About CacheWalker
For those who love Geocaching and Walking.
What is CacheWalker?
We are a group of Geocachers who enjoy walking to our caches! We have grown from a memberbase mostly located in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. However, we have members all over the UK, and the world (in countries such as Spain, the United States, Portugal and Australia). Our members have held over thirty events (see this bookmark list), many of which have included a pre-event group walk beforehand - our signature event format. Scroll down to read more about our History.
Established in 2007, we were the first caching group in our area and we are now one of the oldest groups to still be active across the UK. Our forum is one of the last to be active too!
Who are we?
Well, there are many of us, really... If you're an active member on this site and/or a regular at our events, then you're a CacheWalker too! We have a dedicated team of members running this website and forum (see 'Site Team').
Any more questions about us?
You're almost certain to find an answer on our FAQ Page!
~
The CacheWalker Story - History
Bikermel76 initially came up with the name 'CacheWalker' and its logo on 22nd May 2007. On her blog, she wrote:
"Need somewhere to publish the walk for my series. An MSN Group seems the simplest option! Seeing as it's going to be about Caching and Walking, CacheWalker becomes its name!"
See further below for a history of how CacheWalker grew online thereafter. For now, the story will focus on the growth of CacheWalker in general (as a group).
In September 2007, with the MSN group thriving with local cachers, Mr Wrighty posted a note asking if anyone wanted to go on a walk - the Many Steps Through Old Times series, starting in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire was his suggested route. Bikermel76 took up his offer, as did Mrs Wrighty, Schnarff and JimJinks, who complete the Founder Member group. This inaugural group walk took place on September 30th, marking the true birth of CacheWalker.
The founder members, with the exception of JimJinks, went on to organise the first CacheWalker event - Twixmas 2007 - which saw a huge turnout as the pre-event group walk format debuted. As a result of its success, the team went on to organise quarterly events through 2008, each with a group walk. However, only one (evening) event was held in 2009. After almost two years without a 'proper' CacheWalker event, walktall organised one in both 2010 and 2011. CacheWalker reached new heights during 2012 as crowds of over 50 attended the four events held. Regular events have continued since, with the Twixmas Bash being held each year... it has become a tradition! The CacheWalker group continues to grow as it reaches out to new cachers in new areas via such successful events.
The online CacheWalker community you see today has come a long way...
As mentioned above, the story of CacheWalker's online growth began with an MSN group launched on May 22nd 2007. As its memberbase grew, Bikermel76 realised that a forum would be better suited for CacheWalker. In August 2008, the CacheWalker.co.uk forum launched along with a new, separate website: with this came even more members.
As Griff Grof joined in November 2010, discussion picked up a little as he began posting new topics and asking when the next CacheWalker event would be held. Several other members began discussing this too. Thereafter, the forum became an even more popular hub for Geocaching discussion. However, in early 2012 not all was well: every time someone made a post a 'D-bug Mode' message would torment them. The site would crash ever so often. Guests could no longer register for membership.
As a result, Griff Grof launched a brand new forum on February 27th 2012. It grew quickly: in fact, CacheWalker was amongst the most active Geocaching forums in the UK, with a post rate of 14/day at one point. As the forum moved in to its second year, the impact of Geocaching discussion moving to Facebook began to show. Its 2012 post rate has not been matched - a trend reflected in every Geocaching forum globally. Nonetheless, CacheWalker continues to be active.
In 2014, the separate website and forum were merged. With many cachers not keen on using forums, a CacheWalker Facebook Group was also launched. This added on to the existing CacheWalker Twitter and YouTube accounts established in 2013.
This page was last updated in December 2019.