‘Letterbox’ orienteers hunt for a Dartmoor saboteur
IT IS a whimsical, harmless hobby, best described as an arcane mixture of orienteering and puzzle-solving, with a history dating back to the mid-19th century.
So popular has it become that it now attracts adherents from around the world to the windswept Devon moorland and has spread to dozens of other places. Participants in “Dartmoor letterboxing” leave small weatherproof boxes in secretive but public locations, for others to find; each box contains a rubber stamp for finders to use as proof of how many boxes they visit.
But the normally peaceful world of letterboxing has been plunged into turmoil, thanks to a mysterious saboteur.
Known as the Dartmoor Letterbox Thief, the suspect has been removing the boxes from their hidden locations.
Suspicion has fallen on someone in the letterboxing community who has advance knowledge of the boxes’ locations – dividing adherents and leaving them pointing their compasses at each other in accusation.
Stephanie Paul, of the Dartmoor Letterboxing Club, said although some boxes remain known only by word of mouth, those going missing are frequently those whose locations can only be discovered through a series of clues published in an annual catalogue.
Ms Paul said: “It must be someone we know because they know all the clues. The boxes themselves are secret, they’re hidden. We keep the locations to ourselves.
“So someone within the letterboxing family is doing it just to ruin everyone else’s fun. It’s such a shame.”
Theories as to the identity of the thief range from a disgruntled former member of the Dartmoor Letterboxing Club to a rival group.
Suspicion has also fallen on “geocachers” who are usually younger than the letterboxers and take part in digital hunts using a GPS satellite receiver or mobile phone to find containers at locations marked by coordinates.
Ms Paul said: “It could be a geocacher because they think we’re old-fashioned.
“Or they might be disgruntled for some reason, but I can’t think why. It’s such a gentle hobby. This year I found a big black sack of letterboxes on the moor. There was a sign pinned to the side saying ‘Moving rubbish from Dartmoor’. So spiteful and mean, I couldn’t believe it.
“We’d like to set up a trap to find out who it is. If we do they’ll be completely ostracised from the letterboxing family.”
Ian Barber, an active Dartmoor letterboxer who also writes a blog on the subject, said: “Note to all letterbox thieves out there: one day you will be found and face justice – theft is a crime.”