Pots of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

In today’s blog we have some suggestions on how Trailers might find treasure at the end of their walk with a difference.

About two or maybe three times a year we hear from a customer who expected to find real and actual treasure at the end of their Treasure Trails experience. We do try and make sure it is clear on our website and in the booklets that there is no actual treasure, but of course there is nothing to stop Trailers from producing treasure at the end for everyone who joined in with the walk.

Physical Treasure

The treasure can be physical, maybe it's ice creams all round or some posh nosh in a restaurant or cafe spotted along the way. We heard from a family who took about 13 of their family out on a Treasure Trail and then during the picnic afterwards all the conversation was about the different things that were found or learnt along the way!

Certificate

There is a certificate you can download from our website once you have submitted your answer. This can be printed on your printer and handed to the children to proudly display in their bedrooms or on the family fridge!! 

Emotional Treasure

Or the “treasure” found can be emotional - there is no doubt that many Trailers have a sense of achievement when completing one of the more fiendish Treasure Trails - we know from the comments that we get when people submit their answers. VC from Telford said after completing the Ludlow Trail “We found the varied items to look for really riveting. The fire on off had us stumped for ages so we were delighted when we found it. This was my favourite trail”.  Sometimes we read between the lines and know everyone had fun and got involved. KC from Cheltenham said “Really enjoyed the trail, especially the slightly more cryptic clues. Good for a family as the mix of clues were accessible to all.” They had tackled the Malvern Hills Spy Mission.

Afterglow

Or the treasure could be the glow you get when you are the winners! Not all families and couples that do our Trails are competitive but we know that many of you are! One easy way to create a winner is to divide the map on the lost treasure versions into quarters (if there are four of you) or fifths if there are five and so on. Then allocate a section to each person and the person with the section that contains the answer is the winner! This method of producing a winner also works well by dividing up the suspect gallery on the Murder Mysteries.

New Information

Or maybe the treasure found is what you learnt along the way. Regular Treasure Trailers know that we do our best to include a few Did You Knows throughout, that are extra snippets about the town or area that you are exploring. We often get asked for more information but with only 48 boxes in each Trail, we are sometimes stuck for space when there is plenty of clue material or lots of picture clues included! If each time someone does a Treasure Trail they learn something or see something they’ve never seen before we are delighted. As Leonardo da Vinci apparently said “learning never exhausts the mind”.

But, having said all that, there is a chance for some Trailers to get real treasure from Treasure Trails. Up until last year we did a prize draw every January and the names of everyone who submitted answers were ‘put into a hat’ and one name was drawn out and that person had won £1,000!  We have had some lovely winners of the £1,000 all of whom have said they didn’t submit their answers to win the money but that it was very welcome nevertheless!

In 2016 the rules have been changed and we now pick a winner EVERY month!  Each month someone wins £100. January's winner was Rosalind Middleton, who successfully submitted her answer to the Seaburn to Whitburn Treasure Trail. February's winner was super sleuth Keir Esson  who successfully submitted his answer to The Regent's Park Murder Mystery Treasure Trail and was drawn at random from all of our correct entries for February to win £100!

So you see there is Treasure at the end of the Trails after all!