Visit to Dartmoor and I WANT TO FIND MY FIRST LETTERBOX

Hello you all!

I heard or read about Letterboxing long long ago - but never got the chance to visit Dartmoor...

NOW IT'S THE TIME! (;

And I'd love to have a look for some OLDER letterboxes, good ones, nice views, nice trails.

But I did not manage to understand where to find the clues...erm...

Please help a newbie-newbie....(((;

Lovely greetings and happy searching!
kat78

Letterboxing is a weird activity - but to find your first box can be difficult because you have not yet learned how to find it.
If you want a decent box/stamp stay away from the "popular" areas as most of the stamps are commercially available from hobby shops - go around some of the more off the road tors the better - but there are fewer.
A good walking stick is ideal for poking in holes and finding them. But your best thing for finding boxes is the Mk1 Eyeball!

Perhaps Laughter Tor or Belliver Tor might suit your needs

if your looking for a nice walk, with good views and some letterboxes, popular area to start would be pew tor, many shop bought stamps but if you have a few hours to spare would get you knowing what to look for, then cross over the road to cox tor, for another great view a few older boxes skattered around, a few of mine dotted about. but the veiw is great. or look on the web on how to find letterboxes, and smoe webs give you some clues to find them.......

happy hunting!!!!!!!

for your replies...it becomes clearer the more people explain! (;
Maybe I'll come back in the next days to ask some more questions - CAN I!? (((;

THANKS AGAIN!!!
Kat

How about Bray Tor for a start went there for the first time today and found 17 bxs mostly store bought one but a few really nice cut ones.Not going to be my only vist to this area as i understand there are loads up there.Plus not far away from other tors to have a good hunt around..Best of luck to you tho..

Thank you all - so I think we might plan a tour and have a look for outstanding landmarks to search a letterbox underneath some Stones etc.

I'd consider your tips for my planning of a tour!

And after our trip I'll keep you informed how many we actually found! (((;

Don't plan too long a walk but perhaps plan on a couple of grid reference squares. Letterboxing does take up time. As a rule of thumb for walking the moor it is 15 minutes per kilometer plus 2 minutes per contour climbed, when boxing you can double that at least and for every person you have in tow you can add more time the optimum group size is 6 any more than that will seriously slow you down.
Learn the craft first before going off on a huge venture to the middle of the moor.
Have a good read on the subjects already posted online on this site.
If you have questions don't be afraid to ask we all had to learn at one stage possibly asking stupid questions, If you think the question is silly and embarrassing pm me instead. Safety is paramount on the moor.
The biggest one worth considering is do not wear new boots onto the moor they will cripple you, your feet are your biggest asset

As I had posted here a few weeks ago we went to the south of England for a holiday trip and asked about how to find a letterbox as I had read about letterboxing long time ago and was very excited that we would be in the Dartmoor and that I would have the possibility to search for my first letterboxes.

I AM REALLY SORRY TO SAY THAT I WAS DISAPPOINTED!

We made two tours in the moor starting from Tavistock into the moor:
1. around the Sphinx and Vixen
2. around Haytor Rock

We found 7 boxes (there were many many more but we were not motivated to open more...);
Most of them lay very obvious,many books and single paper sheets, nö stamps. I would call them "boxes without love"...);

I HAD HOPED FOR MORE! );

And now I know the existance of the distance-rule in Geocaching is very very very useful!!!

We found only two boxes that were OK - one near Pew Tor near a little lake and another one near Haytor Rock that is a letterbox-cache combo.

Maybe somebody can tell me that there are more good ones out there in the moor, so I can approach some REALLY GOOD ONES the next time we'll be there! I feel very sad about my experience because I had hoped for more- I THINK THE FACT ABOUT STAMPING IS SO GREAT ... and seeking "treasures" is the best thing I can imagine!

But for now I am happy that I can go out Geocaching...

kat

Sorry to hear your first visit boxing was a disappointment for you
You did hit possibly two of the worst places to start. There are no boxes on Vixen Tor as it is privately owned. Pew Tor is probably not at its best when shrouded in Bracken.
Obviously the better boxes are found further into the Moor culminating around and on Cut Hill where there are reported to be over thousand boxes including a lot of lost boxes.

I know, that Vixen and the Sphinx are privately owned - but around Vixen there is at least one box...

Yes, maybe the inner moor is a better place for finding good boxes...but it was disappointing anyway...
what a pity, that there are so so many miserable ones around!

When I was last there there were three that I could find and they were difficult to find - even with a clue!
Perhaps you could have read some of the other posts on here saying where the better areas are, even I take note as these areas change from time. My favourite areas used to be around Wistmans Wood and around Yellowmead farm, both of these areas have now been cleared but, in time gone by I could count upon 200+ boxes.
Not saying you did anything wrong because I think Vixen Tor is perhaps one of the most interesting areas to visit, it certainly is the most painted, and if you look hard enough the area is bristling with history.
Perhaps, if you ever visit again, you may change your mind or then... perhaps not!

A couple of years back I went out to an area of the moor I had never visited before and only found two stamps that worked out to about £35 a stamp! I can't wait to get back on the moor - compared to London no contest! I would take the moors any day even if it was the foulest day of the century!

Hello Kat,

What a pity your first venture was a disappointment - you did however find 7! As you can see from the posts, one of the difficulties is knowiing which areas have a concentration of boxes as this seems to be quite a transient affair. Delights at finding - and disappointments at not doing so feature regularly on the postings.

We are long time (veteran?) walkers of the moor, but only got into 'boxing' a year or so ago. Our findings have been sporadic, and mostly of the type that indicate that they are family/childrens boxes. We do stamp these (but do not always collect the stamps) in the hope that they will bring some pleasure to the owner when checked. As you have stated, some are in a poor condition, and others without contact details as well. We did once find a nice 'collection' of stamps on the slopes of Bray/Brat Tor, and this would be worth a visit.

I don't know if our strategy would help; but we tend to plan a walk that happens to include a search for boxes at various points, rather than to just arrive at a venue in the hope of finding. I recently purchased a copy of 'Exploring Dartmoor' by Harry Starkey. This outlines some excellent walks (short and longer) and is full of history and other facts which make the walk fascinating. We did one of these last Sunday and discovered many artefacts that we would have had no prior knowledge of. We also discovered some boxes on route - which was an added bonus!
Best wishes

K&A (The Thinkers)