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Waymarking in Scotland


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We're planning to visit Scotland in September. It will be a guided roundtrip by bus that will include Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loch Ness, Isle of Skye and so on. Of course I want to make sure that I come home with new waymarks and visits in some categories that I can't find in my own country. So far I found:

 

  • English Heritage - Cadw - Historic Scotland
  • UK Post Offices
  • UK Historical Markers
  • U.K. and Ireland Trigpoints
  • Victorian Post Boxes

 

I'm sure that some of you have more ideas, so please help me not to miss one of these rare categories. Thanks in advance.

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1 hour ago, elyob said:

I suspect all of Scotland is west of the Greenwich meridian.

yes, it is. OK then,  how about "In Search of the Celts", Blue Plaques, get the Diplomatic Mission from your home country, Fish & Chips restaurants, pictorial pub signs, National  Trust UK, pictorial village signs, red telephone boxes, thatch cottages.

 

and don't forget "Inside Airports" as you fly there and back.

Edited by vulture1957
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Good GAWD! Don't forget those red telephone boxes. We got one just last week after years of searching...:rolleyes:

 

And National Trust U.K. - then there's Anglican (Church of England) Churches - you probably don't have Anglican churches in Austria.

How about William Shakespeare, the bard of Avon?

Along the train of thought of Lighthouses, how about Maritime Monuments and Memorials?

Runestones Worldwide - I doubt there are any in Austria.

Monarchs of the World - one thing England has in spades.

Boer Wars Memorials and Monuments - an English skirmish, maybe the Scots got involved, too.

War of 1812 - a search shows that there are no WMs in Austria.

Blue Plaques - do you have an equivalent to these?

Pictorial Pub Signs - common as dirt in the UK

Canal Tunnels - this is a possibility - none in Austria yet

Dunno if there are any Martello Towers in Scotland

Nautical Flag Poles - none in Austria yet

And finally (for the moment) Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts - none in Austria yet

Keith

Edited by BK-Hunters
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2 hours ago, vulture1957 said:

greenwich meridian  marker?

 

I think just a few of the northern islands of Scotland touch the Greenwich meridian, but we won't visit those islands I'm afraid. Thanks for the idea though.

 

14 minutes ago, fi67 said:

And don't forget the categories that are global, but rare in your area! Lighthouses is just one example.

 

Yes, I will put lighthouses on my list. And also Quaker Meeting Houses, Odd Fellow Lodges, Legion Posts and Branches, and the search goes on.

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4 hours ago, vulture1957 said:

yes, it is. OK then,  how about "In Search of the Celts", Blue Plaques, get the Diplomatic Mission from your home country, Fish & Chips restaurants, pictorial pub signs, National  Trust UK, pictorial village signs, red telephone boxes, thatch cottages.

 

and don't forget "Inside Airports" as you fly there and back.

 

"In Search of the Celts" is a great idea! There's just one of these in Inverness and Inverness is on the route. So, one find and maybe opportunities to post new waymarks.

"Fish and Chips Restaurants" is similar. Not many of them in Scotland, so good chances to visit one and hopefully find a new one.

"Pictorial Village Signs" are always a problem, because the bus will not stop there.

"Thatch Cottages" will be tough. Just one in Scotland in an area that is not on the route, but maybe there is one to discover.

"Pictorial Pub Signs" and "National Trust U.K." will also be on our list.

 

I have posted and visited "Blue Plaques", "Diplomatic Missions" and "Red Telephone Boxes" already, but will keep an eye on those also.

 

Thanks for the many ideas. Really helpful.

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5 hours ago, BK-Hunters said:

Good GAWD! Don't forget those red telephone boxes. We got one just last week after years of searching...:rolleyes:

 

And National Trust U.K. - then there's Anglican (Church of England) Churches - you probably don't have Anglican churches in Austria.

How about William Shakespeare, the bard of Avon?

Along the train of thought of Lighthouses, how about Maritime Monuments and Memorials?

Runestones Worldwide - I doubt there are any in Austria.

Monarchs of the World - one thing England has in spades.

Boer Wars Memorials and Monuments - an English skirmish, maybe the Scots got involved, too.

War of 1812 - a search shows that there are no WMs in Austria.

Blue Plaques - do you have an equivalent to these?

Pictorial Pub Signs - common as dirt in the UK

Canal Tunnels - this is a possibility - none in Austria yet

Dunno if there are any Martello Towers in Scotland

Nautical Flag Poles - none in Austria yet

And finally (for the moment) Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts - none in Austria yet

Keith

 

Fortunately, we found a red telephone box about a year ago in a small Austrian village and visited one we have here in Vienna.

 

OMG, "Anglican and Episcopal Churches"!!! I never searched for one in Vienna, but now I did and there IS one: http://www.ccv-web.org/ Have to grab my camera and create that waymark, but I also need visits (I hardly visit my own waymarks), so I will put that on the list for visits.
"William Shakespeare" is a good idea. I found two spots in Vienna, that might qualify for that category, but I also need visits and it seems there is no Shakespeare waymark in Scotland to visit. :-(

"Maritime Monuments and Memorials" is also a great idea. I have visits, but need to post one hope to find one in Scotland. AND, this reminded me of "Maritime Museums" and I found one in Edinburgh that has no waymark yet.

"Runestones Worldwide": I posted two in Sweden. So, I just need a visit, but there are no runestone waymarks in Scotland so far. :-(

"Boer Wars Memorials and Monuments" I have neither posted nor visited yet. Will be tough to find in Scotland, but I will keep my eyes open. Same with "War of 1812".

"Canal Tunnels": I guess we have them in Austria too, but nobody made a waymark yet. Have to add that to my list of "first-to-post-in-Austria" and will also try to find one in Scotland.

According to Wikipedia there are three Mortello Towers in Scotland, but I doubt that we will see them.

"Nautical Flag Poles" will definitely be on our list.

"Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts": Similar to Canal Tunnels - we have them, but nobody ever made a waymark for one. Will also be on the list.

 

Thank you so much for the many great ideas. This helps a lot and considering that we will have only limited spare time outside the bus and keeping in mind that my Lady also wants to search some geocaches on the way, it will be stressful to cover as many waymark categories (with new waymarks AND visits) as possible, but the longer the list is, the longer the list of covered categories will be at the end. And I still have more than one month to prepare for this tour.

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21 hours ago, PISA-caching said:

And also Quaker Meeting Houses, Odd Fellow Lodges, Legion Posts and Branches...

You don't have a Masonic Temple yet, either.

I have a suspicion that Thatch Cottages may be more plentiful than you realize. I remember seeing contemporary pics of them in the U.K. Here, just think of houses, not cottages. The problem here is that if you spot one it will inevitably be along the highway in the country and you'll whiz past it.

You still need a Presbyterian Church. Presbyterianism has its origins in Scotland, if I recall kerektly.

Dunno how meat markets work in Vienna - been decades since I was there - but you don't have a Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe yet, either. From what friends tell me, these should be findable in Scotland.

... ... still thinking... ...

 

Hint - don't order pizza in Scotland. A few years ago a friend who was visiting (and I don't remember which city he was in) got hungry one evening and ambled down to a local diner to see what he could get to eat. He decided on a pizza, whereupon the proprietor opened the freezer, dug out a pizza and threw it in the deep fryer...

 

Keith

Edited by BK-Hunters
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3 hours ago, BK-Hunters said:

You don't have a Masonic Temple yet, either.

I have a suspicion that Thatch Cottages may be more plentiful than you realize. I remember seeing contemporary pics of them in the U.K. Here, just think of houses, not cottages. The problem here is that if you spot one it will inevitably be along the highway in the country and you'll whiz past it.

You still need a Presbyterian Church. Presbyterianism has its origins in Scotland, if I recall kerektly.

Dunno how meat markets work in Vienna - been decades since I was there - but you don't have a Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe yet, either. From what friends tell me, these should be findable in Scotland.

... ... still thinking... ...

 

Hint - don't order pizza in Scotland. A few years ago a friend who was visiting (and I don't remember which city he was in) got hungry one evening and ambled down to a local diner to see what he could get to eat. He decided on a pizza, whereupon the proprietor opened the freezer, dug out a pizza and threw it in the deep fryer...

 

Keith

 

The list is increasing, but yesterday I posted a waymark for the Shakespeare category, which would be the first in Austria. And that anglican church in Vienna is next on my to-do-list.

 

I have a visit of a Masonic Temple in Vienna, so I just need to post a new one, which will be tough as I see lots of them already in Scotland. But I will still put it on the list. Presbyterian Churches I have neither posted nor visited. At least a visit should be easy to do.

 

About the butcher Shops: They are slowly dying here. People buy cheaper meat at the supermarket. Therefore the butchers close one after the other, but there are a few left. It's just that I didn't pay much attention to these "commericial" categories.

 

I hope that not all people in scotland make pizza like that, but usually I prefer local dishes (and drinks) anyway. I tried fish & chips a few times and it will never be my favourite dish, but I will rather order that (taking for granted that they do it well) than to order an Austrian dish like Wiener Schnitzel, because chances are high that it will be not as good as the original and for me tasting foreign dishes belongs to the vacations, just like different landscapes, different sounds, different smells etc.

When we made a roundtrip through Scandinavia, we arrived at the first hotel late at night and we were looking forward to get some scandinavian Food (fish or mussels or moose meat or whatever). Instead they served some chicken with Italian pasta. Very disappointing!

 

Edited by PISA-caching
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24 minutes ago, Bear and Ragged said:

Distillery's?

 

There is no specific category for distilleries, but Whiskey distilleries are accepted in the Breweries category. Don't know, if they would also accept a Gin distillery, but we will visit a Whiskey distillery anyway, which also has no waymark yet. :-) Thank you for the idea though.

 

Meanwhile I have found more than 30 categories, for which I will try to post and/or visit waymarks and the list is still growing. :-)

Edited by PISA-caching
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Back at home with more than 2,500 photos of visits and new waymarks. Much of my preparation was unfortunately in vane, but not all. Some of the places that I was planning to visit were not part of the guided tour or too far away to visit during the little time we had for ourselves. On the other hand I found some waymarks coincidentally, like a Domino's Pizza shop. One memorial I planned to visit (in three categories) was fortunately very close to one of the places where we were picked up by the bus after lunch break. And I could add the same memorial in the Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures category. WoooooHoooo!!! :-)

 

One day we were walking through Edinburgh and I noticed that I had left my list in the hotel. I had the address of a shop with a Cigar Store Indian that I had found on Google streetview, but I couldn't remember the street name. So we used our mobile phone to search the Internet and found another tobacconist, but when we finally got there, there was no Indian, neither inside the shop nor outside. Finally I remembered that  there was a geocache close to the first Indian and in the end I really could find the right street and also the Indian was still standing there. Phhheeeww!!!

 

Those two are categories that I wouldn't be able to find here in Austria. There are a lot more waymarks in various categories that I will post in the days to come. And apart from the fact that I will be able to fill some holes in our category grid we had a great time.

 

Oh, and BTW, BK-Hunters, we managed to avoid Haggis for the entire vacation. We tried Fish & Chips which was quite good. We tried some beer and whiskey which we usually never drink. Was also ok. And we tried to survive the breakfast in the Hotels with the worst coffee on earth, tasteless sausages and beans in tomato sauce :wacko:. Well, we didn't come here for the food, but for the landscape and that was great. We saw the Highlands in the sun , we saw thousands of sheeps, old castles, churches, and so much more. Scotland is definitely worth a visit.

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Well, it sounds like you truly enjoyed yourself!!! Great vacation!!!

 

Sorry, but I read your post in the BZZZZZ thread before I saw this one, so, when you have tallied your totals, post them here, not over there.

 

For a few minutes after reading your post in the BZZZZZZZZZ thread I thought that maybe you had given me an idea for a category we don't have, and thought we never would: Civil War Discovery Trail Sites. I figured that if you could find one in Scotland maybe we had one in one of the states we've visited. No such luck, though.

Keith

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Well, I didn't post a new waymark for the Civil War Discovery Trail Sites category, but at least I could log a visit. Of course I was hoping to also find a new waymark in that category, but at first the link "Civil War Discovery Trail" in the category description didn't work. I then followed the link in the waymark that I had visited and was forwarded to https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/scottish-american-soldiers-monument. Then I used the breadcrumb navigation to get to https://www.battlefields.org/heritagesites. Unfortunately, they don't offer the opportunity to filter by country, so I had to go through all the 40 pages, but didn't find any other location in Scottland, just one in Birkenhead, Englandone in Liverpool, England and one in Octeville, France. But unfortunately I have never been to any of these three locations or think that I ever will.

 

As far as a complete list of all the visits and posts in new categories I will need some more time. So far I'm still working on the photos of the first day and I have to take care of my lady, who caught an awful Influenza (fortunately AFTER the vacations).

Edited by PISA-caching
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On ‎10‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 3:05 AM, BK-Hunters said:

when you have tallied your totals, post them here, not over there.

 

I don't think that the following list is complete, because I still have lots of photos to go through, but it gives an impression of how many holes I could fill in my category grid. In 14 categories I had my very first visit and I posted my very first waymark in 29 categories (some of them are still waiting for approval). Once again, thank you all for your ideas. Without them, the list would definitely be much shorter. Here we go:

 

Category Visited Posted
Abraham Lincoln WMF5Q1  
American Civil War Monuments and Memorials WMF5Q0  
Animal Memorials   WMZD7D
Artistic Seating   WMZ8V0
Baptist Churches   WMZG56
Battlefields WMKY5E  
Birdwatching Locations   WMZENN
Boer Wars Memorials and Monuments   WMZC8E
Cairns WMM4CZ WMZCQK
Capitol Buildings   WMZB08
Celebrity Hangouts   WMZAPF
Cigar Store Indians   WMZ8JW
Civil War Discovery Trail Sites WMV8YP  
Coastal Lighthouses   WMZE5Y
Commercial Fishing Ports WMT4YH  
Dollar Stores   WMZCXQ
Domino's Pizza   WMZ816
English Heritage - Cadw - Historic Scotland WMWRH8 WMZD0A
Ferries and Ferry Landings   WMZG9F
Fish and Chips Restaurants   WMZG00
Fish Ladders WMNXJF  
In Search of the Celts WMF6DM  
Legion Posts and Branches   WMZDDP
Megalithic Monuments WM9ZAB  
National Trust U.K.   WMZBPM
Obelisks   WMZFHP
Odd Fellow Lodges   WMZDQC
Police Stations   WMZGCV
Presbyterian Churches WMEZJ1  
Scenic Roadside Look-Outs   WMZGPX
Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures   WMZ7R7
Sphinx Sculptures   WMZE22
Thatch Cottages   WMZCGT
Time Signals  WMFPMJ  
Timelines   WMZ86R
U.K. and Ireland Trigpoints WMMBPR WMZEZH
UK Historical Markers  WMMCFV WMZCZB
UK Post Offices   WMZEE4
Victorian Post Boxes   WMZAM9
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12 hours ago, BK-Hunters said:

Looks like it was a very worthwhile trip, Waymarking wise, and probably more so otherwise.

 

Yes, we had a great time in Scotland and I would never have thought that I would end up with this list. We passed only a few Thatched Cottages during the many hours of driving around in the bus and of course I couldn't take photos in good enough quality for a waymark and then one day we visited that Culloden battlefield and I saw this beautiful cottage standing right there waiting to be photographed. :-) The sphinxes were also cool and the Legion post was a big surprise too. We passed it sitting in the bus on the way to the next hotel and I thought "Too bad that we don't stop here", but when we stopped at the hotel I noticed that the Legion post is not that far away. The next day we went there and I had photos of it. :-) The list contains some categories that I would have been able to find at home too, like Police stations, but many of them would be almost impossible to find in Austria.

 

One funny story: When I prepared for the Scotland vacations, I searched for Domino's Pizza Shops and found a few but most of them were far from our hotel or outside the tourist zones. Then I found one by accident in St. Andrews and was very happy. About one week after we had returned home we made another guided bus-tour to a glass factory and museum outside Vienna and in the evening when we were again in Vienna we stopped at a red traffic light and suddenly I noticed that we were standing right next to a Domino's Pizza shop, here in my hometown!! But I couldn't jump out of the bus, so I searched at home and learned that we have three Domino's Pizza Shops in Vienna, the first of which opened in Oct 2017. No need to mention that I now have the first Domino's Pizza waymark in Austria. :-)

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That's a shame. We haven't tried their Pizza, neither in Scotland nor at home and right now we're in Montecatini Terme (near Pisa). No Domino's here and I don't expect to find one in Pisa, which we will visit tomorrow, either. But one day we will try Domino's Pizza for sure. I remember that we once had a Pizza Hut in Vienna, but the Pizza was ... well, not good. Meanwhile Pizza Hut has left Austria. :-)

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Update: Just noticed that we also visited our first waymark in the categories "Antarctic Points of Interest" and "Former Schools" in Scotland. How cool is that?! So the new numbers are: First visit in 16  categories and first posting in 29 categories:

 

Category Visited Posted
Abraham Lincoln WMF5Q1  
American Civil War Monuments and Memorials WMF5Q0  
Animal Memorials   WMZD7D
Antarctic Points of Interest WMF5Q3  
Artistic Seating   WMZ8V0
Baptist Churches   WMZG56
Battlefields WMKY5E  
Birdwatching Locations   WMZENN
Boer Wars Memorials and Monuments   WMZC8E
Cairns WMM4CZ WMZCQK
Capitol Buildings   WMZB08
Celebrity Hangouts   WMZAPF
Cigar Store Indians   WMZ8JW
Civil War Discovery Trail Sites WMV8YP  
Coastal Lighthouses   WMZE5Y
Commercial Fishing Ports WMT4YH  
Dollar Stores   WMZCXQ
Domino's Pizza   WMZ816
English Heritage - Cadw - Historic Scotland WMWRH8 WMZD0A
Ferries and Ferry Landings   WMZG9F
Fish and Chips Restaurants   WMZG00
Fish Ladders WMCK9Q  
Former Schools WMNXJF  
In Search of the Celts WMF6DM  
Legion Posts and Branches   WMZDDP
Megalithic Monuments WM9ZAB  
National Trust U.K.   WMZBPM
Obelisks   WMZFHP
Odd Fellow Lodges   WMZDQC
Police Stations   WMZGCV
Presbyterian Churches WMEZJ1  
Scenic Roadside Look-Outs   WMZGPX
Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures   WMZ7R7
Sphinx Sculptures   WMZE22
Thatch Cottages   WMZCGT
Time Signals  WMFPMJ  
Timelines   WMZ86R
U.K. and Ireland Trigpoints WMMBPR WMZEZH
UK Historical Markers  WMMCFV WMZCZB
UK Post Offices   WMZEE4
Victorian Post Boxes    WMZAM9
Edited by PISA-caching
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Well, there are indeed some categories that wouldn't have been a problem to find here in Austria, like for example Dollar Stores, Police Stations etc., but those are categories that I'm not interested in. Another example is Tattoo Shops. We have quite a lot of them, but they are of no interest for me and if I ever will make a waymark in that category, it will have to be a good Tattoo shop, but whenever I'm walking around with my camera I just see Tattoo Shops that are in no way spectacular.

 

When I look at my Scottish Police Station waymark, I feel ashamed, because it's not special in any way. I just took the photos because we were waiting for the bus and I thought "Heck, why not". :-)

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Just for the records: I have to add another category, for which I posted my first waymark (in Scotland). It's the "James Bond - 007" category and my waymark for Eilean Donan Castle (which served as the Headquarter of MI6 in The World is Not Enough) fills the 30th hole on my posting category grid.

 

Edited 25.02.2019 to add another Icon to my posting category grid: A Stone Church Artefacts.

Edited by PISA-caching
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16 hours ago, BK-Hunters said:

That is amazing, your waymark is the 45th in the category since January 6, 2009.

 

Not too likely we will ever fill that grid icon. :(

 

I'm not sure whether there are so few waymarks in this category, because the locations are so scarce or because James Bond isn't as popular as he used to be.

 

That's a shame, that you can't find a waymark for that category in your area, but maybe https://jamesbondcanada.com/007-canadian-connections/ can help.

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PISA-Caching, thanks so much for the help, however Newfoundland is 6,181 km away and a bit closer is Ottawa at 3,728 km. 

 

When we visited Nova Scotia we were a lot closer, though 3,500 feet above would be a challenge. :laughing:

 

Perhaps you can help us find a few more of those obscure categories, that we will most likely not find either.

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