Whitehorse Hill

Report missing or damaged boxes.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
BadDog
Drifter
Drifter
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 5:03 pm
Location: Dorset UK

Whitehorse Hill

Post by BadDog »

Just back from a weekend on the moor, I found a smashed letterbox pot on Whitehorse Hill with a triangular Dartmoor Pony Express No5 stamp and soggy pulp which used to be the book. I placed the stamp in a plastic bag and placed remains of pot upside down back in hole. Whoever owns it may want to go check on it.
Last edited by BadDog on Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
whoisthechallenger
Trekker
Trekker
Posts: 217
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2009 9:02 pm
Location: St Day, Cornwall
Contact:

Post by whoisthechallenger »

And therein lies the problem.

You have found a 'litterbox'. Its name, age, owner unknown. You want to do what is right.

It has been discussed many times on this forum before. The consensus is to remove such boxes, seek out the owner via this site or another source and return their property to them.

In reality, it is a case of removing the pulp and disposing of it. This may be the case with boxes where the stamp is unreadable as well. None of us want to give letterboxing a bad name, and, frankly, a plastic pot of mush is better off in the bin than on the moor.

WITC, however, might be the next visitor to Whitehorse No.4. ' Where is it?' We wonder. Damn that letterbox thief...

The proliferation of boxes sited during the letterboxing peak (the 1990s, in WITCs opinion) reaching their life expectancy now, coupled with large numbers of letterboxers abandoning their boxes too, as letterboxing – particularly WOM letterboxing - is in decline, it is inevitable that talk of a rampant letterbox thief increases.

Who should be responsible for these litterboxes? Should we all carry spare pots, books, glue (letterbox repair kits, in other words) in the same way we carry ink pads and postcards?
Do we remove everything we consider to be unexpected and unmaintained in order to uphold the letterboxing tradition and reputation? Or should we get with the times, put the catalogue online to subscribers and manage the problem?
A Dartmoor Letterboxing blog:
www.who-is-the-challenger.blogspot.com
User avatar
BadDog
Drifter
Drifter
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 5:03 pm
Location: Dorset UK

Post by BadDog »

I stood there with the whole dripping mess in my hand wondering what to do with it for about 10 minutes. My first reaction was to take it off the moor and contact the owner. Then I thought I might be seen as a letterbox thief so decided to leave it where i found it albeit in a sealed plastic bag to stop it degrading further.

Im not sure what the answer is, I get the same buzz from finding a new letterbox now as I did as a 14 year old, to put them online imo is just asking for them to be stolen.

i know the location, so if anyone is the owner of a triangular stamp marked "dartmoor pony express no 5" message me and i'll tell u where i found it
User avatar
Sowerby Streaker
Site Admin
Posts: 713
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:15 pm
Location: Brixham

Post by Sowerby Streaker »

I found that box many years ago - will have to look up and see if I noted the owner. Don't worry about catalogue and WOM clues going on-line - that will never happen. The only clues likely to be published are those by boxers who want them on line. Silly idea really as the minute a clue is published it will be stolen.
Post Reply