Just getting started....

Hey there everyone,

I've just got interested into Letterboxing myself, whilst Rock Climbing with my friends somewhere around Lee Tor, I stumbled across one and had no idea what it was (never heard about it before). My friends explained to me what it was about and I really enjoyed the sound of it. So I had a little snoop about Saddle Tor, only finding the one, but still having a good time.

What i'm really interested about is the type of Letter Boxes that give clues onto where the next Letter Box is. Where can I get any info on where one of these clue trails start?

Cheers for any info given, Craig.

Hi Gammy, I have only been Letterboxing for nearly 2 weeks. What I can tell you is that I went to Pew Tor today and found 13 boxes and that was searching less than half the Tor in 2 and a half hours.

As far as I understand how it works. You need to find 100 Letterboxes which entitles you to join the Letterbox 100 Club and then you can purchase a catalogue that provides clues to the locations of the boxes.

I guess that getting people to find 100 first without clues is a way of showing that you are committed to Letterboxing. Also, it minimises the chances of a catalogue falling into the hands of a Letterbox thief as if people are committed enough to find 100 then it is less likely that they will start stealing them.

Hope this helps,

Nick

Hello Gammy,

If you can get to the Meet on clock change day at Lee Moor Hall then you will be able to purchase charity walk clue sheets even if you haven't found your first 100 yet.

Welcome Gammy and good luck with your new hobby.

It is very much a hobby of trust but once you get hooked it won't take you long to find your first 100.

I need to find just under 100 to get to my 1000 boxes. Some people have collected over 40,000 boxes of their time boxing. It becomes very addictive but what a lovely addiction to have - lots of exercise and beautiful views.

As far as I understand how it works. You need to find 100 Letterboxes which entitles you to join the Letterbox 100 Club and then you can purchase a catalogue that provides clues to the locations of the boxes.

~In the true sense of the spirit of letterboxing that is correct - but in recent meets non 100 club members were purchasing the catalogues but back in the 1980's when I started boxing it was the rule(ish).

I believe it should be returned to the 100 boxes before you can get the book but that is up to the powers that control and not up to me

Nik, what you have written about non 100 club members buying catalogues, I got the impression that this was the case but being new to Letterboxing I didn't want to assume anything.

Well I went out on my official first "letterboxing" outing today by myself. Went to Haytor, then headed towards to Saddle Tor, was going to go for Hound Tor but it started getting dark. I found around 8/9 boxes! 2 of which no one else had written in! I was the first to find them! (Haytor for those who want to find them).

Unfortunatly, I also found 2 notebooks mashed together out in the open absolutly soaked through (no way to recover it), I didn't know what to do with them, so I put them in a lunchbox I brought with me and left them nearby under a rock. (I hope that was the best thing to do?)

But all in all, I'll definitly be going again, was good fun, and certainly time consuming!

Craig M

Hi Gammy

In future if you find books completely mashed up which are not possibly going to recover, it would be best just to take them home as rubbish. Unfortunately by leaving them in a box on the moors, you have inadvertently added to the litter left on the moors.

Well done on finding 9 boxes though on your first trip.

Well I didn't really 'add' but next time i'll take it back with me. I should be up there again sometime soon so if it's still there I can go retrieve it.

Nik, what you have written about non 100 club members buying catalogues, I got the impression that this was the case but being new to Letterboxing I didn't want to assume anything.

It used to be the case you had to be a 100 club member to get the catalogue - however in the face of commercialism and to make ends meet the catalogue is now available to all and sundry.

The original idea as I understood was to see if you were committed to letterboxing enough to warrant the honour of actually getting a catalogue. Most people these day seem to go and get a catalogue and go from there but then having said that there are those amongst us who have done it the old fashioned way - got the 100 first and then got the catalogue. This was done in the spirit of the old days. However having said all that it seems the majority of the boxes out on the moor these days are Word of mouth boxes with a lot of peeps being disallusioned with the way the 100 club went. These clues are a hell of a lot harder to get hold of.
Which reminds me I must get down there sometime and put out a series of boxes again and then wonder how long they will stay out there,