What Charity walks are now missing boxes

We know the Udders crowd walk has gone missing - basically
I would like to know what other walks are on site or what are they missing
Just a quick report - not the area

Just done the tin tin walk (well part of) and boxes were there today up to box 4, doing the rest another day. long story!!

hello,i have recently done the guide dogs collect pub signs walk,all boxes intact.they were on wednesday when i did the walk.julian

going to try forgotten english on sunday near soldiers pond and surrounding area,

well just got back and all boxes are in place and very well hidden and off the beatten track

Hi There,

Dizzy and I bought the Wreckers Morris Walk from the Meet - and got their first walk which is still out, at a discount price. We completed this first walk yesterday - all 19 boxes were on site - though one was off it's backing and another a bit on the wet side. Nice stamps though - line drawings of Boundary Stones. A decent walk too - which wasn't too strenuous. Clues were good and clear - with on the whole very good bearings.

we are doing this one at the weekend (if it is not raining) and part of the cornish waters one as it is in the same area.

Cornish Waters was due in at end of October so you may not find that one now MOTM

The other half is going senile - I think he meant Cornish Houses!!!!!

Did the CHICKS Autumn 2007 walk 6/11/07, nice sramps and ALL THERE at time of writing. Collected 34 stamps for the day.

trekkernod wrote:Did the CHICKS Autumn 2007 walk 6/11/07, nice stamps and ALL THERE at time of writing.

Still all there on 09/11/07!

James & Jenny

Hi Everyone,
I did the Forgotten English walk on Saturday 10th November. Whilst at box No.5, another person, presumably a letterboxer, stood away from me and only came to the site when I had left. I continued on my walk finding other boxes on my list for the day.
I met up with Don Grassby, and we walked together for a while around Cramber Tor until he went off to get box No.9 and I stayed looking for other stuff on the tor.
On my way to box No.9, Don whistled to me to head for him. I thought he had found box No.9. Instead he was at Box no.10, and told me box No.9 had gone.
To cut the story short a bit, we finished the walk and were approached, coming off the moor, by two other letterboxers near the parking spot just outside Princetown. They asked if we had all the boxes and we said no, by now we had found out No.12 had gone too.
They had No.9, but not No.12. We did not have No.9 or No.12.
Now, this chap I mentioned was behind the 2 letterboxers at No.9 but before Don Grassby. He then overtook the other two letterboxers reaching box No.12 before them, and sat on the tor watching them, not once offering any help that the box may have gone.
This seems highly suss to me, so here is a description for everyone to be wary of this fellow when out and if you see him keep an eye on him. I had a feeling early on in the day to photograph him, but just Thought I was being paranoid.
He is about 5'6" to 5'8" tall thinner that average build, and what may give him away is his dog, a grey/white husky type.

the wary fellow you mention was myself and my husky,i am no letterbox thief i started my walk from box 5,as i had started the walk late the day before without the use of gps.i waited while i got my breath back as i forced marched myself to start there as i was working that night,i do not like to approach people while they are at a box in case it might be wom box so they might not like it,i proceded to box 6,7,8,9,box 10 i could not find,proceded to 11,there i meet two boxers using gps,crossed river, sat on hart tor for a smoke and cup of tea,there i watched the two boxers i passed search for a box,i did not know it was box 12,it could have been a wom box or one from the cat,i proceded to the place where they had found a box, expecting box 12 the two boxers informed me it was not there,i then had a little chat to some walkers who were walking dogs,they mentioned they know someone who also has a husky,i then proceded to box 13 but passed by as the gps users were at the box,i proceded to box 14,stamped then went home.if i was the thief i would not be stupid enough to take a dog as unusaul as a husky,i cannot help being shy and retiring,now i am offended julian

Is this a dig on letterboxers with dogs???? only joking

We tend to stay back when people are boxing with our dogs they tend not to like people in hats or dark glasses. We was up and around widgery cross on saturday with a few people just in front of us doing the same walk so we stoppped and let them go on a little infront and darted the other way around doing he walk backwards so we would not catch them up. need to go back up there as we missed a stamp. It is true thou people with dogs are not shy it is that they are just wary as some people dont like dogs.

jjpage I don't think trekkernod would have said this if he knew it was you so please don't be offended with his comments. We all seem to get a little paranoid when boxing on the moors as we don't know the other people in the area and what they are up to. I know I get this way, but I do try to say a quick 'hello' to other boxers or even a quick chat to see who they are.

Dizzy

I feel i must write & defend my partner julian.Julian is no thief and loves the hobby of letterboxing and walking nanook our husky on dartmoor,i must add julian is a very quiet and shy person,once he knows the person he is fine,just finds going up to strangers difficult.I know he has been hurt by this accusation,he has'nt shown it but i know as you do after living with him for the past 21 years.I myself feel quite hurt, that people will probably think him a thief and not to be trusted.I can assure the forum that julian is no thief and can be trusted...AN ANNOYED PARTNER...FIONA

Julian and fiona,

Can i just say i dont think he ment it, it's easy on here to say things as people do not know who people are on the moor, we only know a few people from here from the meet and from the meet at crownhill but im sure when he meets you he will get to know you.

I am just in the middle of designing a dog walk, just for people with dogs as we know a few of them so I will add you to the list.

Plus if we see you on the moor we are the ones with the jack russell and old sheep dog with blue eyes, just come over they dont bite.

David

It seems my/our assumptions were wrong and I apologise to JJpage. It was just too much of a coincidence, and when we came off the moor and spoke to the other letterboxers and compared notes all four of us reached the same conclusions, so the seed of guilt was planted in our heads, as such.
We found our mystery boxer guilty without any solid proof just, pretty convincing, circumstancial evidence. It was very easy to accuse in such circumstances, especially when it seemed the boxes were just removed.
I think this stand-offishness that some letterboxers adopt now adds to the paranoia. Years ago it seemed everyone came up to you at a box to see who you were and to ask if you had a traveller. How do you get them if you don't approach other letterboxers. It doesn't matter if you have dogs, you could get close enough to at least say hello.
Once again I apologise for my comments on this forum regarding this matter.
I can't, however apologise for comments posted, before mine, by others in other circles, via other media.

Well done to the letterbox thief! Not only is he/she (they?) stealing boxes, but also creating an atmosphere of mistrust that in the long run will be far more damaging than a few boxes being stolen every so often. In military terms this has been a huge battle victory for the thief!

In another post I said we need a plan, else we'll start behaving like spooked cattle and achieve nothing.

I'm now going to ask a few things and expect each individual to make of it what they will:
1) Please will a few trusted and respected "village elders" (in role, not necessarily age!) put themselves forward as members of a group to lead investigations into any allegations made
2) Please will everybody ONLY raise your concerns with that group and NOT post it in an open forum
3) Please will you start placing more value on letterboxing as a whole, as well as each individual letterboxer compared to the value of an actual letterbox. Words can leave wounds that take years to heal, if at all, while a box can be replaced relatively quickly
4) Please can we all start saying hello to each other on the moor, and not avoid each other
5) Please, PLEASE do not allow a thief to create this division and mistrust between us all

Regards,

William

I wonder if it is one box thief how many stamps he/she has? do you think he/she has more stamps than anyone else. Or do you think that they may be doing one large Wom walk all over the moor starting south and working north over every tor?

Just a thought

Hi, all.

There are obviously different ways that people treat their letterboxing approach; when out boxing, we don't like to approach people who are stamping from a box - we like the challenge of finding the box ourselves (using Grid Refs and compass - don't have a GPS, although it was invaluable for the last few of my 30 years at sea!).
Last week, on Scarey Tor, there was a guy by himself, searching - obviously not finding what he was after. In that instance, we asked which he was looking for, in case we had found it - we would have told him it was still there, if so. We passed the time of day, and continued our searching, but moved away from his area.
We do speak to other letterboxers, but don't like to appear intrusive; we have guided newbies, with children, to a location, when they obviously didn't know what to look for.
Generally, we like to be friendly and helpful. We would welcome other letterboxers talking to us, even those with dogs!
I am the 6'2" silly old sod with a grey(ish!) beard and glasses - Sue is 5'4" and blonde. Probably difficult to recognise us over the winter - we'll be well wrapped up!

Look forward to meeting and greeting some of you.

Regards,
Generation Gap
(Howard n Sue)

Hi Howard,

Like you I try not to be intrusive - quick hello is normally all I do.

Obviously we're all different, with different ways of doing the same things. All I'm trying to avoid is a scenario where we all eye up every person we meet on the moor as a suspect, instead as a potential friend.

I used to keep myself very much to myself while out boxing, but recently (especially since this forum has been operational) I've been asking whoever I meet, who they are. On Sunday around Roos Tor I bumped into 'Slow and Steady' from deepest Cornwall and Mrs Barnes from Plymouth. I also bumped into the organisers of the old 'Chicks' charity walk which they were bringing in. When I was talking to them I told them of the nearby memorial stamp for Pat Dimmick, who sadly died earlier this year. They knew Pat, but were unaware of the stamp that they were practically standing on top of!

It's good to talk.

Its good to meet new people you never know you might meet them again on the moors or at meets. Plus if you struggling to find a box they might point you in the right direction, or if the box has moved.

But as we have dogs we tend to stay back until noticed just incase they dont like dogs but we say hello all the same.

That reminds me, need to fiish designs for wom dog walk

Feel free to come up to say hello to us even though we have dogs - quite easy to pick out - have up to four Corgis with us - all friendly.

We are always pleased to talk, we are easy to spot, four of us and a blind collie cross.

There is a thread on here that someone started where they have posted there picture why not add to it then if you are spotted, we can come and say hello Im NUMBER 70. Although we do anyway and usually get some very blank what he talking about looks Not found a good pic of me yet

There was I was asking were it was last week, one of the "MODERATORS" took it of the forum, but no-one is owning up to it.

I thought it was a good idea, I will start another one in the Social Room and for everyone to post a photo of themselves.

The only two problems I see with this thou is

box thief knowng what we look like and the post getting deleted.

Dizzy and Kotm said it was not them so I think it was further up the ladder

hello to all,i have taken note of peoples remarks and will now make the effort to come up & say hello & introduce myself though i expect people will know who i am now due to my wolf grey husky.i have spoken with my partner & thought long & hard at work today about the events & must admit i would probably would have thought the same.so i appologise for not saying hello to trekkernod and fellow boxers.i hope we can put this horrible event behind us.also i would like to say THANKS to the monkeys who have added me to their list for the dog owners walk,i look forward to the walk.julian

No problem, and to anyone who has dogs pm me with your email address or if your human and like the taste of dog chews, as I have just got a few more stamps to draw before i send them to the grand master of stamp making.

I thin these might be better than the last ones.

I have received an Email from the organisers of this walk, and they tell me that, having resited all of the missing boxes on Saturday afternoon, they have all gone missing again.
This is getting rediculous.
There should be a plan of action taken to trap these thieves.
Perhaps a meeting, behind closed doors, of a handful of dedicated letterboxers to thrash out a plan to bring about the demise of this person(s).

think the only wat is to sit away with bino's and a big dog. to catch them

Surely the letterbox thief must realise that this is a charity walk, and that whatever their motive, it amounts to stealing money from a charity

The fact that this walk has been removed twice, whilst others have remained untouched must be relevent. Possibly:
1) Someone with a grudge against one of the organisers?
2) Someone who lives near Gutter Tor and does not like tourists walking on THEIR land?
3) Someone who has been contacted by the organisers in good faith to say that the walk has been replaced?

If someone can find the motive, maybe somebody would have an idea of possible suspects. This isn't just 'random' boxes being taken by mistake.

Just my tuppence worth!

James

I am surprised my boxes are still out, but i have got everyone who does it to email me after they have been on the moor, thankfull they have not gone missing, I also kept a record on who I sent it to. I might go and check them myself this weekend weather permitting.

A fellow boxer told us last week that this is not the first time the udder crowd have had a walk targeted - As it is the second time this walk has been pinched and it has only been back out a few days (and I haven't done it yet!!)- it sounds like someone has a real grudge against them!!! This is obviously not an opportunistic theft. I just find it really c**p that someone is stealing from a charity like Shelterbox and that someone feels the need to target someone putting out letterboxes like this. This climate of suspicion is uncomfortable for everyone who cares about the true spirit of letterboxing.

Sarah

I can't get my little brain around why someone has to do these things, to spoil the enjoyment of a very healthy hobby and to ruin the chances of a charity making a little money. The more the charity has to replace the stamps, the less money they are going to make . Eventually we may find fewer and fewer charity walks available due to the letterboxing thief.
Who wants to go the the expense and time to create a lovely charity walk only to get stolen!

We must not give in though otherwise that horrible person will have won, this we are NOT going to let happen!

Dizzy