Can I cheat?

I want to recreate the blog post that a Twitter friend wrote after he had tested our new Ludlow Trail...... here it is in its entirety. And if you want to read his other musings, then go find him on http://shropsdan.wordpress.com/

He said.....


Recently a chum of mine Birgit and I answered a call from Treasure Trails via twitter to trial a new treasure trail in Ludlow.

Having never really looked at a treasure trail or really heard of them before I was intrigued and curious about what it was that we had undertaken. Amanda at Treasure Trails emailed us our clue sheets and we were ready for our afternoon out. Our particular treasure trail was based around a murder and we were given a list of suspects and murder weapons and each clue helped eliminate either a suspect or weapon.

So Monday afternoon arrived and Birgit and I along with Watson her Labradoodle arranged to meet in front of the castle and off we set. We both are fairly local to Ludlow and some of the clues came easy to us, but there were some rather lateral clues that took some time to figure out. Upon solving each clue we would cheer each other and set off following out directions to the next clue location. We got to see some amazing places and buildings that usually you would never stop and look at nor take note of.

We also learnt about the history of the town and I will be boring my chums about the facts that I learnt whilst on my trail for some time. I would defiantly do another trail again and certainly buy the Ludlowtrail when it becomes live as presents for people.

Thank you Treasure Trails, for a wonderful afternoon, and for showing us around a town I thought I knew so well.

Walking for Health

I thought I'd try a different topic today - walking for health. What caught my eye was an article in the Western Telegraph. The article reminded people that they needed to wear the right footwear when walking on coastal paths.... and of course, it is true that you do need to wear the right shoes whenever you are out walking as tottering along in high heels on rough paths could end in disaster!

Although mainly town based, Treasure Trails have some more countrified walks and our Symonds Yat walk in particular would not be suitable for any old shoes and especially not with heels. The walk is on pavements, rough paths through woods, the suspension bridge, the hand ferry and back to pavements!

My favourite walking shoes are old now and I can't quite bring myself to replace them as they are so worn in they feel like slippers and I am sure that no new shoe would feel as good! But I am going to have to bite the bullet and get some more soon.

Treasure Trails visits the Hay Festival

We went to the Hay Festival as consumers/customers rather than exhibitors! The atmosphere was brilliant and we wandered around all the stands of which there aren't that many - I remember we enquired about having a stall in our first year of trading and were frightened off by the price. But I don't think the Hay Festival is right for us as individual Treasure Trails licensees to have a stall as so many people there are likely to be from far afield and wanting Trails for their home locations rather than Hay itself or the surrounding towns.

We had a local Shepherds icecream (toffee and vanilla for me, coffee and vanilla for David) and it was a luscious as ever. We visited the Oxfam shop and bought a map of the region - love maps - and when we walked some of Offa's Dyke last weekend, we had talked about buying one of those really detailed ones and there it was at Hay!

We had been invited to the Wiggly Wiggler's Garden Party for 6.30 where we were greeted warmly and offered cider, perry or apple juice and a sumptuous selection of canapes. We renewed acquaintance with Clare from Trumpers Teas and Sharon from Kinder Pocock and hobnobbed with Anne Robinson who'd come to plant some wild flowers in the Wiggly garden. The time flew by and we were then queueing up with 1,498 others to watch and listen to Anne interviewing Chris Evans. He was brilliant, he talked and talked and we most definitely got our money's worth. I was surprised that he is now 45 - no wonder he has matured!

Leaving Hay we picked up a very sweet hitchhiker and dropped her off in Leominster. Something we haven't done for years and years, but it was that kind of day! Never missing a chance to talk about Treasure Trails, she was very interested and we managed to divest ourselves of yet another leaflet!!

Now you can read about all the Worcestershire Trails in one go!

We've written a brief summary on all the Trails in the Worcestershire catalogue to make it easier to decide which one to do next! We know that lots of you are working your way through the catalogue!

www.treasuretrails.co.uk/worcestershire/TrailSummary.html

Facebook

Facebook is not as intuitive as Twitter, and we are still finding our feet with it business wise.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Treasure-Trails-Herefordshire-and-Worcestershire/162349793818592

Pleaes have a look and 'like' us (if you do!) and if you don't, please let us know why you don't...

Announcing Lots of New Trails

This is one for our regular Trailers - we have been busy in the first five months of this year writing new Trails for the catalogue and although three of them still need testing, two are up and running and out there for you to try!

Here's what we love about each of them and what we aren't so happy about :)

Kingsland Spy Mission
What we love about the Kingsland Trail is that it is written mostly in rhyme and although we are billing it as one of our easier Trails it still has all the elements of our normal Trails with clues written for all the family. What we aren't so sure about is whether Kingsland itself has enough to entertain the family once the Trail is done, but as we were originally commissioned by the local primary school to write it, it would be a shame not to share with everyone else. We are always happy to work with schools to help with fund raising as we did with this one, so do get in touch in you are on the PTA or are a teacher in a local school.

Beckford to Bredon Murder Mystery
What we love about this Trail is it really does explore parts of Worcestershire that lots and lots of you might not know exists. The small villages which are part of the Cotswolds are an absolute delight and must be seen if you are at all interested in the countryside. What we aren't so happy about is that we couldn't get the Trail to go up Bredon Hill itself in a sensible way, but we really hope that people take the opportunity whilst they are in the area to explore the hill itself. We are looking for retailers in the area who may be interested in stocking this Trail.

Ludlow Murder Mystery
The Trail is a delight for all lovers of Ludlow itself and who have been lured with the promise of local produce. The Trail starts and finishes in Castle Square where the market holds the key to many of the local producers and where Trailers can eat and drink some fab stuff. What we aren't so pleased about it, is although we have written it, it is in fact in Shropshire not in Herefordshire or Worcestershire, so when we finally get a licensee to take on Treasure Trails Shropshire, we will lose the Trail to them! If you know someone who might be interested in talking to us about the opportunity in Shropshire, do let us know.

Brecon Murder Mystery
What a surprise Brecon turned out to be. A really interesting town with a wonderful walk along the canal and the opportunity to see some brilliant views and much of historic interest. However, like Ludlow, it is out of our region and we will have to hand it to a new Powys licensee when we get one. Know anyone who wants a fun business to run who lives in Powys?

Inkberrow Murder Mystery
What we love about this new Trail is the opportunity it gives Trailers to explore three really interesting and pretty villages in the east of Worcestershire. What we are not so sure about is whether we should have started it in Astwood Bank, Feckenham or Inkberrow! Try it and let us know what you think!

Broadway

Earlier this week we (David and Amanda, who manage the Worcestershire region of Treasure Trails) spent the day in Broadway - one of a number of Cotswolds Villages. We had a really good day reviewing the Broadway Trail and meeting up with possible stockists and business owners. The outcomes of the day mean that we hope to get a great stockist signed up before the tourist season starts and possibly one or two businesses agreeing to sponsor a clue on the Broadway Spy Trail. Decisions will be taken over the next week, so if any retail outlets are interested in getting involved in the soon to be relaunched Broadway Spy Trail, get in touch as soon as possible.

We learnt lots about Broadway that we didn't already know including that an iron gate has significance when it looks really boring (see the picture) and that the next Broadway Arts Festival will take place in 2012! We found out that the Swings and Things have disappeared and been replaced with a super duper Activity Park which the locals are very proud of and had a really good lunch at one of the local pubs!

Some fab shops tried to tempt us into them and all in all we remembered what a truly lovely place Broadway is!

Do go there soon!