Can letterboxers police themselves?

General letterboxing discussion.

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NanoRuler
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Re: Policing letterboxers

Post by NanoRuler »

The Stationary Traveller wrote:The proliferation of roadside boxes or rubbish designs did not help.
I hate to say this, but I take exception to that statement. Perhaps you can try and qualify it with detail of what (to your opinion) qualifies a design as rubbish or not?

Regardless of when whomever started boxing, please, PLEASE don't do the "purist" thing!

The way I see it is that the moor belongs to everybody, even to those that cannot stand it, and yes, yes are such people. Obviously I'm using the word belong in a metaphorical rather than Land Registry sense here!

Some of us love the moor and suffer withdrawal symptoms when not visiting it often enough. Some of us views letterboxing as a good excuse to be out and about on the moor, as opposed to Dartmoor being a handy place to do letterboxing.

To some of us the focus is and will always remain on the moor and not on some letterbox, however much pleasure we may obtain from seeking out and hopefully finding letterboxes.

Some of us understand the huge economic benefit letterboxers bring to Dartmoor and surrounds - a benefit that allows people to live in the area. In economic sense it doesn't matter whether or not a letterboxer only uses shop-bought stamps, or delicate hand-carved exquisite creations.

So please, step back a moment from your purist idealism and look at what is best for the moor first, then what (to your opinion) is best for letterboxing.

The moor was there long before letterboxing started, and will be there long after letterboxing faded away (as all things eventually do).
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Re: Policing letterboxers

Post by m & s »

The proliferation of roadside boxes or rubbish designs did not help.
I am afraid I cannot quite see how the actual design of a stamp or putting it closer to the road is making the moor suffer as a result. One could argue that the less distance people have to go in to get a box, the less damage may be done to birds nesting etc., and you are keeping the genuine heart of the moor or the sensitive areas unscathed. Does it need to be a five mile trek, up to your waist in peaty water to get a box before you are properly `letterboxing`? Besides which, if boxes are not very far in and are left untended there is far more chance of them being found and removed than probably the hundreds that are buried in Cut Hill, which will possibly never be retrieved as people lose interest and give up `boxing, but cannot be bothered to walk that far to take their boxes back in

We have in our series both boxes that are a long way in, and those that are close to the road. We have done this deliberately so that some of the letterboxers that we know, who have been `boxing for years and are unable now to go too far, can still enjoy a day collecting stamps. We look after the boxes, and we replace the stamps when some nasty individual who think they have the right to impose their opinions on others in this underhand and cowardly way see fit to take them.
If someone produces a stamp that is amateurish or not pertaining to Dartmoor, then as long as they look after it, and do not site it somewhere unsuitable, then surely it is for the person collecting them to decide wether to go after them or not.

Letterboxing is, I thought, supposed to be fun and just a hobby.
Children love it, and therefore probably enjoy collecting the cartoon character type stamps sneered at by the purists. Isn`t there room for everyone to enjoy their own type of letterboxing, and shouldn`t the emphasis be placed on siting boxes properly, and maintaining them afterwards.
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Post by Jones family on tor »

Well that has provoked a comprehensive response from Nano Ruler and m&s. I don't wish to add to their comments but I fully endorse them in their entirety.
It's a lot easier to type as well.
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Post by Fulchet »

Jones family on tor wrote:Well that has provoked a comprehensive response from Nano Ruler and m&s. I don't wish to add to their comments but I fully endorse them in their entirety.
It's a lot easier to type as well.

I also agree
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Post by Nik - KOTM »

Hold on here people :
First of all - Welcome to The Stationary Traveller

Everyone in here has a right to voice an opinion and there are a great many things the The Stationary Traveller has made.
One of which is the proliferation of litterboxes on the roadside - I agree the majority of these boxes are cheap commercial rubbish that seems to be dominating a large part of my collection. To give an example I found five copies of the SAME STAMP with different names - Hence this is where I can see the purity of a true letterboxer desire.
It wasn't that long ago all the stamps were UNIQUE either hand cut or comissioned by the owner, and this is where I think the train of thought is meant to go.

The other point that was raised is about the Tony and Godfrey effect, now I know a lot of "old Time boxers" who never agreed with the 100 club as it stands today with how popular it has become. Years ago it was ALL WORD OF MOUTH and none of these charity walks and clue sheets were either written out typed out or a clue for the next box could be found in the container of the box you just found.

Also remember that to get 100 stamps was an achievement back then - now it is so easy it is untrue - I reckon I could find 100 stamps in a day if I pushed it hard enough - you allo know which two sites I would hit.
I was at the meet the day Tony Moore agreed to allow WOM boxes into the final equation - prior to that as it says non 100 club and 100 club. #And in those days I had close on to 20000 clues for WOM boxes (but no car)

I also agree that a lot of boxers give up and never reclaim their boxes but usually their freinds will go and get them for them... however in this day and age it sometimes isn't worth going to get it because it has been stolen!

Thats my bit on the arguement and remember folks this is a happy forum with all of us having one thing in common the hunt for the letterbox!
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Post by NanoRuler »

Nik, of course everybody's entitled to their own opinion.

Even as a newbie I would still prefer not to have some off-the-shelf stamp in a letterbox, and I think virtually everybody would feel that way.

Still, The Stationary Traveller made a statement about the proliferation of rubbish designs. Now had he/she stated they object to all the off-the-shelf stamps, it would have been an entirely different point.

But they didn't - and I stand by what I said: I'd very much like The Stationary Traveller to explain what constitutes a "rubbish design".
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Post by m & s »

Surely then the answer is to not worry too much about collecting as many stamps as possible, but to collect the stamps series from letterboxers who you know will always put out quality and relevant stamps to Dartmoor.
Go for quality not quantity, and speaking up as someone who does sometimes put a box close to the road, and also sometimes puts out the dreaded charity walk, my artwork takes hours to do, it is unique, it is Dartmoor related, and the stamps are made of rubber not polymer, so that the quality is superior and costs us a lot of money to have made, therefore one should not really generalize, as I expect there are stamps buried deep in Cut Hill that are of the sort criticised and `rubbish designs` whatever they are.
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Post by Nik - KOTM »

May I take the opportunity to explain a rubbish design.
It is a rubber that has been hacked as opposed to being carved - I know someone who can draw beautifully and create beautiful art but his carving leaves a lot to be desired yet his stamps are are not the worst I have seen.

A stamp I collected many many years ago I use as a bench mark (one day I will find out what it is and tell you) for badness I just remember I found it near Brians money box stamp - it is the worst carved stamp I have ever seen and it was in the catalogue. Rubbers that have had the name of something crudely hacked into it creating a negative I don't like and call rubbish whereas the opposite where most of the rubber has been removed, creating a positive image, are infinitely better.
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Post by NanoRuler »

See, Nik, that's where personal choice comes into it:
I'd much rather have a crudely hacked but certainly unique stamp than a well-made but generic off-the-shelf stamp.

At least the person that "crudely hacked" the rubber put in some effort.
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Post by Dizzy »

I must admit, I do like to find even a basic attempt at a hand carved stamp, at least someone has had a go at making something unique. Sorry Nik, not something I can agree on for a change.
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Post by Fulchet »

And me I'm afraid. Although I hear your comments Nik, I do feel if someone has gone to the time and trouble to make their own stamp, I take my hat off to them. And people have to start somewhere.

I do appreciate the comments made about too many shop bought stamps. However, again, if it is a young person just starting out on a life of letterboxing, then let's not discourage them.
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Post by cranmere »

That sort of regimented approach would be a serious deterrent to some of us. Part of the reason I love the Moor is that when I'm walking I'm free from the never-ending interference from the nanny-state and self-appointed control freaks who want to control how we do everything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Post by moorland wizard »

What ever the stamp is. It is like every day you take the good with the bad, but all still counts on the way to 1 million stamps!!!!!!

You will always find one really good stamp on a walk that you will like, even with loads of shop bought stamps, what ever everyones opinion who ever puts a box out still has to pay for it and make the effort to place it out under a rock.
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Post by NUMBER 70 »

So I would like to ask two questions,

How many boxes does Staionary Traveller have out on the moor?

and

What are the designs like?

I look forward to the reply and searching for one so long as it is not to far away from a road HA HA :wink: :lol:
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Post by cranmere »

Number 70, I don't think that's a relevant question. I don't have any boxes out on the Moor either. As for artistic merit, my artistic ability stops at drawing stick figures and if you're lucky they will have the correct number of legs!
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