Monday 30 March 2015

Spring Meet 2015

The 72nd Meet took place this past weekend.  It has been 37 years since Letterboxing's first Meet at the Forest Inn near Hexworthy.  A Dartmoor pub which has since closed, but up for sale for just a £1!

The bi-annual gathering now calls Lee Moor Village Hall home.  I did attend.  It was great to catch up with some familiar faces, and purchase the new catalogue.

The introduction to the new book of clues offers an update on Godfrey Swinscow - the 'father' of modern Letterboxing.  In the 1980s as the burgeoning hobby threatened to incur the wrath of the National Park, it was 'God' who stepped in and created the 100 club and the concept of registering boxes.  Godfrey - who celebrated his 96th birthday on Sunday - now resides in a Devon residential home with his wife, Anne.  He still has an interest in Letterboxing, albeit by only enjoying looking at stamps brought in by his visitors.  It was fantastic to hear how Godfrey is doing, as it has been so long since the last update.

With charity walks bought, Letterboxing routes must now be planned for the Lyd Valley, Cox Tor and Mel Tor areas.

3 comments:

Jill said...

Good to hear of Anne and Godfrey

Unknown said...

Do you have an address for Godfrey and ~Anne. I wuld love to send them a card - for old times' sake and all the letterboxing fun we enjoyed in the Good Old Days.

whoisthechallenger said...

Hi Gloria. I understand that their Diptford home has been sold, and I don't know which residential home they are in. I'm sorry! :( Perhaps it is worth contacting Sylvia Moore for some information? Her contact details are on information page of the website: http://letterboxingondartmoor.co.uk/ Sylvia was kind enough to tell me about Godfrey's birthday at the Meet.