Treasure hunt sparks police alert and closes Oxford park

1:23pm Sunday 27th January 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Fran Bardsley, covering Education, East Oxford and Cowley. Call me on 01865 425439

Police closed Oxford’s University Parks this morning after a digital treasure hunt sparked an alert.

Officers were called to the parks in Parks Road at 11.15am today to reports of a suspicious package taped to the bottom of a park bench.

Seven officers, including police community support officers, closed off the park while it was investigated.

Insp Paul Beaney said: “It has been confirmed as a geocache.

“We closed the park down for a few minutes while one of our knowledgeable officers examined the item and identified exactly what it was.”

He could not confirm whether the item had been left in place but the park has since  reopened.

Geocaching involves using GPS devices to track down items, usually tokens of minimal value, left by other geocachers.

Once someone finds the geocache, they keep the item and replace it with something else to keep the treasure hunt going.

Comments(27)

Dilligaf2010 says...
1:54pm Sun 27 Jan 13

"Once someone finds the geocache, they keep the item and replace it with something else to keep the treasure hunt going."......
.....Not strictly accurate, it depends on the size of the item, and the type of geocache, a large percentage of them are very small, and only contain a piece of paper for you to annotate with your details, prior to you registering the find on the geocache website;- http://www.geocachin
g.com/seek/nearest.a
spx?lat=51.7474909&l
ng=-1.25624310000000
6&dist=100

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dant40 says...
3:41pm Sun 27 Jan 13

I bet the knowledgeable officer was a pcso.

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AylesburyOx says...
5:07pm Sun 27 Jan 13

I bet the knowledgeable officer was single

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Milkbutnosugarplease says...
5:40pm Sun 27 Jan 13

I once found a geocache in a dry stone wall near Swanage on the Dorset coast. It was a plastic sandwich box with a notepad and biro inside plus a few coins. I put it back and wondered why anyone would hunt for such a useless thing. Each to his or her own, unless you start a bomb scare.

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dant40 says...
6:07pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Its academics. They missed out on childhood life because they had there head in a book so they're making up for lost time.

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Dilligaf2010 says...
6:27pm Sun 27 Jan 13

I wouldn't say all those involved are academics, it's a hobby that can be taken up by anyone that gets about in their local area, or travels a lot, either in the UK, or throughout the world. There are 1,675,269 active geocaches and over 5 million geocachers worldwide;- estimated in March 2012.
A mate of mine, and his wife are semi-retired, but they enjoy travelling, so they took it up, and they both enjoy it.
I guess some people enjoy getting drunk, others enjoy playing video games etc., and some people enjoy spending their time in the fresh air.

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dant40 says...
6:50pm Sun 27 Jan 13

expensive hobby. But your right everyone as there own intrest, and enjoy what they like doing.

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amallama says...
7:24pm Sun 27 Jan 13

"Expensive hobby"
No, not at all - You can start off geocaching with a free application for your smart phone, or pay a massive £6 for a slightly more sophisticated app. Many people start off geocaching by simply map reading from an OS map.

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ange2013 says...
7:25pm Sun 27 Jan 13

expensive? only if you make it so dant40. its really enjoyable, especially for children, i hope this geocache was replaced or returned to its owner.

there are normally items in for swaps if its a decent sized containers you definately do not remove the geocache and swap it with a new container, sheesh get your facts right, read www.geocaching.com and educate yourselves

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dant40 says...
10:08pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Ive just looked at the website as first time hearing about it.

I keep to doing real things with my children then having them involved with people they dont know.

Thanks for the info ange1213

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theotherstu says...
10:42pm Sun 27 Jan 13

dant40 - I don't think you get this at all.

Firstly, most people I know don't geocache with others. They do it as a family. Much like many families enjoy walking, kite flying or even building snowmen.

I don't get where the "people you don't know" comes into it. Of course you can go to events and meet other 'cachers. Like any hobby, there are eccentrics, but the majority of people I've met are a good sort from all walks of life. In fact, many, many famous people do it (I believe the entire Radio 2 lineup either have or are regular 'cachers and yes, that includes Chris Evans)

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Severian says...
1:10am Mon 28 Jan 13

dant40 wrote:
Its academics. They missed out on childhood life because they had there head in a book so they're making up for lost time.
At least the academics learned how to spell.

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dant40 says...
10:39am Mon 28 Jan 13

Severian wrote:
dant40 wrote:
Its academics. They missed out on childhood life because they had there head in a book so they're making up for lost time.
At least the academics learned how to spell.
Thanks for letting me know.

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O-A-B. says...
3:21pm Mon 28 Jan 13

The cache was actually signed by the police and returned as found, so they obviously don't have a problem with it being there!

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Isawyoucoming says...
4:20pm Mon 28 Jan 13

put it in bin where it belongs

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Grunden Skip says...
4:37pm Mon 28 Jan 13

ange2013 wrote:
expensive? only if you make it so dant40. its really enjoyable, especially for children, i hope this geocache was replaced or returned to its owner.

there are normally items in for swaps if its a decent sized containers you definately do not remove the geocache and swap it with a new container, sheesh get your facts right, read www.geocaching.com and educate yourselves
I normally take the goodies, replace them with a 10p bag of Golden Bears, and float the box off down the river. It is great fun watching them shout to each other "I've found it, oh no it's gone, I've found it, oh no it's gone again, repeat Ad nauseam. :-}

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Anthony-01 says...
11:06pm Mon 28 Jan 13

dant40, I must add to what others have said, I don't have kids myself but I know a few families that go out to find geocaches, as long as you pick ones that aren't high in difficulty rating the kids love the idea of finding treasure, even if that treasure does turn out to be a bit of tat in the end. They take a bit with them and leave a bit in the cache when they leave.

It is a great hobby which gets you and the family out in to the fresh air of the countryside. Like someone else has said, it is very inexpensive as you can download a free app to a smartphone which will find 3 nearby caches wherever you are, if you enjoy it you can pay £5.99 for the full app which is a lot better, this is a one off payment like any other app. The only other thing you will need is a pen and maybe some tweezers if you attempt the smaller containers! There are no membership fees like there are with sports clubs/gyms etc so personally I think it has to be one of the cheapest hobbies there is.

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eddie864 says...
9:02pm Tue 29 Jan 13

I find it a good excuse to get out with the kids for a good walk or sometimes just for me to get out on my own. You don't need expensive gear as there are decent free apps for android phones (c:geo) - they just need gps (most do) and they link with one of the main databases at geocaching.com where free membership is available. It is quite addictive and I've started to really enjoy the hunt and logging the finds. It's a great activity and I'd recommend it to everyone.

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eddie864 says...
9:05pm Tue 29 Jan 13

I've read about problems over security and geocachers tend to avoid certain places for this reason.. However, I managed to get security guys involved when I was after a cache in a field near East Molesey bridge. I waited until they were searching where I'd been and explained to them what it was all about etc.. They were fine. I would suggest the Police get a free membership so that they know where the caches are too.

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dant40 says...
10:38am Wed 30 Jan 13

Anthony-01 wrote:
dant40, I must add to what others have said, I don't have kids myself but I know a few families that go out to find geocaches, as long as you pick ones that aren't high in difficulty rating the kids love the idea of finding treasure, even if that treasure does turn out to be a bit of tat in the end. They take a bit with them and leave a bit in the cache when they leave.

It is a great hobby which gets you and the family out in to the fresh air of the countryside. Like someone else has said, it is very inexpensive as you can download a free app to a smartphone which will find 3 nearby caches wherever you are, if you enjoy it you can pay £5.99 for the full app which is a lot better, this is a one off payment like any other app. The only other thing you will need is a pen and maybe some tweezers if you attempt the smaller containers! There are no membership fees like there are with sports clubs/gyms etc so personally I think it has to be one of the cheapest hobbies there is.
Many Thanks to you and Eddie for your time explaining it. We love the countryside so at the moment the kids are under 3. So watch this space for the future.

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Anthony-01 says...
1:32pm Wed 30 Jan 13

No problems dant40. I hope that if you and the family do give it a go, that you find as much fun in it as the rest of us that do it, do.

As for Grunden Skip's comment about floating them off downstream. Why? People go to a lot of time and effort to set these up for other peoples enjoyment, if you don't like the idea then don't get involved but what's the point in ruining other peoples fun.

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Anthony-01 says...
1:55pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Also, if anyone does like the idea and wants to get involved, don't be afraid to ask for any advice, the vast majority of us are decent friendly characters and are happy to help anyone that is interested, plenty of facebook groups that you can join to get talking about it etc.

Wanna try it?
Head to www.geocaching.com and create yourself an account. Click 'hide and seek a cache' under the 'Play' tab, search from you home postcode, there will most likely be one (or even 10) less than a mile from your home! Unless of course you live in a remote location!
Then I would advise that you start off trying to find a traditional cache that is no higher than a 2 difficulty rating and the same for the terrain rating. Any higher and you might struggle if you have not done any before, they can be hidden rather craftily! Some of the more creative containers that people come up with are excellent.

It is a case of each to their own, some people do think, 'What's the point?' That's fair enough. But then I suppose you could say that with any hobby.

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Grunden Skip says...
6:21pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Anthony-01 wrote:
No problems dant40. I hope that if you and the family do give it a go, that you find as much fun in it as the rest of us that do it, do.

As for Grunden Skip's comment about floating them off downstream. Why? People go to a lot of time and effort to set these up for other peoples enjoyment, if you don't like the idea then don't get involved but what's the point in ruining other peoples fun.
I love the idea, being a member of a Far East Chapter of The Hash House Harriers (paper chasers for the rest of you) But I also have a sense of humour, unlike you lot that seem to have had a sense of humour by-pass.

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Grunden Skip says...
6:24pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Anthony-01 wrote:
No problems dant40. I hope that if you and the family do give it a go, that you find as much fun in it as the rest of us that do it, do.

As for Grunden Skip's comment about floating them off downstream. Why? People go to a lot of time and effort to set these up for other peoples enjoyment, if you don't like the idea then don't get involved but what's the point in ruining other peoples fun.
I forgot to add Mr Anthony, if somebody has ripped up the trail we are following or set a false trail we just all say f it, and head back to the beer truck have a few cold ones, and sit on some ice, we don't get upset.

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Anthony-01 says...
11:48am Thu 31 Jan 13

Grunden Skip wrote:
Anthony-01 wrote:
No problems dant40. I hope that if you and the family do give it a go, that you find as much fun in it as the rest of us that do it, do.

As for Grunden Skip's comment about floating them off downstream. Why? People go to a lot of time and effort to set these up for other peoples enjoyment, if you don't like the idea then don't get involved but what's the point in ruining other peoples fun.
I forgot to add Mr Anthony, if somebody has ripped up the trail we are following or set a false trail we just all say f it, and head back to the beer truck have a few cold ones, and sit on some ice, we don't get upset.
No you might not get upset, but the person who spent hours setting up that trail probably will. I most certainly have a sense of humour but there isn't any in people doing that.

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Grunden Skip says...
2:58pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Anthony-01 wrote:
Grunden Skip wrote:
Anthony-01 wrote:
No problems dant40. I hope that if you and the family do give it a go, that you find as much fun in it as the rest of us that do it, do.

As for Grunden Skip's comment about floating them off downstream. Why? People go to a lot of time and effort to set these up for other peoples enjoyment, if you don't like the idea then don't get involved but what's the point in ruining other peoples fun.
I forgot to add Mr Anthony, if somebody has ripped up the trail we are following or set a false trail we just all say f it, and head back to the beer truck have a few cold ones, and sit on some ice, we don't get upset.
No you might not get upset, but the person who spent hours setting up that trail probably will. I most certainly have a sense of humour but there isn't any in people doing that.
No, you need to lighten up, the fun is in the social aspect (I am assuming you have one in your game, and it is not all about being competitive) and whether you find something or not, is just a side bet. But if there is NO social aspect to it, and it is all about being the ONE that finds it, then I have to agree with some of the above commenters. It is only a game, it is supposed to be FUN, do not forget that.

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BenkiuGuasu says...
6:34pm Sat 2 Feb 13

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzz.........

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