, contained a dry log book, stamp and pen, however things have obviously got out of hand. ALL of the boxes I found were in very poor condition, NONE had all the requirements to make them a good game piece and most were not really hidden, just openly placed. I found 2 letterbox hybrids and the contrast between these and the 'normal'letterbox hides was vast, they were well maintained, hidden out of view and just what I would want to search for and find!! Well done cachers!

 

Dartmoor is the mecca of letterboxing, as you probably know the game started on the Tors in 1854. My guess is that many visitors leave their own letterbox and never expect to get back to the box again. I think they're still using a paper catalogue system for the boxes on the moors. I see a handful of Dartmoor boxes listed on Atlasquest (map view Dartmoor National Park). If any of the boxes you found are listed on AQ you can leave a comment to alert the owner and next finders that the box needs maintenance (new logbook, new container) or may be missing.

 

The Dartmoor letterboxers have a forum. There's a category called "Missing or Damaged Letterboxes". If you have a list of those boxes that are in poor shape perhaps you can share the list and local letterboxers might go out to repair what they can.

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