We have one more show to do before the end of the year and that should be a really lovely one as the setting is fab and the atmosphere will be soooo festive. The show is in Hereford Cathedral and is part of their Carols for Christmas Shoppers initiative. It starts at 10.00 on Saturday morning, 18th December and goes onto 2.00pm.
Happy Christmas!
Tuesday 14 December 2010
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Sales
Today we had Tony Armstrong of BMD Global with us in his capacity as Director of Licensees for Treasure Trails. Tony has a wealth of experience of sales training and creating strategy for businesses and we were hoping to learn from him. And I am delighted to report that we achieved our objective!
So watch out all your retailers out there.... I have a renewed focus and energy and want to get our Trails out to our local retailers! If you are a retailer reading this and want to be one of the first to stock.... get in touch!!
So watch out all your retailers out there.... I have a renewed focus and energy and want to get our Trails out to our local retailers! If you are a retailer reading this and want to be one of the first to stock.... get in touch!!
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Where are we in November?
Lots happening in the run up to Christmas, we can be found at the following events.......
A Shopping Evening at Trinity School, Hereford on Wednesday 10th November.
Lunch and Champagne at Malvern College on Thursday 11th November - let us know if you would like an invitation and we'll post one out to you! The event is in support of Help for Heroes
From 5.30 on Thursday, 18th November we are at The Feathers Hotel in Ledbury. There will be a Christmas market with a fantastic raffle of a portrait by a well-known local artist and will be a fun evening with funds going to the Noah's Ark Trust (a local charity giving support to bereaved children) and as the charity is the chosen one for both BBC Hereford and Worcester and the new Mayor of Ledbury, it'll be a very high-profile event (wear your glad-rags).
Switching to Worcestershire, we will again be at The Farncombe Christmas Art and Craft Fair near Broadway on Sunday, 21st November. This will be the third year for us and the quality of stalls and the opportunity to pick up one off gifts is brilliant. http://www.farncombeestate.co.uk/coursedetail.asp?course=2258
On the morning of Thursday, 25th November we will be outside at the Gloucester Quays Very Victorian Christmas Fair. We are holding the fort for Rachel, our Gloucestershire colleague who will take over during the afternoon and manage the stall for the next couple of days, so if you don't make it on the Thursday, then say hi to her from us!
We are at another Herefordshire school on Saturday, 27th November - The Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School for an afternoon Christmas Fair which we are looking forward to.
A Shopping Evening at Trinity School, Hereford on Wednesday 10th November.
Lunch and Champagne at Malvern College on Thursday 11th November - let us know if you would like an invitation and we'll post one out to you! The event is in support of Help for Heroes
From 5.30 on Thursday, 18th November we are at The Feathers Hotel in Ledbury. There will be a Christmas market with a fantastic raffle of a portrait by a well-known local artist and will be a fun evening with funds going to the Noah's Ark Trust (a local charity giving support to bereaved children) and as the charity is the chosen one for both BBC Hereford and Worcester and the new Mayor of Ledbury, it'll be a very high-profile event (wear your glad-rags).
Switching to Worcestershire, we will again be at The Farncombe Christmas Art and Craft Fair near Broadway on Sunday, 21st November. This will be the third year for us and the quality of stalls and the opportunity to pick up one off gifts is brilliant. http://www.farncombeestate.co.uk/coursedetail.asp?course=2258
On the morning of Thursday, 25th November we will be outside at the Gloucester Quays Very Victorian Christmas Fair. We are holding the fort for Rachel, our Gloucestershire colleague who will take over during the afternoon and manage the stall for the next couple of days, so if you don't make it on the Thursday, then say hi to her from us!
We are at another Herefordshire school on Saturday, 27th November - The Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School for an afternoon Christmas Fair which we are looking forward to.
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Is it time for Christmas Yet?
My resolution for the next few weeks is to really learn to blog properly. I've found various articles on how to blog and plan to put what I've learnt into practise.... meantime, I will continue on my usual vein!
Which is news from Treasure Trails Herefordshire and Worcestershire : a quick update on what we've been up to, since the last time!
e were at the Elms Hotel in Abberley, Worcestershire for one of Helen Hobden's Ladies that Lunch events - Champagne, lunch and shopping! I had a very small space behind the door to the second room and I think it will be one of the last times our spinner will be out as it is really on its last legs now..... met some nice ladies who bought Trails for Christmas pressies, but the consensus was that it was really a bit early for Christmas present buying and I tend to agree. There were some nice things there, but I for one don't want to start yet!
Lets get through half term first!
Which is news from Treasure Trails Herefordshire and Worcestershire : a quick update on what we've been up to, since the last time!
e were at the Elms Hotel in Abberley, Worcestershire for one of Helen Hobden's Ladies that Lunch events - Champagne, lunch and shopping! I had a very small space behind the door to the second room and I think it will be one of the last times our spinner will be out as it is really on its last legs now..... met some nice ladies who bought Trails for Christmas pressies, but the consensus was that it was really a bit early for Christmas present buying and I tend to agree. There were some nice things there, but I for one don't want to start yet!
Lets get through half term first!
Friday 24 September 2010
Treasure Trails Regional Meeting
I really wanted to share the photo of the Treasure Trails teams from Herefordshire & Worcestershire along with Staffordshire, Warwickshire & West Midlands and Gloucestershire, but I can't upload the file - very frustrating........
Business is Booming
Well what a fab week we've had picking up some potential business and some real business - I won't share the potential business just yet, but I am delighted to report that the real business is very exciting.......
The Bewdley Schools Project was confirmed on Monday - we have been asked to work with four schools in Bewdley to help them to create / write a Maths Trail around Bewdley which will be launched at the Discover Bewdley Festival next spring/early summer. We are to work with Beverley, one of the teachers and 8 children and their parents over a five week period with 5 x 2 hour school sessions. But, its not just that select few that will work on the Trail - there will be two competitions running alongside as well - one for years 5 & 6 to design the certificate that each Trailer will receive when they hand in their completed Trail and the second one which every child in all four schools will be invited to participate in to design the front cover of the Trail. The wow factor will be fantastic.... so watch this space! Oh, I nearly forgot we don't start the work until February half term.
The second project confirmed just today is that we have been commissioned by The Courtyard in Hereford to write a Hereford Arts Trail for launch in time for this year's pantomime which starts at the end of November. David has been working hard all afternoon researching the content and we hope to start walking the streets on Monday to determine the route and clues etc.,
So the Treasure Trail week ends on a high! Meantime, on Sunday we are at The Chase Hotel in Ross-on-Wye for a craft fair, so its business as usual too :)
The Bewdley Schools Project was confirmed on Monday - we have been asked to work with four schools in Bewdley to help them to create / write a Maths Trail around Bewdley which will be launched at the Discover Bewdley Festival next spring/early summer. We are to work with Beverley, one of the teachers and 8 children and their parents over a five week period with 5 x 2 hour school sessions. But, its not just that select few that will work on the Trail - there will be two competitions running alongside as well - one for years 5 & 6 to design the certificate that each Trailer will receive when they hand in their completed Trail and the second one which every child in all four schools will be invited to participate in to design the front cover of the Trail. The wow factor will be fantastic.... so watch this space! Oh, I nearly forgot we don't start the work until February half term.
The second project confirmed just today is that we have been commissioned by The Courtyard in Hereford to write a Hereford Arts Trail for launch in time for this year's pantomime which starts at the end of November. David has been working hard all afternoon researching the content and we hope to start walking the streets on Monday to determine the route and clues etc.,
So the Treasure Trail week ends on a high! Meantime, on Sunday we are at The Chase Hotel in Ross-on-Wye for a craft fair, so its business as usual too :)
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Off the point, but SOOOOO true!!
This was sent to me by email from an old HR contact and I just loved it so much, I wanted to capture it for others to read.......
We sat around the table trying to decide who was the best candidate for the job. Mary felt Sam should get the job. "Just look at his education," she said to Mark and I. "Based on his resume, he has the knowledge to do the job".
"But Mary look at Ellen. Her references said she is a hard worker, and, from the interview, you could tell she works hard. That is what we need here. Someone who is not afraid of a lot of work," exclaimed Mark.
I sat and listened to Mark and Mary debate over who was the best candidate for the job. Then they turned to me and said, "What do you think Kate? Is it knowledge or is it a hard worker we need for this job?"
"Both are important but there is one thing you are both missing," I said. They both looked at me like I was crazy. I explained by saying, "Knowledge is certainly important, but knowledge can be learned. And working hard is important. But if a person just works hard but they fail to see things that could be improved or fail to see a smarter way to work rather than just working and working, than that won't help us."
I could tell by the look on their faces that they wished they had not asked me to sit on this interview. We had been interviewing for 3 days now and they had narrowed it down to the two candidates that we were discussing. Now, here I am saying that it was neither of these candidates!
"I think Ruth would be the best candidate for the job." They looked at each other, but I held up my hand in protest and said, "Hear me out before you say anything. My reason for picking Ruth is because of her attitude."
"Attitude", both Mary and Mark said at the same time! "Yes, attitude," I replied.
"Let me explain. Ruth has good education credentials, and I agree that her credentials are not as good as Sam's. And Ruth's answers to the interview questions showed she would look for ways to improve how she performs a job rather than just working and working. The one thing that impressed me the most was her attitude. >From the reference checks, it confirms that she has a positive attitude and influences those around her. We need someone who can look at how and what we are doing, someone who will question the why and someone who will look for solutions."
I could see that Mark agreed with my thinking, but Mary was still impressed with Sam's education. "Mary, you can teach anyone the theory, but you can not teach someone the right attitude." Mary sat for a minute and thought about this. Finally, she replied, "You know Kate listening to you reminds me of my grandmother. She once showed me something that I had forgotten about. As you were talking, it flashed in my mind. Let me share my grandmothers way of thinking with you."
She stood up and went to the flipchart, and start writing the alphabet. Mark and I exchanged looks but let Mary continue.
She explained, "If you numbered the alphabet it would look like this."
She then proceeded to write on the flip chart,
A...B...C...D...E...F...G...H...I...J…..K…..L….M.....N....O
1...2...3...4...5….6....7....8...9...10...11..12. 13...14...15
P....Q....R....S....T.....U....V....W....X....Y....Z 16..17….18...19...20...21...22...23...24...25...26
She continued to write on the flip chart:
K = 11
N = 14
O = 15
W = 23
L = 12
E = 5
D = 4
G = 7
E = 5
Total 96 points
H = 8
A = 1
R = 18
D = 4
W = 23
O = 15
R = 18
K = 11
Total 98 points
A = 1
T = 20
T = 20
I = 9
T = 20
U = 21
D = 4
E = 5
Total 100 points
I was surprised when she was finished. I had never seen this done before. I suddenly realized I no longer had to explain to Mary the importance of attitude; her grandmother had done that for me. We all laughed and all agreed that Ruth was the successful candidate for the job!
You can work hard, you can have excellent educational credentials, but how many points would your attitude score?
We sat around the table trying to decide who was the best candidate for the job. Mary felt Sam should get the job. "Just look at his education," she said to Mark and I. "Based on his resume, he has the knowledge to do the job".
"But Mary look at Ellen. Her references said she is a hard worker, and, from the interview, you could tell she works hard. That is what we need here. Someone who is not afraid of a lot of work," exclaimed Mark.
I sat and listened to Mark and Mary debate over who was the best candidate for the job. Then they turned to me and said, "What do you think Kate? Is it knowledge or is it a hard worker we need for this job?"
"Both are important but there is one thing you are both missing," I said. They both looked at me like I was crazy. I explained by saying, "Knowledge is certainly important, but knowledge can be learned. And working hard is important. But if a person just works hard but they fail to see things that could be improved or fail to see a smarter way to work rather than just working and working, than that won't help us."
I could tell by the look on their faces that they wished they had not asked me to sit on this interview. We had been interviewing for 3 days now and they had narrowed it down to the two candidates that we were discussing. Now, here I am saying that it was neither of these candidates!
"I think Ruth would be the best candidate for the job." They looked at each other, but I held up my hand in protest and said, "Hear me out before you say anything. My reason for picking Ruth is because of her attitude."
"Attitude", both Mary and Mark said at the same time! "Yes, attitude," I replied.
"Let me explain. Ruth has good education credentials, and I agree that her credentials are not as good as Sam's. And Ruth's answers to the interview questions showed she would look for ways to improve how she performs a job rather than just working and working. The one thing that impressed me the most was her attitude. >From the reference checks, it confirms that she has a positive attitude and influences those around her. We need someone who can look at how and what we are doing, someone who will question the why and someone who will look for solutions."
I could see that Mark agreed with my thinking, but Mary was still impressed with Sam's education. "Mary, you can teach anyone the theory, but you can not teach someone the right attitude." Mary sat for a minute and thought about this. Finally, she replied, "You know Kate listening to you reminds me of my grandmother. She once showed me something that I had forgotten about. As you were talking, it flashed in my mind. Let me share my grandmothers way of thinking with you."
She stood up and went to the flipchart, and start writing the alphabet. Mark and I exchanged looks but let Mary continue.
She explained, "If you numbered the alphabet it would look like this."
She then proceeded to write on the flip chart,
A...B...C...D...E...F...G...H...I...J…..K…..L….M.....N....O
1...2...3...4...5….6....7....8...9...10...11..12. 13...14...15
P....Q....R....S....T.....U....V....W....X....Y....Z 16..17….18...19...20...21...22...23...24...25...26
She continued to write on the flip chart:
K = 11
N = 14
O = 15
W = 23
L = 12
E = 5
D = 4
G = 7
E = 5
Total 96 points
H = 8
A = 1
R = 18
D = 4
W = 23
O = 15
R = 18
K = 11
Total 98 points
A = 1
T = 20
T = 20
I = 9
T = 20
U = 21
D = 4
E = 5
Total 100 points
I was surprised when she was finished. I had never seen this done before. I suddenly realized I no longer had to explain to Mary the importance of attitude; her grandmother had done that for me. We all laughed and all agreed that Ruth was the successful candidate for the job!
You can work hard, you can have excellent educational credentials, but how many points would your attitude score?
Monday 13 September 2010
Droitwich Spa Salt Day
Considering when we arrived at Vines Park in Droitwich Spa and it was raining cats, dogs, frogs and fish - we had a really good day! On arrival, we sat in the car for ages waiting for the rain to pass, which it did eventually and we managed to get our marquee up without dropping too many bits in the mud and then down again at 5.00pm before the rain returned. I love the British, the fact that it is raining doesn't seem to phase them. They don their wellies and come out in it anyway and why not. If you wait for the rain to pass you don't do anything.
Again we met lots of seasoned Trailers and loved listening to their stories and we met some new potential addicts too! One or two people have started their Xmas shopping which seems pretty incredible to me, but then again, I love the whole Christmas shopping experience and like to leave it to much nearer the time.
So, Droitwich Spa Salt Day got the thumbs up and we hope to be back for a third year running in 2011 :).
Again we met lots of seasoned Trailers and loved listening to their stories and we met some new potential addicts too! One or two people have started their Xmas shopping which seems pretty incredible to me, but then again, I love the whole Christmas shopping experience and like to leave it to much nearer the time.
So, Droitwich Spa Salt Day got the thumbs up and we hope to be back for a third year running in 2011 :).
Friday 10 September 2010
Blog Writing & Show Experiences
How to write a decent blog post is something that I think about on a regular basis and it seems that I've found a Business Link course that will tackle just that. Unfortunately, though it is full and I can't get a place on it anywhere local and however much I want to write a great blog entry, I can't justify the time or expense to drive to Solihull or wherever else the course is on. Will just have to wait until it comes back to Herefordshire!
Meantime, you, dear reader, will have to cope with my usual style!
So, what's new in our Treasure Trails world since I last blogged....we've been to the Monmouth Show and the Pershore Plum Festival - both of which were fun but for different reasons..... the Monmouth Show was really enjoyable because we shared our stand with Geoff from Treasure Trails West Wales.... in between sales we were able to exchange stories and swap tips and hints on how to be a great Treasure Trail licensee with Geoff. His patch is long and thin and he arranges his Trails on the stand in geographical order - something I hadn't thought of but works particularly well for his catalogue. He also uses an A frame which was up outside the marquee and I know drove at least one person in to try and find us. Note to self, buy an A frame for posters. Paul and Clare from Treasure Trails Warwickshire and West Midlands were also at the show, so it was almost like a mini regional meeting! We talked to several prospective licensees for Monmouth too - hope we get one for that area soon!
The Pershore Plum Festival was a fabulous show - partly because the sun shone, but more so because it felt that we were meeting up with old friends. Its the third year that we've been to the Pershore Plum Festival and not only are we on first name terms with many of the locals, but we met some experienced Trailers that we hadn't met before. The Guillaume family from London bought a Trail from us and did it there and then. They told us that they often do a day trip into Worcestershire from London especially to do one of our Trails and then on returning to London, they submit their answers and give us their feedback... .so it was wonderful to meet them and hear their stories. We also met up again with customer Maggie Skinner, who commissioned us in the past to create a personalised Trail for one of her friends, so it was lovely to see her. Lyndsay Smith from the Worcester Tourist Information Centre dropped by to say hi and tell us that her and her staff are looking forward to doing Worcester Riverside in the new year when the TIC is closed for refurbishment. Another lady dropped by to say thank you for sending out the newsletters that we do and that she was only there because of our newsletter otherwise she wouldn't have known that Pershore had a Plum Festival!
All in all a great day out!
Meantime, you, dear reader, will have to cope with my usual style!
So, what's new in our Treasure Trails world since I last blogged....we've been to the Monmouth Show and the Pershore Plum Festival - both of which were fun but for different reasons..... the Monmouth Show was really enjoyable because we shared our stand with Geoff from Treasure Trails West Wales.... in between sales we were able to exchange stories and swap tips and hints on how to be a great Treasure Trail licensee with Geoff. His patch is long and thin and he arranges his Trails on the stand in geographical order - something I hadn't thought of but works particularly well for his catalogue. He also uses an A frame which was up outside the marquee and I know drove at least one person in to try and find us. Note to self, buy an A frame for posters. Paul and Clare from Treasure Trails Warwickshire and West Midlands were also at the show, so it was almost like a mini regional meeting! We talked to several prospective licensees for Monmouth too - hope we get one for that area soon!
The Pershore Plum Festival was a fabulous show - partly because the sun shone, but more so because it felt that we were meeting up with old friends. Its the third year that we've been to the Pershore Plum Festival and not only are we on first name terms with many of the locals, but we met some experienced Trailers that we hadn't met before. The Guillaume family from London bought a Trail from us and did it there and then. They told us that they often do a day trip into Worcestershire from London especially to do one of our Trails and then on returning to London, they submit their answers and give us their feedback... .so it was wonderful to meet them and hear their stories. We also met up again with customer Maggie Skinner, who commissioned us in the past to create a personalised Trail for one of her friends, so it was lovely to see her. Lyndsay Smith from the Worcester Tourist Information Centre dropped by to say hi and tell us that her and her staff are looking forward to doing Worcester Riverside in the new year when the TIC is closed for refurbishment. Another lady dropped by to say thank you for sending out the newsletters that we do and that she was only there because of our newsletter otherwise she wouldn't have known that Pershore had a Plum Festival!
All in all a great day out!
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Winners
On hearing the news that they had won three free Trails, the third names out of the hat on the Treasure Hunt Day for all the Family gave us this quote
'Apart from the rain, we had a fantastic time searching around Hereford and having the chance to learn some more of Hereford's history from the places that we just usually walk past. It was great to be out enjoying the outdoors and to put our brains into action, the perfect recipe for outdoor fun! We can't wait to try our new Treasure Trails.'
Sums it all up beautifully!
'Apart from the rain, we had a fantastic time searching around Hereford and having the chance to learn some more of Hereford's history from the places that we just usually walk past. It was great to be out enjoying the outdoors and to put our brains into action, the perfect recipe for outdoor fun! We can't wait to try our new Treasure Trails.'
Sums it all up beautifully!
Monday 23 August 2010
Thank You
Just sent out a thank you to all those who came to the Treasure Hunt Day for all the Family.....
Thank You
Well the weather was horrible, but still you came and tried one of our Treasure Hunts for all the Family! Thank you very much! The first, second and third out of the hat have been contacted and we are delighted that there was one person from each of the three types of Trails - easy, medium and hard.
The first name out of the hat was Claudia Williams. She said "we had a really fun and interesting day out even in the rain and wind which was so bad that our umbrella broke!" She had done the hard one. Second out of the hat was Rebecca Harris who did the easy one and third was Summer Reade & Holly Smith who did the medium one together.
If you had fun, then maybe you'd like to try one of our Treasure Trails in Herefordshire or Worcestershire - the medium and hard Trails were based on our standard Hereford and Hereford East Trails, but we have a third one around Hereford called Old Hereford which you can view if you click here.
Both David and Amanda will be at the biggest one day show in Wales - the Monmouth Show, which this year is being held on Thursday, 26th August. It is a fabulous day out situated on the banks of the River Wye in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We will also be at the Pershore Plum Festival on Monday, 31st August. Visitors can enjoy an abundance of ‘plum’ themed foods, ranging from ice cream to sausages and of course home grown delicious plums. The town will be transformed into plummy heaven to guarantee a great festival atmosphere. We hope to see you there.
So enjoy the rest of the holidays and we hope you have fun and get out and about in the fresh air!
Thank You
Well the weather was horrible, but still you came and tried one of our Treasure Hunts for all the Family! Thank you very much! The first, second and third out of the hat have been contacted and we are delighted that there was one person from each of the three types of Trails - easy, medium and hard.
The first name out of the hat was Claudia Williams. She said "we had a really fun and interesting day out even in the rain and wind which was so bad that our umbrella broke!" She had done the hard one. Second out of the hat was Rebecca Harris who did the easy one and third was Summer Reade & Holly Smith who did the medium one together.
If you had fun, then maybe you'd like to try one of our Treasure Trails in Herefordshire or Worcestershire - the medium and hard Trails were based on our standard Hereford and Hereford East Trails, but we have a third one around Hereford called Old Hereford which you can view if you click here.
Both David and Amanda will be at the biggest one day show in Wales - the Monmouth Show, which this year is being held on Thursday, 26th August. It is a fabulous day out situated on the banks of the River Wye in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We will also be at the Pershore Plum Festival on Monday, 31st August. Visitors can enjoy an abundance of ‘plum’ themed foods, ranging from ice cream to sausages and of course home grown delicious plums. The town will be transformed into plummy heaven to guarantee a great festival atmosphere. We hope to see you there.
So enjoy the rest of the holidays and we hope you have fun and get out and about in the fresh air!
Thursday 19 August 2010
Treasure Hunt Day for all the Family
Well its nearly here, after months of planning and collaborating and getting to know more people our Day for All The Family is tomorrow!
Take a look at the leaflet on this link http://www.treasuretrails.co.uk/herefordshire/20-August-2010.html
And listen to the radio on Friday morning BBC Hereford and Worcester - Tony Fisher's programme. Apparently, our pre-recorded and subsequently edited piece will go out between 9.00am and 10.00am. Caroline Forster from the Change4Life team and I met Julie, the researcher on a windy day earlier in the week (Monday) and told her all about our hopes for the day and why we were doing it.
We've got some great prizes - working on a first, second and third out of the hat process we have a family ticket for the Mappa Mundi exhibition in the cathedral together with 4 books from the Usborne "Make it" series. We have a cash prize equivalent to the number of treasure hunt booklets we sell tomorrow and we have 3 free Trails to give away. There will be goodie bags for all the kids that complete the Treasure Hunts and lots of balloons around too.
So, come and find us on the Cathedral Close between 10.00am and 2.00pm tomorrow - do either our easy, medium or hard Trail and the draw will take place at 3.45pm. The easy Trail is suitable for the smaller children who have to find the Normans. The medium and hard Trails are suitable for 7 years and upwards. The medium one is a murder mystery which takes around 1 and a bit hours and is centred around the city and the hard one takes about 2 hours and is a spy Trail which goes all the way out to Bartonsham Dairy and back along the river.
Hopefully those new to our Trails will get a taste for them and try one of the others in our catalogue of nearly 30!
Monday 9 August 2010
Kidderminster Shuttle
A lovely published article by Cadisha Brown has resulted in quite a few sales - thank you Kidderminster Shuttle!
She wrote on Thursday 29th July :> Follow the clues to find smugglers’ treasure
MURDER mystery, treasure hunt and spy trails can be explored in Wyre Forest to help beat summertime boredom.
Youngsters and their families looking for some outdoor fun can search for treasure on a two-hour treasure hunt trail in Stourport.
Their quest will be to search for gold and silver bullion that was stolen by smugglers from a royal barge heading down the canal to the River Severn in the 18th century.
They will be given a map with clues around the town leading to the treasure’s location.
In Kidderminster, wannabe detectives can try to solve the clues in a murder mystery trail.
The case involves a series of unsolved murders committed in the town, which have been reopened.
It starts and finishes in Weavers Wharf and those taking part have to help solve the clues and work out who did the murders and what weapon was used.
Meanwhile, the Bewdley spy trail starts in Gardeners Meadow car park, where youngsters have to help “agent Jane Pond” follow clues and find the deactivation code for a device planted by “Dr Horribly Bad”.
He plans to flood Worcestershire and has planted the device somewhere in the town.
The trails have been organised by Treasure Trails Herefordshire and Worcestershire. It was started by David and Amanda Ingham with the aim of getting local people and visitors to see and learn more about the area.
David said: “We all know that British summertime weather can be a bit unpredictable but walking, exploring and solving clues is just as much fun in the sunshine as in the rain.
“Treasure trails are a great activity for the whole family to complete together as children, parents and grandparents can all get involved in finding and solving our exciting, innovative and fun mysteries.”
Further information about the trails can be obtained by logging on to the website at www.treasuretrails.co.uk
She wrote on Thursday 29th July :> Follow the clues to find smugglers’ treasure
MURDER mystery, treasure hunt and spy trails can be explored in Wyre Forest to help beat summertime boredom.
Youngsters and their families looking for some outdoor fun can search for treasure on a two-hour treasure hunt trail in Stourport.
Their quest will be to search for gold and silver bullion that was stolen by smugglers from a royal barge heading down the canal to the River Severn in the 18th century.
They will be given a map with clues around the town leading to the treasure’s location.
In Kidderminster, wannabe detectives can try to solve the clues in a murder mystery trail.
The case involves a series of unsolved murders committed in the town, which have been reopened.
It starts and finishes in Weavers Wharf and those taking part have to help solve the clues and work out who did the murders and what weapon was used.
Meanwhile, the Bewdley spy trail starts in Gardeners Meadow car park, where youngsters have to help “agent Jane Pond” follow clues and find the deactivation code for a device planted by “Dr Horribly Bad”.
He plans to flood Worcestershire and has planted the device somewhere in the town.
The trails have been organised by Treasure Trails Herefordshire and Worcestershire. It was started by David and Amanda Ingham with the aim of getting local people and visitors to see and learn more about the area.
David said: “We all know that British summertime weather can be a bit unpredictable but walking, exploring and solving clues is just as much fun in the sunshine as in the rain.
“Treasure trails are a great activity for the whole family to complete together as children, parents and grandparents can all get involved in finding and solving our exciting, innovative and fun mysteries.”
Further information about the trails can be obtained by logging on to the website at www.treasuretrails.co.uk
Wednesday 14 July 2010
So much News
There is so much happening at the moment and so much news I don't know where to start.....
Stourport Web want to include our info
Ledbury Books and Maps now stock Treasure Trails
Inspire Hereford are going to do a Treasure Trail for their summer social
We've renewed our membership of Visit Hereford
Bromyard Info want to take our news
Redditch Advertiser have taken our Swashbuckling summer holidays ideas news
Treasure Hunts for all the family is coming along nicely
Poston Mill press release needs to be followed up
Swashbuckling Summer Holiday Ideas has gone out to 7 local papers
Dunfield House has been tested and is ready for marketing
and all these things need me to write up news items for the Treasure Trails website! Sometime soon :-)
Stourport Web want to include our info
Ledbury Books and Maps now stock Treasure Trails
Inspire Hereford are going to do a Treasure Trail for their summer social
We've renewed our membership of Visit Hereford
Bromyard Info want to take our news
Redditch Advertiser have taken our Swashbuckling summer holidays ideas news
Treasure Hunts for all the family is coming along nicely
Poston Mill press release needs to be followed up
Swashbuckling Summer Holiday Ideas has gone out to 7 local papers
Dunfield House has been tested and is ready for marketing
and all these things need me to write up news items for the Treasure Trails website! Sometime soon :-)
Monday 12 July 2010
Press Releases - Swashbuckling summer holiday ideas
Well, I've sent out the following press release to 7 newspapers in the Worcestershire area - wonder if any of them will print :)
Are you looking for a new way to keep the children entertained this summer? And on a budget? Herefordshire based Treasure Trails has the perfect solution. They have created nearly 30 treasure hunt adventures in local towns and villages which will give you a fun and exciting day out, without the theme park price tag.
As every parent knows, finding six weeks of activities to keep everybody in the family entertained can be a challenge and getting them to do something in the outdoors that is healthy and educational at the same time sounds too good to be true! For just £5 a Treasure Trail will engage the whole family in solving an intriguing mystery and will show you a multitude of fascinating, historical and unusual things about your town that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
The Trails are completed in your own time and are Treasure Hunt, Murder Mystery and Spy Mission themed walks. An easy to follow route will take you to the most beautiful and interesting places in that area and answers to the clues are located on existing monuments and buildings. Gary Lineker is just one of the growing host of fans, having had lots of fun with his then fiancée Danielle on a Treasure Trail around Armagh last year.
Dawn Thomas and her family recently completed a Treasure Trail and said ‘What a great idea! We saw so much more of the city than if we had just wandered around aimlessly. It was a great (and cheap!) way to get the family to visit somewhere new and have fun whilst learning a bit of history. Thanks, I’ll be buying more for our holiday in August.’
David and Amanda Ingham started Treasure Trails Herefordshire & Worcestershire in 2008 with the aim of getting local people and visitors to see and learn more about the area. David said ‘We all know that British summertime weather can be a bit unpredictable but walking, exploring and solving clues is just as much fun in the sunshine as in the rain! Treasure Trails are a great activity for the whole family to complete together as children, parents and grandparents can all get involved in finding and solving our exciting, innovative and fun mysteries.’
So if you are stuck for something to do this summer, whether at home or on holiday, for just £5 for your group a Treasure Trail will help the whole family explore and learn on an exciting adventure.
Go to www.treasuretrails.co.uk to find out more and to download a free activity sheet for your children.
Its gone to :
Worcester News
Kidderminster Shuttle
Bromsgrove Advertiser
Stourport Town website
Ludlow and Tenbury Wells Advertiser
Malvern Gazette
Redditch Advertiser
Are you looking for a new way to keep the children entertained this summer? And on a budget? Herefordshire based Treasure Trails has the perfect solution. They have created nearly 30 treasure hunt adventures in local towns and villages which will give you a fun and exciting day out, without the theme park price tag.
As every parent knows, finding six weeks of activities to keep everybody in the family entertained can be a challenge and getting them to do something in the outdoors that is healthy and educational at the same time sounds too good to be true! For just £5 a Treasure Trail will engage the whole family in solving an intriguing mystery and will show you a multitude of fascinating, historical and unusual things about your town that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
The Trails are completed in your own time and are Treasure Hunt, Murder Mystery and Spy Mission themed walks. An easy to follow route will take you to the most beautiful and interesting places in that area and answers to the clues are located on existing monuments and buildings. Gary Lineker is just one of the growing host of fans, having had lots of fun with his then fiancée Danielle on a Treasure Trail around Armagh last year.
Dawn Thomas and her family recently completed a Treasure Trail and said ‘What a great idea! We saw so much more of the city than if we had just wandered around aimlessly. It was a great (and cheap!) way to get the family to visit somewhere new and have fun whilst learning a bit of history. Thanks, I’ll be buying more for our holiday in August.’
David and Amanda Ingham started Treasure Trails Herefordshire & Worcestershire in 2008 with the aim of getting local people and visitors to see and learn more about the area. David said ‘We all know that British summertime weather can be a bit unpredictable but walking, exploring and solving clues is just as much fun in the sunshine as in the rain! Treasure Trails are a great activity for the whole family to complete together as children, parents and grandparents can all get involved in finding and solving our exciting, innovative and fun mysteries.’
So if you are stuck for something to do this summer, whether at home or on holiday, for just £5 for your group a Treasure Trail will help the whole family explore and learn on an exciting adventure.
Go to www.treasuretrails.co.uk to find out more and to download a free activity sheet for your children.
Its gone to :
Worcester News
Kidderminster Shuttle
Bromsgrove Advertiser
Stourport Town website
Ludlow and Tenbury Wells Advertiser
Malvern Gazette
Redditch Advertiser
Wednesday 7 July 2010
TREASURE TRAILS SET TO ENJOY SOME MUSIC
Treasure Trails Herefordshire and Worcestershire will be in Droitwich Spa High Street from 10 to 5 on Saturday, 10th July enjoying the programme of music and selling Trails! The live music ranges from a folk /country trio called Bric a Brac, through a classical violinist, Shulah Oliver, Matt Sinton a singer, Catch 23 a covers band and JT an acoustic covers singer. It finishes at 4.00 with Stomping on Spiders - so there is something for everyone!
We just hope they don't all drown out our sales patter!
Anyway, the Droitwich Spa Treasure Trail is a wonderful way to see the town in all its Music Festival glory and we are looking forward to introducing more people to Treasure Trails through the Festival.
Wednesday 30 June 2010
The Sunday Times
This is what the Sunday Times said this week as part of their 50 best summer days out article
20. Treasure trails, Norfolk
The brief is this: a flask of extremely powerful sleeping gas has been unearthed during construction work in Bircham. Unless the deactivation code is found, the toxin will be released, plunging the whole of Norfolk into a deep sleep. (Will anyone notice?) Your mission is to use your bike to find the clues and save the county. It’s terrific fun, and just one of hundreds of similarly offbeat adventures — on foot, by bike, in the car and even by boat — offered around the country by Treasure Trails (01872 263692, treasuretrails.co.uk). You pick your county, pick an adventure, pay a fiver and download the mission brief. Then, when you’ve completed the trail, you email the code word back to the company for the chance of winning up to a grand.
20. Treasure trails, Norfolk
The brief is this: a flask of extremely powerful sleeping gas has been unearthed during construction work in Bircham. Unless the deactivation code is found, the toxin will be released, plunging the whole of Norfolk into a deep sleep. (Will anyone notice?) Your mission is to use your bike to find the clues and save the county. It’s terrific fun, and just one of hundreds of similarly offbeat adventures — on foot, by bike, in the car and even by boat — offered around the country by Treasure Trails (01872 263692, treasuretrails.co.uk). You pick your county, pick an adventure, pay a fiver and download the mission brief. Then, when you’ve completed the trail, you email the code word back to the company for the chance of winning up to a grand.
Wednesday 23 June 2010
New Trails
We've now written two new Trails which we are really pleased with. One is a 3 mile walking or cycling Trail which runs along the river at Symonds Yat. The Facts: In around AD 900 the Viking Army of Eric, The Blood Axe, landed near Chepstow, crossed the Forest of Dean and set up base at Symonds Yat. The Fiction? An ancient map was discovered recently which may shed light on where Viking treasure is buried. Can you solve the clues to find the location of the Viking booty?
The Trail did really well at the Three Counties Show at the weekend and we sold lots of booklets. Wonder how many sales we missed out on by not writing it earlier!
On the other hand, we also launched a new Trail called Old Hereford at the show and we sold NONE of them.... and I thought Old Hereford would be a catchy name which would attract people to it! It is however, a lovely Trail through the old bits of Hereford and the back story is that many years ago, when rumours abounded that the Vikings were coming, the Herefordian monks collected up their most precious manuscripts and chalices and hid them in a place that has never been identified. Can you be the ones to unearth it?
Both Trails are in the Treasure Map format and to celebrate their launch, we will send one of each through email to the first 3 people to contact us by email to amanda@treasuretrails.co.uk and then await your feedback to see which one you like best.... bearing in mind that David wrote one of them and Amanda wrote the other and regular readers of this blog will know how competitive we are!
Tuesday 22 June 2010
New Website, New Trails, New Licensees
There is so much that has been happening that its difficult to know where to start!
New Website
We have a brand new website which is fresh and exciting and hopefully more logical for the customers than the old one. The website has the same address as before www.treasuretrails.co.uk but is far better optimised and has more functionality. We are delighted with it. However, its an ongoing item on the to do list because we've learnt that its no good leaving it to lie fallow now, but we need to constantly add and refresh the pages to ensure it stays high up in Google's ratings and rankings!
New Website
We have a brand new website which is fresh and exciting and hopefully more logical for the customers than the old one. The website has the same address as before www.treasuretrails.co.uk but is far better optimised and has more functionality. We are delighted with it. However, its an ongoing item on the to do list because we've learnt that its no good leaving it to lie fallow now, but we need to constantly add and refresh the pages to ensure it stays high up in Google's ratings and rankings!
Thursday 3 June 2010
Marketing the business
There is so much to be done in marketing the business and so many ideas to choose from its hard to know where to start!
I went on a course run by Business Link called How To Get Results from your Marketing, Easily! It was run by Rob Lowell of Sales and Marketing Ideas Ltd & it was great - there are as I said, lots of ideas! Translating them into actions is harder and actions that are cost effective or have the ability to be measured and so work out the return on investment is difficult to! Finding the time is proving tough to even do the simplest of things! Take this blog for instance. Its been weeks since I did an entry and I've also been asked to provide a guest blog for a local BnB which is fab news, but what do I say and when do I get around to doing it and how will I know that its been a good use of my time!
I haven't even followed up the leads of great people I met on the course.....so FOCUS is the key I think and therefore this afternoon I am going to:
1. Write a press release about our two new Trails due to be launched at the Three Counties.
2. Follow up on the leads I picked up at the Marketing Course.
3. Write that guest blog
4. Empty my email inbox!
But first..... LUNCH! Or perhaps a quick peek in Twitter.... I have now have 671 followers and the latest tweet I wrote said "Best Hereford things on a sunny day? 1. Walk around a pretty market town. 2. Enjoy a cider in the sunshine. 3. Do a Treasure Trail"
I went on a course run by Business Link called How To Get Results from your Marketing, Easily! It was run by Rob Lowell of Sales and Marketing Ideas Ltd & it was great - there are as I said, lots of ideas! Translating them into actions is harder and actions that are cost effective or have the ability to be measured and so work out the return on investment is difficult to! Finding the time is proving tough to even do the simplest of things! Take this blog for instance. Its been weeks since I did an entry and I've also been asked to provide a guest blog for a local BnB which is fab news, but what do I say and when do I get around to doing it and how will I know that its been a good use of my time!
I haven't even followed up the leads of great people I met on the course.....so FOCUS is the key I think and therefore this afternoon I am going to:
1. Write a press release about our two new Trails due to be launched at the Three Counties.
2. Follow up on the leads I picked up at the Marketing Course.
3. Write that guest blog
4. Empty my email inbox!
But first..... LUNCH! Or perhaps a quick peek in Twitter.... I have now have 671 followers and the latest tweet I wrote said "Best Hereford things on a sunny day? 1. Walk around a pretty market town. 2. Enjoy a cider in the sunshine. 3. Do a Treasure Trail"
Tuesday 11 May 2010
Twitter Press Release
I can't believe it really - I sent in a press release to the Hereford Times, way back at the beginning of March and it was printed at the end of April - just shows that they do keep things tucked away for when there is a space! Anyway, here it is!
Friday 23 April 2010
End of the Week...
..... and another busy day in the Treasure Trails Herefordshire & Worcestershire office.....
Newsletter has been sent out to 322 subscribers!
Retail order has been packaged up and sent out to Harvington Hall (its a restock which is especially exciting).
Bespoke Trail request has been responded to and a meeting set up for next week.
Decision taken on advertising with Ideasforkids - we will!
Stock take done and an additional 100+ Trails ordered from the printer, hopefully getting here in time for next week's shows
Preparation done for next week's shows - the boxes of equipment were a mess since the last show we did at Xmas
Telephone conversation with Bewdley TIC - hopefully they are going to order a stock of local Trails, but no decision yet
Office tidied up for the weekend and writing this blog is the last thing on my Friday to do list!
Newsletter says....
Happy Bank Holiday
As I write this letter the sun is shining and the long range forecast for the bank holiday weekend is good. Three days of rest and recreation for many of you hopefully ~ what are you going to do with them? We are at the University of the Great Outdoors being held in the beautiful grounds of Hampton Court near Leominster and have set up a Treasure Trail around the site, which we'd love you to come and do.
However, you spend your time at the weekend, we hope you have fun and get out and about in the fresh air!
Trail Experiences
Our new Treasure Trails neighbour in Gloucestershire has been writing Trails and we've had the opportunity to test two of them. Cheltenham and Bristol Waterfront - both really interesting towns and some wonderfully cryptic clues to find. I did the Cheltenham one in the rain on my own and the Bristol one with a friend in glorious sunshine, and thoroughly enjoyed both which just shows you can have a great time whatever the weather! Guess which one I liked the best though!
Everyone has a tale to tell and we'd love to hear yours.......the first five of you to let us know what your day was like when you did one of our Trails, will have your story posted on our blog and we will send you a thank you voucher worth £5.00.
Click to read the Treasure Trails Blog
Shows and Fairs
Next Wednesday, 28th we will be at the Spring Gardening Show at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire in aid of the Red Cross. A must for all enthusiasts of gardening and the outdoors, this popular event features more than 80 quality stalls. As well as being able to roam the castle and grounds, including the magnificent arboretum, visitors can buy plants for the garden, the terrace, the conservatory, the pond, the woodland garden and the wildflower meadow oh, and a Treasure Trail or two!
On Saturday and Sunday of the bank holiday we will be at The University of the Great Outdoors at Hampton Court, Herefordshire. If you are looking for fun, adventure, excitement or just something different, this two day festival is the event for you. The wide choice of taster sessions gives you the opportunity to try out a range of activities gathered together in the spectacular gardens at Hampton Court. This is your chance to try a brand new ‘extreme' sport on the Brush Ramp, the only one of its kind in the world (at the moment). Ride your board down a ramp of rotating brushes, with Pro Riders who will demonstrate this new sport and help you learn the moves. This year, there will also be a demonstration by the English Blind Football Team, a prelude to the World Blind Football Championships in August 2010. Look out for our Treasure Trails' Bee Trail set around the grounds of the Festival.
On Bank Holiday Monday, we will be The Dilwyn Show - a first for us. Called a Grand Day out for All the Family, the show is at Fields Place Meadow and promises to be a fun day with a horse and dog show as well as numerous stalls. We'd love to see you there especially as the proceeds go to local charities including the Acorn Children's Hospice and Leominster's Riding for the Disabled.
We hope to see you at one of the above shows, but in the meantime, have a relaxed and happy Bank Holiday!
David & Amanda
Newsletter has been sent out to 322 subscribers!
Retail order has been packaged up and sent out to Harvington Hall (its a restock which is especially exciting).
Bespoke Trail request has been responded to and a meeting set up for next week.
Decision taken on advertising with Ideasforkids - we will!
Stock take done and an additional 100+ Trails ordered from the printer, hopefully getting here in time for next week's shows
Preparation done for next week's shows - the boxes of equipment were a mess since the last show we did at Xmas
Telephone conversation with Bewdley TIC - hopefully they are going to order a stock of local Trails, but no decision yet
Office tidied up for the weekend and writing this blog is the last thing on my Friday to do list!
Newsletter says....
Happy Bank Holiday
As I write this letter the sun is shining and the long range forecast for the bank holiday weekend is good. Three days of rest and recreation for many of you hopefully ~ what are you going to do with them? We are at the University of the Great Outdoors being held in the beautiful grounds of Hampton Court near Leominster and have set up a Treasure Trail around the site, which we'd love you to come and do.
However, you spend your time at the weekend, we hope you have fun and get out and about in the fresh air!
Trail Experiences
Our new Treasure Trails neighbour in Gloucestershire has been writing Trails and we've had the opportunity to test two of them. Cheltenham and Bristol Waterfront - both really interesting towns and some wonderfully cryptic clues to find. I did the Cheltenham one in the rain on my own and the Bristol one with a friend in glorious sunshine, and thoroughly enjoyed both which just shows you can have a great time whatever the weather! Guess which one I liked the best though!
Everyone has a tale to tell and we'd love to hear yours.......the first five of you to let us know what your day was like when you did one of our Trails, will have your story posted on our blog and we will send you a thank you voucher worth £5.00.
Click to read the Treasure Trails Blog
Shows and Fairs
Next Wednesday, 28th we will be at the Spring Gardening Show at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire in aid of the Red Cross. A must for all enthusiasts of gardening and the outdoors, this popular event features more than 80 quality stalls. As well as being able to roam the castle and grounds, including the magnificent arboretum, visitors can buy plants for the garden, the terrace, the conservatory, the pond, the woodland garden and the wildflower meadow oh, and a Treasure Trail or two!
On Saturday and Sunday of the bank holiday we will be at The University of the Great Outdoors at Hampton Court, Herefordshire. If you are looking for fun, adventure, excitement or just something different, this two day festival is the event for you. The wide choice of taster sessions gives you the opportunity to try out a range of activities gathered together in the spectacular gardens at Hampton Court. This is your chance to try a brand new ‘extreme' sport on the Brush Ramp, the only one of its kind in the world (at the moment). Ride your board down a ramp of rotating brushes, with Pro Riders who will demonstrate this new sport and help you learn the moves. This year, there will also be a demonstration by the English Blind Football Team, a prelude to the World Blind Football Championships in August 2010. Look out for our Treasure Trails' Bee Trail set around the grounds of the Festival.
On Bank Holiday Monday, we will be The Dilwyn Show - a first for us. Called a Grand Day out for All the Family, the show is at Fields Place Meadow and promises to be a fun day with a horse and dog show as well as numerous stalls. We'd love to see you there especially as the proceeds go to local charities including the Acorn Children's Hospice and Leominster's Riding for the Disabled.
We hope to see you at one of the above shows, but in the meantime, have a relaxed and happy Bank Holiday!
David & Amanda
Monday 19 April 2010
Variety
What I love about managing the Treasure Trails license for Herefordshire and Worcestershire is the sheer variety of every day!
Today is a good example.... I have worked on the challenge pages for a personalised Trail we are putting together for a hen party coming to the area in May.
I have written up all the testimonials we received over the last week into our new website and captured the names and email addresses into our customer database.
I have also written up our April newsletter ready to send out to our customers! I have cleared a high proportion of emails and as a result of re-reading the one from Business Link I have signed up to go to a half day seminar on Marketing.
I have tweeted of course!
I have welcomed a new Treasure Trails colleague and got to know them a little bit better - they are managing the Lancashire and Greater Merseyside area.
I have discussed our plans for adding Twitter and other contact information to page 7 of the Trail booklets now we have the new Text Line in place!
I have processed all the orders that came in over the weekend.
I have embarked on amending our Kingsland Trail so that it can be published and I am about to do a stock take in time for our show next week at Eastnor Castle.
Phew, after that lot, I think I'll have a rest, make a cup of tea and get the washing in!!
Today is a good example.... I have worked on the challenge pages for a personalised Trail we are putting together for a hen party coming to the area in May.
I have written up all the testimonials we received over the last week into our new website and captured the names and email addresses into our customer database.
I have also written up our April newsletter ready to send out to our customers! I have cleared a high proportion of emails and as a result of re-reading the one from Business Link I have signed up to go to a half day seminar on Marketing.
I have tweeted of course!
I have welcomed a new Treasure Trails colleague and got to know them a little bit better - they are managing the Lancashire and Greater Merseyside area.
I have discussed our plans for adding Twitter and other contact information to page 7 of the Trail booklets now we have the new Text Line in place!
I have processed all the orders that came in over the weekend.
I have embarked on amending our Kingsland Trail so that it can be published and I am about to do a stock take in time for our show next week at Eastnor Castle.
Phew, after that lot, I think I'll have a rest, make a cup of tea and get the washing in!!
Thursday 15 April 2010
Bespoke Trails
Bespoke Trails are an exciting part of the Treasure Trails product portfolio. By their very nature every single one is different and we seem to have successfully got several tailor made Trails to design over the next few weeks.....
We are close to delivering the Bee Trail for the University of the Great Outdoors which has the visitors to Hampton Court looking all around the grounds for Bees which we are hoping will be delivered in the next couple of days from the supplier.
We have designed a Bird Trail for a local camp site, which will be used exclusively by them throughout the summer.
We are commissioned by our local church to produce a Village Challenge for the second year running which will incorporate not only a Trail of some sort round the village but also a puzzle, a treasure collection and a tie breaker as well.
We are working on an event for the NHS Change4Life initiative and in association with Hereford Cathedral which will involve local Trails and be held during the summer holidays - probably on a Friday - look out for details on here and in the local press.
And we hope to provide a Strawberry Trail for the Worcester Strawberry Festival - we are just waiting for the go ahead from them.
Love this part of the job.... being creative! Perhaps I should do a graphic design course!
We are close to delivering the Bee Trail for the University of the Great Outdoors which has the visitors to Hampton Court looking all around the grounds for Bees which we are hoping will be delivered in the next couple of days from the supplier.
We have designed a Bird Trail for a local camp site, which will be used exclusively by them throughout the summer.
We are commissioned by our local church to produce a Village Challenge for the second year running which will incorporate not only a Trail of some sort round the village but also a puzzle, a treasure collection and a tie breaker as well.
We are working on an event for the NHS Change4Life initiative and in association with Hereford Cathedral which will involve local Trails and be held during the summer holidays - probably on a Friday - look out for details on here and in the local press.
And we hope to provide a Strawberry Trail for the Worcester Strawberry Festival - we are just waiting for the go ahead from them.
Love this part of the job.... being creative! Perhaps I should do a graphic design course!
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Carn Brea - Cornwall
Its been such a busy few days with Easter in the middle, that I haven't had a chance to write up about the fun we had doing the Carn Brea Driving Trail in Cornwall when we were down there a few weeks ago.
Carn Brea itself was amazing - the views were awesome and the restaurant sited in the castle up there was incredible! But I am getting ahead of myself.....
The mission we were on was to stop another of Dr Madden-Badd's madcap ideas. Inspired by the legend of the giant Bolster, who could bridge the 6 mile gap between Carn Brea and St Agnes Beacon in stride, he has invented a device with similar capabilities. It uses a strong force field installed in the soles of a pair of hiking boots and a power unit that can be carried in a back pack. With it he can escape from the direst trap and we needed to find the secret code to disable his device!
We started the Trail at Gwennap Pit by the village of St Day. This was an absolutely amazing place and totally unexpected. We thought it would be just to do with tin or silver mining, but in actual fact it was (and I am now quoting from the Trail) a favoured venue of the founder of Methodism - John Wesley. He preached there in this amphitheatre which was created by mining subsidence. It really is worth seeing as I had no idea there was anything like it around. One of the two clues there was easy and the other a little harder to find which gave us a flavour of the type of Trail we were on!
As this is a driving Trail, we had to get back into the car and head off to Carn Brea, to find three clues.... none of which were obvious, but it was a great place to wander about and get a sense of history! It was also incredibly windy up there!
After that we were directed to a disused copper mine where we spent ages looking for the picture clue as we had a photograph as a reference point and had to get ourselves to that place using the photo and once in position, we would see the clue..... finding the position was tough, but we managed it in the end and enjoyed the search.
Off then to a tiny little park next to a pub (!) but we weren't ready to stop for refreshments just yet.... the park had a wonderful set of information boards and we discovered the Cornish word for a toad (cronek) as well as another name for otter
droppings (spraint) - you see, they really are educational as well as fun!!
Clue 13 in the park was one of those that you really have to use your brain..... it said, and I quote, "list the 6 different 4 letter words found below this picture. Applying the values A-1, B-2, C-3..... Y-25, Z-26 calculate which word gets the highest score!! As we aren't allowed to submit our answer, I am ashamed to say I haven't yet worked out the answer BUT, really liked the clue and may well use it on one of our new Herefordshire or Worcestershire Trails.
Back in the car to Tehidy Country Park where we had a walk around a lake and picked up more answers to clues and sat for a bit to watch the wildlife! Finally, we made it Hells Mouth and then onto Gwithian - the whole thing took nearly 3 hours and we were certainly ready for some refreshments by then. Gwithian didn't really appeal, so we headed off to St Ives for a Cornish Pasty and sit by the harbour - a fitting end to a really lovely morning's entertainment!
Carn Brea itself was amazing - the views were awesome and the restaurant sited in the castle up there was incredible! But I am getting ahead of myself.....
The mission we were on was to stop another of Dr Madden-Badd's madcap ideas. Inspired by the legend of the giant Bolster, who could bridge the 6 mile gap between Carn Brea and St Agnes Beacon in stride, he has invented a device with similar capabilities. It uses a strong force field installed in the soles of a pair of hiking boots and a power unit that can be carried in a back pack. With it he can escape from the direst trap and we needed to find the secret code to disable his device!
We started the Trail at Gwennap Pit by the village of St Day. This was an absolutely amazing place and totally unexpected. We thought it would be just to do with tin or silver mining, but in actual fact it was (and I am now quoting from the Trail) a favoured venue of the founder of Methodism - John Wesley. He preached there in this amphitheatre which was created by mining subsidence. It really is worth seeing as I had no idea there was anything like it around. One of the two clues there was easy and the other a little harder to find which gave us a flavour of the type of Trail we were on!
As this is a driving Trail, we had to get back into the car and head off to Carn Brea, to find three clues.... none of which were obvious, but it was a great place to wander about and get a sense of history! It was also incredibly windy up there!
After that we were directed to a disused copper mine where we spent ages looking for the picture clue as we had a photograph as a reference point and had to get ourselves to that place using the photo and once in position, we would see the clue..... finding the position was tough, but we managed it in the end and enjoyed the search.
Off then to a tiny little park next to a pub (!) but we weren't ready to stop for refreshments just yet.... the park had a wonderful set of information boards and we discovered the Cornish word for a toad (cronek) as well as another name for otter
droppings (spraint) - you see, they really are educational as well as fun!!
Clue 13 in the park was one of those that you really have to use your brain..... it said, and I quote, "list the 6 different 4 letter words found below this picture. Applying the values A-1, B-2, C-3..... Y-25, Z-26 calculate which word gets the highest score!! As we aren't allowed to submit our answer, I am ashamed to say I haven't yet worked out the answer BUT, really liked the clue and may well use it on one of our new Herefordshire or Worcestershire Trails.
Back in the car to Tehidy Country Park where we had a walk around a lake and picked up more answers to clues and sat for a bit to watch the wildlife! Finally, we made it Hells Mouth and then onto Gwithian - the whole thing took nearly 3 hours and we were certainly ready for some refreshments by then. Gwithian didn't really appeal, so we headed off to St Ives for a Cornish Pasty and sit by the harbour - a fitting end to a really lovely morning's entertainment!
Saturday 20 March 2010
Not content with writing Trails, we go on them too!
Last week when we were on holiday in Newquay, we went on three different Trails written by the Cornwall team! We had such fun and what made it so great, was they were all three very different.
Perranporth was the first one we did. On arrival in Perranporth, we thought it looked like a small touristy type of town which wouldn't be particularly interesting. As it happened, it most likely isn't that interesting because the Trail took us out of town!! Anyway, we had to start at the Tourist Information Centre which isn't that far from the front and then we headed towards the beach, picking up clues on the way. We left the beach and headed back towards town to find the answer to a great clue on the Museum. Really liked it and will copy it and incorporate it into one of our Herefordshire or Worcestershire Trails. It said ... "At the library, find how many letters are in the word after Heritage. What letter appears in the corresponding position in the name of the museum?" Made us stop, think and count!! The Trail took us into a gorgeous little park with a boating pond and then to a seat commemorating the guy who gave his name to the Austin Healey car - very interesting little plaque. Finally, we walked through a playground, up a big hill and out onto the cliffs and the most gorgeous views. Stopping on the way for a chat with a man who owns the castle at the top of the hill! Last clues were on a gigantic sundial which we NEVER would have seen without the Trail taking us up there! We met a pair of fellow trailers too - they were from Reading and it was their first one - virgin Trailers!!
A couple of days later we tackled the Truro Trail. This was a very different kettle of fish. Unlike the Perranporth Trail which was out in the countryside and incidentally, a spy mission. This was in the county town and murder mystery! We drove towards Truro and as we weren't sure where the start was and we knew we needed to finish by the cathedral, we decided to start the Trail half way round - at Clue 9 to be precise! There are so many great things about the Treasure Trails, and one of them is that you can start wherever you like! Lots of the Trail is written in rhyme as well which is fun! For example, Clue 11 says.....
Return to the Shops, left you go,
When the cathedral is in sight, take it slow.
Around this square of 2 buildings a name is engraved,
This man didn't do it - his reputation is saved!
We raced around the Trail, because we knew that at the end we had a lunch date and we wanted to spend a bit of time in the Treasure Trails Head Office too. The best part of the Trail was in the Victoria Gardens, close to the viaduct which we learnt was built in 1904 replacing Isambard Kingdom Brunel's original one. It was a lovely garden which fountains and band stands but we were a little early for the spring flowers which in a week or two would be gorgeous.
We gave ourselves another day of rest and then set out for our final Trail. This was a driving Trail called Carn Brea. More on that in my next blog!
Perranporth was the first one we did. On arrival in Perranporth, we thought it looked like a small touristy type of town which wouldn't be particularly interesting. As it happened, it most likely isn't that interesting because the Trail took us out of town!! Anyway, we had to start at the Tourist Information Centre which isn't that far from the front and then we headed towards the beach, picking up clues on the way. We left the beach and headed back towards town to find the answer to a great clue on the Museum. Really liked it and will copy it and incorporate it into one of our Herefordshire or Worcestershire Trails. It said ... "At the library, find how many letters are in the word after Heritage. What letter appears in the corresponding position in the name of the museum?" Made us stop, think and count!! The Trail took us into a gorgeous little park with a boating pond and then to a seat commemorating the guy who gave his name to the Austin Healey car - very interesting little plaque. Finally, we walked through a playground, up a big hill and out onto the cliffs and the most gorgeous views. Stopping on the way for a chat with a man who owns the castle at the top of the hill! Last clues were on a gigantic sundial which we NEVER would have seen without the Trail taking us up there! We met a pair of fellow trailers too - they were from Reading and it was their first one - virgin Trailers!!
A couple of days later we tackled the Truro Trail. This was a very different kettle of fish. Unlike the Perranporth Trail which was out in the countryside and incidentally, a spy mission. This was in the county town and murder mystery! We drove towards Truro and as we weren't sure where the start was and we knew we needed to finish by the cathedral, we decided to start the Trail half way round - at Clue 9 to be precise! There are so many great things about the Treasure Trails, and one of them is that you can start wherever you like! Lots of the Trail is written in rhyme as well which is fun! For example, Clue 11 says.....
Return to the Shops, left you go,
When the cathedral is in sight, take it slow.
Around this square of 2 buildings a name is engraved,
This man didn't do it - his reputation is saved!
We raced around the Trail, because we knew that at the end we had a lunch date and we wanted to spend a bit of time in the Treasure Trails Head Office too. The best part of the Trail was in the Victoria Gardens, close to the viaduct which we learnt was built in 1904 replacing Isambard Kingdom Brunel's original one. It was a lovely garden which fountains and band stands but we were a little early for the spring flowers which in a week or two would be gorgeous.
We gave ourselves another day of rest and then set out for our final Trail. This was a driving Trail called Carn Brea. More on that in my next blog!
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Endorsement from the Ramblers
We were really happy to see our Trails reviewed in the book section of this week's Rambler's Magazine! Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Friday 5 March 2010
Article in the Cornish Guardian
The quality isn't great, but its great to see the publicity!! Click on the picture to enlarge it.
And another week ends
I can't believe how fast time flies - I must be having fun! Actually, I am in no doubt - I am having fun!!
The week started with a meeting in our local church with the Church Events Committee - a formidable group of ladies, chaired by a sole gentleman, who determine the events that will fund raise for the church. Last year they asked us to run a treasure hunt for them and it seems they want something similar again this year! We are delighted to be asked and presented some ideas on Monday all of which they seemed very excited about! Just need to work out how to do a treasure hunt round a very small village that has already had treasure hunted round it before! Think we will most likely come up with a hunt, a game and a puzzle and then the ubiquitous limerick as the tie breaker!
Spent some of the week liaising with the Change4Life lady to get the adverts just right on our Trails - they have sponsored 5 of our Hereford Trails which we are delighted about. Next steps are to put together an organised event with them!
Later in the week we met up with two representatives from the Worcestershire branch of The Prince's Trust fund raising committee and had a fab lunch with them at The Glasshouse in Worcester. Great food and good company. Viv and John had some thoughts and ideas about how we could market Treasure Trails and we hope to work with Viv and HotelShopUK in the future using the Trails as promotional incentives. Probably not until early next year, but watch this space! Viv also offered me some telesales training and I think I will take her up on it!
Have prepared for the stand we are on at Crufts - it is a stand run by rgtperrybarr.co.uk/ who are giving us a tiny space on it and so, I've sorted out 90 Trails for them together with a poster and a crib sheet. The plan is that I will sell on Day One and then leave them to it for the remaining days. Hope the Trails go down well with all those doggy people! Stand number is in Hall 4 Stand 76 - come and say hi.
Today, I've been in creative mode - twittering as usual but have also written two draft press releases, both of which will be pasted in here just as soon as they are agreed to by the other interested parties - Change4Life and the Kings Head Hotel, Ross-on-Wye.
The desk is tidy, but the floor and the sofa are littered with stuff and so the next job on the To Do List is to get them cleared and the whole office looking tidy ready to start the next week!
Friday 19 February 2010
Another Great Week
Had another exciting, fun and productive week in the world of Treasure Trails H & W.
Twitter continues to amuse and delight me and I am loving the new relationships I am forming with people that I wouldn't otherwise have met. Twitter forms a backdrop to my week and dipping in and out of it throughout the week means I am constantly being stimulated by what I read of other people's thoughts, blogs, ideas and tips!
Four exciting meetings this week to report on..... first one was with a hotel in Ross-on-Wye called The Kings Head. I met up with James Vidler the owner, who'd contacted me originally through Twitter and we talked about how we could do business together which would benefit both of us. He has decided to not only stock some of our regular Trails but to commission us to adapt the Ross Trail to start and finish from The Kings Head, in the High Street. If these go well, then he will think about commissioning more specials for his customers.
My second meeting was with the Tourist Information Centre in Ross-on-Wye. Clare O'Reilly, the manager is wonderfully supportive of the product and gave me some great feedback about what people are looking for in terms of activities when they arrive in the town.
I also met with Christine Prosser, from Visit Herefordshire, who is responsible for the events that they arrange to attract tourists into the county. We are working with her to provide a "Bee Trail" for the University of the Great Outdoors event happening in Herefordshire in May and she is pleased with how it is shaping up. Lots of work to do on the project, not least of which is to find a sponsor to cover the production costs of the bees themselves and the trail leaflet.
Meeting number four was with Lisa Purslow, the Healthy Lifestyle Coordinator in the Herefordshire PCT, with a view to exploring how Treasure Trails can help with her goals and objectives around the Change4Life national and local campaigns. We talked through some ideas and I am sure that we will be able to work together in some way or another. Obesity is a growing problem!
Lots of Trails sold this week through the internet, although not as many as I'd have hoped as it was half term but it wasn't half term with weather conducive to being out and about exploring! Roll on the summer.
Thursday 11 February 2010
Publicity
Great publicity for our North East Scotland licensee :>
TRAIL BLAZERS SCOOP BIG PRIZE
Published Date: 05 February 2010
A COUPLE are celebrating an unexpected windfall thanks to their problem solving abilities.
Raymond and Margaret Simpson won £346.50 after successfully completing the Stonehaven Murder Mystery trail and being randomly selected as North-east winners in the Treasure Trails annual regional competition.
Treasure Trails write murder mystery,treasure hunt and spy mission trails which get people outside, exploring their local area and having fun. The trails follow a fairly short route so the whole family can join in and get some exercise, whilst learning about the most beautiful and interesting places in their area.
After completing the Stonehaven Murder Mystery trail, the couple then submitted their answer online before being notified about their win. Margaret and Raymond, who help run the Aberdeen branch of Jog Scotland, were delighted to hear of their good fortune.
Margaret said: "It was a very nice surprise when we heard we had won. The trails are a great idea for different groups of people to learn more about their area or other areas and suitable for families too. I'd been to Stonehaven many times, but the trail introduced me to things I'd never noticed in the town before. And it's cheap too - there are not many family days out that you can have for just a fiver!"
Raymond added: "We liked it so much that we are thinking of introducing some of the trails to our Jog Scotland routes."
Treasure Trails North-east Scotland was started by Liz Johnston in 2008 after she completed one of the trails in Glasgow.
She said: "We wondered what on earth we were going to do, how we were going to keep four adults, four children and a dog occupied whilst having fun for the afternoon, especially when it turned out to be grey and drizzly.
"The trail offered the perfect solution as it sounded very enjoyable, we would be outdoors and everyone would be exercising, including the dog! Having downloaded the trail from the website, I noticed that you could buy a licence for the area. I sent off for details and the rest is history."
The company was started in Cornwall by Steve Ridd MBE in 2005, with the aim of getting local people out and about exploring all the beautiful and historical places Cornwall has to offer.
Liz added: "The excitement of solving the clues and having some fun in the great outdoors with family and friends is all the incentive our customers need to do a Treasure Trail. But we also add a competitive element to spice things up a bit!'
The company now has over 380 Treasure Trails across the whole of the UK and gave away nearly £5,000 this year in prizes. Go to www.treasuretrails.co.uk for more information.
TRAIL BLAZERS SCOOP BIG PRIZE
Published Date: 05 February 2010
A COUPLE are celebrating an unexpected windfall thanks to their problem solving abilities.
Raymond and Margaret Simpson won £346.50 after successfully completing the Stonehaven Murder Mystery trail and being randomly selected as North-east winners in the Treasure Trails annual regional competition.
Treasure Trails write murder mystery,treasure hunt and spy mission trails which get people outside, exploring their local area and having fun. The trails follow a fairly short route so the whole family can join in and get some exercise, whilst learning about the most beautiful and interesting places in their area.
After completing the Stonehaven Murder Mystery trail, the couple then submitted their answer online before being notified about their win. Margaret and Raymond, who help run the Aberdeen branch of Jog Scotland, were delighted to hear of their good fortune.
Margaret said: "It was a very nice surprise when we heard we had won. The trails are a great idea for different groups of people to learn more about their area or other areas and suitable for families too. I'd been to Stonehaven many times, but the trail introduced me to things I'd never noticed in the town before. And it's cheap too - there are not many family days out that you can have for just a fiver!"
Raymond added: "We liked it so much that we are thinking of introducing some of the trails to our Jog Scotland routes."
Treasure Trails North-east Scotland was started by Liz Johnston in 2008 after she completed one of the trails in Glasgow.
She said: "We wondered what on earth we were going to do, how we were going to keep four adults, four children and a dog occupied whilst having fun for the afternoon, especially when it turned out to be grey and drizzly.
"The trail offered the perfect solution as it sounded very enjoyable, we would be outdoors and everyone would be exercising, including the dog! Having downloaded the trail from the website, I noticed that you could buy a licence for the area. I sent off for details and the rest is history."
The company was started in Cornwall by Steve Ridd MBE in 2005, with the aim of getting local people out and about exploring all the beautiful and historical places Cornwall has to offer.
Liz added: "The excitement of solving the clues and having some fun in the great outdoors with family and friends is all the incentive our customers need to do a Treasure Trail. But we also add a competitive element to spice things up a bit!'
The company now has over 380 Treasure Trails across the whole of the UK and gave away nearly £5,000 this year in prizes. Go to www.treasuretrails.co.uk for more information.
All Good Stuff
Had a really good week with Treasure Trails which began with a trip to Poston Mill to meet the owners and marketing manager and talk through how we can help them with Things to Do for their guests. Have worked on a proposal with different ideas which hopefully will appeal to them, just got to wait now.
Monday afternoon, met up with a lady that up to now I have only tweeted with. Was such fun to chat face to face - hope to meet her again soon!
Monday evening had the new Treasure Trails licensees for Warwickshire and West Midlands over for dinner and to exchange news and views about the Treasure Trails business - so great to have one of the counties that joins ours now occupied and we look forward to doing some of their Trails in due course.
Tuesday caught up with some of the admin - still chasing our prize winners from the prize draw we did early January - only two more to track down now! Maybe they don't want their three free Trails :) Also had an invitation to join Visit Herefordshire at the NEC for the Outdoor Show, so hope we get to take that up as it would be a good practise run for when we go up there for Crufts in March.
Wednesday, heard from the Golden Valley and Black Mountain experience, a local conglomerate of cottages and B&Bs, who have asked for some Trails to do together at the start of British Tourism Week, so hope to get some reasonable publiciity out of that. Gave them three copies of the Golden Valley Trail which is a driving Trail starting in Madley and finishing at Arthur's Stone near Hay on Wye. British Tourism Week starts on 14th March, so they are going to do the Trail then.
Also on Wednesday, packaged up Susanna's Challenge - a challenge we have put together for a group of hens, which they will do at the end of the month in Ledbury. they will have a fab time.
Last night, met up with the Inspire Herefordshire Ladies networking group - a really great group of women. We had a talk on Social Media from Heather Gorringe of Wiggly Wigglers and Christine Hope of Hopes of Longtown which was really inspirational and gave us all a renewed sense of purpose!
Today, more admin stuff including booking some more fairs and shows for this year and generally twittering and preparing for various meetings next week.
Monday afternoon, met up with a lady that up to now I have only tweeted with. Was such fun to chat face to face - hope to meet her again soon!
Monday evening had the new Treasure Trails licensees for Warwickshire and West Midlands over for dinner and to exchange news and views about the Treasure Trails business - so great to have one of the counties that joins ours now occupied and we look forward to doing some of their Trails in due course.
Tuesday caught up with some of the admin - still chasing our prize winners from the prize draw we did early January - only two more to track down now! Maybe they don't want their three free Trails :) Also had an invitation to join Visit Herefordshire at the NEC for the Outdoor Show, so hope we get to take that up as it would be a good practise run for when we go up there for Crufts in March.
Wednesday, heard from the Golden Valley and Black Mountain experience, a local conglomerate of cottages and B&Bs, who have asked for some Trails to do together at the start of British Tourism Week, so hope to get some reasonable publiciity out of that. Gave them three copies of the Golden Valley Trail which is a driving Trail starting in Madley and finishing at Arthur's Stone near Hay on Wye. British Tourism Week starts on 14th March, so they are going to do the Trail then.
Also on Wednesday, packaged up Susanna's Challenge - a challenge we have put together for a group of hens, which they will do at the end of the month in Ledbury. they will have a fab time.
Last night, met up with the Inspire Herefordshire Ladies networking group - a really great group of women. We had a talk on Social Media from Heather Gorringe of Wiggly Wigglers and Christine Hope of Hopes of Longtown which was really inspirational and gave us all a renewed sense of purpose!
Today, more admin stuff including booking some more fairs and shows for this year and generally twittering and preparing for various meetings next week.
Monday 1 February 2010
Article in the Scotsman
Fantastic article in last Saturday's The Scotsman by a Trailer - worth a read. Click on the picture to get it to a size that's readable !!
Tuesday 12 January 2010
Review of 2009
We've just done a review of 2009 and put together a folder of all the good stuff we achieved and its amazing how satisfying it is to look at 12 months worth of work and be pleased and proud of it.... we've done a 12 page challenge for a lady called Sophie which was for her hen party and consisted of the Hereford Trail together with puzzles, quizzes, photo competition and shopping challenges and much fun was had by all - we've actually just done another 12 page challenge, but I can't tell you the content until after the event, so it remains the contents remain secret to the lady who commissioned it - she is going to be 50 and has a group of friends all staying at Upper Fields Farm near Ross-on-Wye. We've also put together several personalised Trails - some for hens and some for birthdays. We loved doing the personalisations and we try to make them special and of course unique to the person who has asked for it.
We've also had lots of successes with our marketing efforts, including this blog of course and twitter!
Plus our bespoke Trails and Organised events have caused us pain in the making, but have been fab "on the day" as it were!!
So much done and so much more to do....... !! Onwards and upwards to 2010 (is it twenty ten or two thousand and ten, doesn't anyone know??)
We've also had lots of successes with our marketing efforts, including this blog of course and twitter!
Plus our bespoke Trails and Organised events have caused us pain in the making, but have been fab "on the day" as it were!!
So much done and so much more to do....... !! Onwards and upwards to 2010 (is it twenty ten or two thousand and ten, doesn't anyone know??)
Friday 8 January 2010
New Trail ready !
Spent the day creating a new mini (9 clues) Trail that can be done around a room as part of a presentation / talk to a group - maybe the WI, or a networking group or something along those lines... .now need to find groups to talk to! Have priced up multimedia machines, but can't find anything under £199, so may not be able to buy one at this stage, but hope that any where I end up talking to has one otherwise the presentation needs to be delivered without visual aids and I don't think it works as well.
Tuesday 5 January 2010
Trailing in the Snow
Beautiful day today if you are inside! This is the view from our kitchen window which is where I have been gazing out of!
This morning have put together all the games and puzzles for a Personalised Challenge we are arranging for a lady who is celebrating her 50th Birthday. she is staying at Upper Fields Farm in Llangarron and was looking for something to entertain her friends with on the Saturday. They are having a quiz Friday evening and then going out somewhere for dinner Saturday evening and will do the Challenge during the day. Think its going to work out really well for her.... hope so - will post any feedback we get!
Sunday 3 January 2010
Happy New Year
Bright sunny Sunday and a few minutes to update the blog - last month was crazy with lots of shows and craft fairs to attend, lots of telephone orders to process and lots of Christmas stuff to do on a personal front!
Tomorrow work starts again in earnest, but in the meantime, blog hits are up to 582 and my new year's resolution is to keep this blog up to date and hopefully interesting!
Prize winners for 2009 have been notified and I am waiting for them to get back to me with which free Trails they want sent out to them - more on that in a later blog.
Marketing plans for 2010 are being developed and we have some interesting data to share on last year's metrics - again more on that later.
Watch this space!!
Tomorrow work starts again in earnest, but in the meantime, blog hits are up to 582 and my new year's resolution is to keep this blog up to date and hopefully interesting!
Prize winners for 2009 have been notified and I am waiting for them to get back to me with which free Trails they want sent out to them - more on that in a later blog.
Marketing plans for 2010 are being developed and we have some interesting data to share on last year's metrics - again more on that later.
Watch this space!!
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