Box thieves / vandals at Ingra Tor and Pew Tor?

Hi all

We have just heard worrying news that box thieves / vandals may have struck recently at Ingra & Pew Tors. Friends who have 10 boxes at each location have just lost 15 out of twenty boxes.

Wonder how many others have disappeared? If you are planning a visit, it maybe worth being prepared for some disappointment. We sincerely hope that it has not been a widespread clearance and that there will be feedback that all is not as bleak as we have heard. However, any feedback about boxes missing or found will be welcome. Thank you.

Hi, We went up to feather tor and pew tor a few weeks ago and all seem ok then. The weather was bad so we didn't look for many boxes but the one's we searched for were mostly on site.

Paul

I planned a letterbox walk for Pew Tor last Monday. Just before we left I received an email from a letterboxer to say there was a letterbox thief in the area and could someone bring in their boxes, so I volunteered. Unfortunately part of their walk of 10 boxes were stolen only 4 were in their sites. There were also a lot of other empty holes.

While we were letterboxing we met an Austrian family who were also letterboxing, they were out on Pew Tor last Friday, they asked us if we knew where all the boxes had gone. They said last Friday they found loads of boxes in the area close to the tor by Monday they were gone or vandalised. They like us couldn’t understand why anyone would want to do this.
Having said all this there is still several boxes out there I came home with 24 stamps.

Brinnie

I'm due to put one out there - hope that doesn't disappear too quickly

I feel that any other boxes I put out might have to be WOM's so the wrong person doesn't get hold of the clues.
Sad though as I do like to pass on the details to Sylvia to add to her updates.

Paul

Seems the area are being cleared - it is far too close to Kings Tor/Vixen tor for this to be a coincidence. Someone out there has a grudge against letterboxers sadly

I know whom I suspect around Vixen Tor.

We have had 2 stamps by vixen for about a year now and thay are still there and our animal series on pew is still there only check them on tuesday + found about 30 extra around pew

Mr Cock & Mrs Chicken wrote:Hi all

We have just heard worrying news that box thieves / vandals may have struck recently at Ingra & Pew Tors. Friends who have 10 boxes at each location have just lost 15 out of twenty boxes.

Wonder how many others have disappeared?

I went to Ingra yesterday - I could only find two - and they were not in a very good state at all. I was expecting find a lot more there, to be honest.

As you suggest, it hints that there's been a bit of sabotage.

Z.

Judging by the speed these boxes are going - I suspect it is only one person doing it, and my gut feeling is that it has to be someone local to the area. Because it is weird that it is only this area that seems to be afflicted with these clearances

Based upon your recommendations in an earlier thread, I took a trip up to Pew / Feather / Heckwood today.

Pew had loads, most were not in a good state, though. I managed to get five stamps, although I found at least another 7 or 8 that were waterlogged, had the stamp missing or had been partially destroyed. It wasn't very good.

One box had a note in the front of the book, which stated that stamp (which had been stolen) had been made in honour of someone's naming ceremony and that naturally, it was a very personal thing - as there'll be no other stamp like it. I really don't understand why someone would take that - makes no sense.

On Feather Tor, I found 1 - that was it. Same goes for Heckwood. This was with me and my partner spending approximately 1hr at each tor, searching the area - and boy did we search.

Anyway, my collection is now up to a whopping 12 - and no doubt I shall continue searching.

(Although bad weather is forecast for the next few days, so not yet...)

Cheers,

Z.

zooster wrote:On Feather Tor, I found 1 - that was it. Same goes for Heckwood. This was with me and my partner spending approximately 1hr at each tor, searching the area - and boy did we search.

Anyway, my collection is now up to a whopping 12 - and no doubt I shall continue searching.

(Although bad weather is forecast for the next few days, so not yet...)

Cheers,

Z.

Hi Zooster!

Sorry to hear about all the vandalised/waterlogged boxes. It' such as shame that some people have to take the stamps or not replace box lids properly.

You could try the Belstone Tor/Scarey Tor area. We went there a few weeks ago and there were many good boxes there - we got about 20 decent stamps in the one trip.

Good luck with finding more! I'm sure you'll pick up some good info on this site!

James

I think the way forward is to, when siting the boxes, not to put a huge pile of rocks in front of them, but to hide them in natural holes - then they will be less obvious

Hi, all!
Had a great day out yesterday in the fantastic weather , at Sourton Tors. Had plotted 6 of the catalogued boxes, but unable to find a single one of them (didn't help by being unable to identify 'tree with broken trunk', 'tree with birds nest' or 'cave' - maybe we're just slow!!).
Found 4 boxes not in our catalogue (we don't get the updates - too many to work on without!). Made us wonder if the thieves have been up there, as well.
Anyone found anything there recently?
Regards,
Howard n Sue (Generation Gap)

Hi There - I too had difficulty finding any registered boxes at Sourton - but when I went up there a couple of months ago - I found 4 boxes just left out in the open - the contents were all in tact - but I had no idea where they belonged - so hid them away best I could and contacted as many of the owners as possible. One of these was the Chinese Walk one. The rest were unregistered or word of mouth boxes. I think a lot are hidden on the steep slopes - and there are quite a few trees there. However you sort of need a degree in mountaineering to reach these areas - what with bracken and boulders to negotiate!!

I found 4 boxes just left out in the open

Would lay odds that this is a group of people who are leaving the resiting of the box to the last person who stamps up and doesn't have a clue where it goes

Don't think so in this case - they really were right out in the open - no where near anything which could have hidden them successfully. And by the clue description which I had for one - no where near anything which remotely resembled the hiding place in question. Mind this was pre sighting compass - so my bearings may have been out!

I went out with my other-half today, around Leedon / Ingra Tors and what we noticed was that boxes specified in the catalogue that would have been relatively well-secreted seem to have been stolen. Even the covering stones from one site were left there - like someone knows what they're doing. I guess this just agrees with the sentiment already expressed in the forum.

I'll mention the two missing boxes in the other forum folder.

After having seen quite a few missing ones now, I'm of the opinion:

a) It's a person who does letterboxing.
b) It's a person who obviously has access to a cluebook.

I also did some geocaching too whilst I was out - but all those boxes were present and correct. I also bumped into another guy, who was also searching for a few boxes and reported the same problem. If the theft is that rampant, most people won't bother going in that direction again.

(I must confess that we discussed that today - pointless going there if you're never going to find anything).

Cheers,

Z.

I know it would be impossible to police, but the taking of letterboxes is theft - pure and simple. People who place the boxes have spent good money on the box, the stamp, the book, etc.
Anyone found taking boxes should have their fingers broken - or something worse! Or would that upset the 'do-gooders'??

Was down around Pew Tor last week and found plenty of catalogue boxes on the slopes. Didn't search much around the actual tor, but did find some obvious looking sites where stones were in front of empty holes.

Noticed a few new boxes there, one is a bright blue ammo box with a dogs face painted on it. Would be a real shame if that we're stolen given the work that's gone into it. Was going to plant a couple boxes myself, but given the thieving I've brought them back up north and will plant them in North yorks instead.