Newleycombe Lake boxes

I have loved walking in the Newleycombe Lake area on and off for 20 odd years now and being new to letterboxing i was looking for guidence on how many boxes are actually situated in this area. I know i should broaden my horizons but naively thought i would start small and work outwards! Any help would be appreciated. Thankyou.

Welcome to the site Bluey1, I hope you can contribute something to the site any comments would be welcome.
But to the task in hand... Without looking at the catalogue, Newlycombe Lake was perhaps the worst day I had for boxing after looking for most of the day I only found one box, but having said that that was 20 years ago. Going further afield to Down Tor and Nuns Cross there are boxes to be found, but these boxes are liable to go missing due to them being close to the general masses idea of walking on Dartmoor.
Personally I love boxing, but in recent years the Dartmoor Letterbox thieves seem to be getting the upper hand in some areas so the number of boxes in any given area can only be described as "fluid", one can hope these thieves will get bored and leave us alone.

Letterboxing is a marmite hobby, either you'll love it and get addicted or you'll hate it. But I also found it was a fascinating way of learning about the history of Dartmoor.

I hope you will have success where I failed, happy hunting!

Thanks very much for your advice, Down Tor is my favourite spot on the whole moor luckily so will start around that area/ cuckoo rock etc. Thats saddening to hear of box thieves, looks like theyve reached every walk of life lately! Can i presume i get a hundred boxes then apply for the catalogue of clues? Heres looking forward to a busy late summer hunting. Im a postman in Newton Abbot during the day so im lucky enough to be able to finish my round and shoot up there. Thanks again.

Hi Bluey

No you can get the catalogue of clues straight away send a cheque for £8 to Sylvia Moore,
25,Sanderspool Cross,South Brent,Devon,TQ10 9LR

Good luck

You can get the clue book, however, if you are anything of a traditionalist you will go out and get your first 100 boxes before applying for the catalogue.
But that's entirely up to you

If you live in Newton Abbot, then just get up around Bonehill Rocks, Saddle tor, Buckland Beacon, Hound Tor - all just within 1/2 hour and just up the road from you via Bovey Tracey. You will have more luck around those tors and areas than driving all the way across the moors to Down Tor to start your collection. Once you have your 100 and joined the 100Club you will be able to send for the monthly updates. Try looking at the Charity walks section, these are a great way to get 12/20 boxes on one walk and also provides the charities with a few more pennies. There is one currently on site around Down Tor.

Great, thankyou all for your help and advice. Think i will get going on finding my first 100 boxes then will send off for the catalogue. Can you suggest any good stamp makers as i wouldnt mind putting one out with maybe "The Newton Abbot Postman" on it with a pic of a postie. Or is that running before i can walk? Im not really sure if its cheaper to get 10 made up in one go or start out with one and see how i go. Again, any advice on stamp makers and prices etc would be appreciated. Cheers.

Try Tanda Stamps - next day delivery very cheap and very efficient. Go to their website and all will be revealed. They provide Personal stamps for Letterboxers and you may find a design which you like from their own gallery or under £10. We already have a 'Dawlish Postman' on the circuit. His stamp is of Postman Pat and his cat!!! Good Luck.

Oh brill, will have a look on their site. Will have to get the old brain cells going then as we cant have two postman pat stamps out there! Maybe a pic of an old victorian letterbox is original or a snail with a postbag on! Thanks for your time in helping me. Cheers bluey.

I found at least 50 boxes on Down Tor the last 12 months almost all scavenged - no kids boxes and hardly any shop bought ones either but maybe I was lucky. Only 1 near Cuckoo rock though - the amount of bracken makes it currently very difficult to search there. Towards Nun's X in the same valley there are quite a few too, but I never managed to find a lot on the Crazywell side.

Thats good advice, maybe i will situate one off the beaten track in newleycombe lake area instead of a popular area like down tor. Yeh i expect the school outings rummage around the boxes. I will remember that when situating mine. Thanks.

With scavenged I meant I didn't use any hints or clues ... just chance finds

Ah i see what you mean, sorry! Im not the brightest bloke in the world thats for sure. Cheers