Anyone from North Leeds area?

[+South_Stander]

Recently back into caching after nearly 10 years away from it. Partner and friends not interested in caching, dog will only begrudgingly go if I keep feeding him treats at GZ whilst I hunt. So, I'm looking for like minded people in my area.

 

GAGB looks extremely quiet, YorkshireCaching seems to have gone by the way side, and I detest facebook.

 

Anyone on here from North Leeds, or Yorkshire in general?

[+MartyBartfast]

I think you'll find this forum extremely quiet too, sadly FaceBook is where all the action is these days, particularly for the social side.

 

Alternatively go to, or organise your own, event in your area and talk to some people face to face.

[+South_Stander]

Thanks. I thought as much.

 

There is an event not far from me in a couple of weeks. I'm going to try and attend that, work permitting. I'm not the best at walking into a room full of complete strangers though.

[+searcherdog]

If you're thinking of Drink & chat #19 then is a note for new cachers to contact the EO so he can look out for newbies.

If it's another event, post your Will Attend and say that it's your first event.

Take a note of the Will Attend names and also take your TBs. Both may create the start of a conversation.

Many cachers will look out for new people and names which they have seen in logs so that faces can be associated.

Get a drink (not necessarily alcoholic), ask who is organising the event and you will be introduced, then enjoy. 

 

[+South_Stander]

Thanks @searcherdog .

 

It is the Drink & Chat #19. I will be contacting the EO in due course, after I confirm work schedule. Have you been to one of these events yourself?

[+searcherdog]

1 hour ago, South_Stander said:

Have you been to one of these events yourself?

No not Leeds but we've all been beginners at some point. I wasn't going to be able to complete the summer challenge some years ago as there were no nearby events on a free night. We were going away for the weekend so I looked at caches in the area and there was an event at the pub just down the road. We had to eat out anyway so we got a meal, a drink, a natter, a cache in the pub grounds and a souvenir all in one outing. Since then I have been to various events. The format differs slightly but there's usually a log book being signed and the clink of dog tag TBs gets ears twitching. Somebody will talk to you. You might even find somebody else looking "new" and talk to them. The next event will be easier as you recognise names in log books as you cache.

Go and enjoy! 

[+Sam539]

Hi @South_Stander

 

I'm one of the three who take it in turns to organise the Leeds Drink and Chat events. These events attract a fairly decent hard core of attendees these days, but we are far from being a clique. We started the events up because we wanted to put faces to the names of local cachers that we were seeing in logs in the area, rather than a group of mates who wanted an easy way of getting our numbers up, so being inclusive to new cachers in the area (or in your case people coming back to it following a bit of a break) is a big part of what these events are about. Appreciate it is daunting walking into a room with a big group of people you have never met before. We usually end up split across multiple tables these days, which would probably soften that feeling. If you have work commitments, no problem, there will be another one organised at a different venue for the following month. I'll make sure one of us wears something easy to point out this time around - most likely a purple t shirt or hoodie, which I'm sure one of us could explain the relevance of at some point.

 

To answer your original question at least partly, there are a few cachers active in the North Leeds area that I'm aware of, although my knowledge mostly covers South Leeds. The usual suspect at Leeds Drink and Chat events cover South and North West Leeds, Wakefield, Morely, Pontefract, Halifax, Kirklees and probably a few places I've missed off. I would recommend that as a good place to start for getting back in the loop, but I am bias. There is an annual event at Yeadon (Mad March Meet) which usually encourages some of those who have been caching longer than I have out of the woodwork, possible even some people you may remember from back when you were originally caching.

 

I can't admit to being very active in this forum. I also am not a fan of Facebook, but a lot of the discussion does now take place on there and is my main reason for being back on there after a break of a good few years. If you don't want to get involved in that though, events are probably the way to go. I've ended up on many caching ventures due to the discussions had at events and it's a good way of finding out about what people in the area are planning and what new caches are worth a visit.

[+South_Stander]

Thanks @Sam539. I'm definitely going to try and make this one. I'm only 15mins from the centre of Leeds on the 36 bus route, so should be able to have a drink as well.

 

I'm currently working my way through the plenty of caches between Leeds, Harrogate and York area.