Word of Mouth clues... and a few suggestion

Good evening people - It has come to my attention that there are a few queries flying around concerning Word of Mouth clues (WOM).

Dartmoor letterboxers are a suspicious lot, and those that put out WOM boxes are even more superstitious and careful than others - the Older the boxer the more difficult it can be to get boxes.

Basically this means if you want clues you have to be trusted by the boxer who owns the stamps. I have been told on many occasions to "sod off" after asking for clues - I don't take it as an insult - but back in my early days these retorts were more common place than me getting onto their lists. I do have a ist of friends who send me clues, and unless these clues have permission to be passed on you will never know if I have them or not (unless you see me on the moor with a list in my hand).

There are a few ways to get these clues, if you stumble across a WOM box on the moor, make a note of the email address in the pot and report back to the owner condition of the box, and politely ask if he has any more boxes out there that he is willing to pass clues on. As I said be prepared to be rejected.

Meet the person who is putting out the boxes on the moor and ask him.

The best way is to site a string of WOM boxes of your own and go to one of the meets that regularly go on around the surrounding towns and swap clues.

Be warned though since the Dartmoor Letterbox theif has struck these clues will be very hard to get hold of. The WOM cliqué is a very tight community and very hard to get into.

very true nik, i got wom clues out there, but find that people pass them on to other boxers who have clues but dont give out there clues....... Then you have people who say they have clues passed on from letterboxers asking if there is any more........this is one to watch out for.......LBT maybe, seems a easier way to try and get hold of clues to me....this has happened to a very good friend of mine who i have known for several years and know for a fact that the wom clues didnt come from him. just sad if you ask me

I had a friend who only produces hard copy written clues, every clue sheet has a unique and deliberate mistake on it, so he could trace who was passing on his clues and promptly remove them permanantly from his list of WOM boxers

ive been lucky i know a letterboxer who is well known(bedwins)and with his help and contacts ive been accepted on to some of the mailing lists,but i understand the people who did not accept me,ive got my own boxes out now and i know where there coming from.
also ive bumped into many letterboxes and exchanged emails and nearly all have sent me clues,so there is still trust out there but like the other post said be prepared to be told to sod off.

We have on many occasions met "WOM placers" un be known to us before hand who have offered us their WOM clues, & as we are not WOM placers have stated so. Not one of those folk have ever told us to sod off but have freely given us their clues. There are some friendly folk out there but there are also some very unfriendly folk that will turn their backs on you as you approach & not even have the courtesy to speak to you. Met lots of the latter.!!

We have been letterboxing for a while. We use the catalogue and we do the charity walks each year. We have met some friendly people out letterboxing but we have never been offered a word of mouth clue. It does indeed seem that this part of letterboxing is very difficult to become part of, perhaps understandable, but to us rather discouraging.

theshepherds wrote:We have been letterboxing for a while. We use the catalogue and we do the charity walks each year. We have met some friendly people out letterboxing but we have never been offered a word of mouth clue. It does indeed seem that this part of letterboxing is very difficult to become part of, perhaps understandable, but to us rather discouraging.

Hi there, welcome to the forum, plenty of help on here for all sections of letterboxing.

No need to fear the WOM section. You will only get WOM clues given to you if you put out some boxes of your own. That way you can then swap clues with other WOM boxers. You will get WOM clues if you can give some back of your own.

Thank you for the prompt response. We will do just that and hope to find some WOM boxers to give the clues to! Give and you will receive I guess.

Glad to help.

I started getting WOM clues by asking people who's boxes we found when they had put an e-mail address in the book. A quick mail letting them know what state their box is in and asking if they have any other boxes they are willing to share clues for, while offering to share my own ( when I stated this I only had one box out, now I have 4) . Some e-mails go unanswered, no problem, some I have had replys from people willing to swop clues. One box, I had a reply saying I was the 1st person in 6 years to report on the state of the box, the owners only box.

A year or so on and I have met some of the other regular boxers in my area, Not all out boxing. My up the road neighbour is going to get his son to pass on the clues to their family boxes, after a chance conversation about horses with hay fever.

i just got a email back after reporting the condition of a box and enquiring if i was the first to it

i didn't want to ask for a cluesheet as i am very new (only 33 boxes) and believe it is a bit much to ask anyone to trust a newcomer with none of their own boxes with a cluesheet

aparently not though as i have been given a sheet of nearly 50 boxes and also found out i have got 2 first finds within my first 2 months

now all i need to do is get out there and work out how to use my map and compass properly to find them

Way to go!!!