Why autumn is the perfect time to give ‘digital treasure hunting’ a go in Peterborough

Have you spotted people searching around hedgerows with smartphones held aloft while out walking your dog?

Did you spy someone out of your car window peering excitedly up a tree while gazing bewildered at their mobile? If so, then there’s a very good chance you may have caught someone in the act – of geocaching.

Geo-whatting? In a nutshell, geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, which sees participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) device – typically a smartphone – to find ‘geocaches’: secret containers hidden at specific locations marked by coordinates which contain logs to sign and, sometimes, trinkets to swap.

Users can obtain coordinates local to them simply by downloading an app and opening a free account.

Though it has been around since the early 2000s, geocaching remains something of a niche pastime. Those who partake in it regularly however are evangelical about its appeal.

Kathleen Edgley, a retired Girl Guides leader from Longthorpe, explained the attraction of geocaching to the Peterborough Telegraph.

“It’s an excuse to go out walking,” said the 74-year-old, “and you have the expectation of finding it [the geocache], and the gratification when you do.”

Kathleen has been geocaching since 2012. She identified the social side of geocaching as a big draw, too.

“I go out [geocaching] twice per month with friends,” she added, “and tea and cake is often involved.”

Though it may still be niche, geocaching is becoming increasingly popular.

The largest geocaching website and app, geocaching.com, claims to have millions of users and caches in over 200 countries. Things are growing at a local level too, with Peterborough Geocachers UK Facebook page boasting close to 400 members.

‘Selling’ outdoor adventures to generation of kids rarely veering far from sofa

It has been suggested that one reason for this growth is that parents are using geocaching as a way to get kids outside without making them part with their precious digital devices.

A hybrid approach to ‘selling’ outdoor adventures to a generation of kids that rarely veer far from the sofa. If this is indeed true then it seems to be working.

Like many other nine-year-olds, Finley Canavan from Market Deeping loves playing on his Kindle and Nintendo Switch.

His uncle got him in to geocaching when he was eight and he was immediately hooked:

“Trying to find a capsule that is pretty hard to look for,” he said, ”gives you quite a challenge.”

Finley’s cousin, Ellie – who was introduced to geocaching by her dad when she was four – was quick to agree:

“It gets you outdoors, it gets you doing something different and it’s quite rewarding when you find one.”

According to geocaching.com, there are more than a hundred geocaches currently hidden in and around Peterborough.

These range in size from large ammunition boxes to tiny watch battery-sized micro-caches. Some are straightforward ‘seek & find’ affairs while others require clues to be solved.

Many are hidden alone (‘singles’) whereas others form part of a collection (‘multis’).And with plenty of daylight still to enjoy, the cost of living crisis biting and far fewer stinging nettles around, autumn is a great time for anybody – including tech-obsessed kids – to get out and give it a go.