You’ll learn how to create a number of different clues, pick a theme as well as how to make an authentic looking treasure map.

All you’ll need is a couple of household objects, some willing pirates and of course – some TREASURE!
The brilliant treasure hunt that you create is limited only by your own imagination, kids’ party, hen do or team building event.

The book includes a pirate dictionary, ideas for other clues and alternative themes for FREE.

If you would like a professionally organised large treasure hunt then please get in touch with Treasure Hunt Design.

TV Treasure Hunter to the Rescue

Professional treasure hunt expert, Sam Gething-Lewis, has been called in by Ruth Watson from Channel 4’s Country House Rescue to help revive the fortunes of an ailing property in Watford.

Garston Manor was bought by Sheila O’Neill for £500,000 as a wreck. On the programme to be shown this week, her daughters plan new money-making schemes, including a UFO academy and a treasure hunt at the Georgian property.

“It was great working with Ruth, she is a real professional,” said Sam, who’s from Blakeney. “The girls at Garston were a scream, you’ll have to watch the episode to find out how it all turns out!”
Sam launched Treasure Hunt Design in 2009 and the business has grown from strength to strength, featuring everything from hi-tech cross-country adventures with the Land Rover Experience, to baffling brainy professors in city centre puzzles.

Treasure Hunt Design has recently completed a successful pilot for families with the National Trust in Montacute House in Somerset, with a view to rolling the model out to properties across the country. More locally, during the last decade Sam and his team have completed almost thirty treasure hunts for one location alone. You can take part in one of the treasure hunts over this Easter weekend at the spectacular Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, hunting for the hidden giant eggs.

“He is very creative and his work is slightly ‘off the wall’ which makes it much more interesting and unusual, said Simon Foster, Eastnor Castle’s estate manager.

Treasure Hunt Design’s latest project in development is a creepy hunt featuring elements from all of our nightmares from clowns and ventriloquist dummies to mannequins and skulls.

If you think that your venue would benefit from having income from a treasure hunt then you can contact Sam on 07551 875604.

Having adapted the stage version of Me and My Girl in the mid-eighties, Stephen Fry was overwhelmed by its success. When he received a call from Stephen Sondheim, the hugely successful American composer and lyricist, responsible for hits including West Side Story and A Little Night Music, he was tremendously excited at the thought of working with such a great musical talent.

Sondheim asked after Fry’s fax machine, which at that time was something of a novelty. It turned out that the composer wanted Fry to be part of a Treasure Hunt that he was running in America, persuading Mr Fry to religiously spend the whole of his Saturday evening next to his newfangled machine in the UK sending back replies to the participants on the other side of the pond.

Stephen Fry is still waiting for the elusive commission to materialise.

His book elaborating on this story and many others, The Fry Chronicles, is available to buy now…

If you are looking for a rich variety of clues in a treasure hunt, then give us a call www.treasurehuntdesign.com

Do you remember frequently seeing streams of classic cars zigzagging along country lanes?

It isn’t hard to set the clues for one.

1. Get a map of the area.

2. Select ten locations which participants may find of interest so they enjoy the day.

3. Come up with a ten letter answer – anything you like, perhaps relevant to the event.

4. Drive around each of the locations and come up with an answer that includes a letter from the final answer.

5. Whilst at each site, come up with a question to suit that answer – for some ideas take a look at treasure hunt clues.

6. Sketch out a grid of boxes that line up the letters to reveal a final answer. This is helpful to the participants that now know how many letters the answer has.

7. Write out all the clues, map and grid and you are ready to go!

It is time for us to revive this great fun tradition.

If you would like help with your Sunday Afternoon Car Treasure Hunt then get it touch www.treasurehuntdesign.com.

They have recently started to develop simple customisable board games along the same lines where you build the game and then play it, for example in the Lego Minotaurus game your aim is to find the temple, evading the Minotaur and making your opponent’s life difficult.

In their theme park in Windsor they have converted the Wild Woods section into the Pirates Landing – where you can pan for gold and ride the treasure themed log flume.

Huge brands fly the flag for treasure hunting – if you want to too – then you know what to do… www.treasurehuntdesign.com

Sam, Sam, the treasure hunt man strikes again… www.treasurehuntdesign.com

It would be easy to think that children dominate the world of treasure hunting but they don’t by any means. Team building companies commercially use treasure hunts as a very popular core service for adults. Take a look on any team building company’s website and you’ll see that most of their services are built around the series of challenges and puzzles leading to a final gratifying solution formula – the same as a treasure hunt. After you’ve taken a look at their website and deciding that it is what you would like to do, then we would of course recommend using a company that is dedicated to making treasure hunts for a living, giving you the ultimate experience. The purpose of writing these blogs is to present you with all the information you need about the subject matter of treasure hunts. Not to suggest that you go to one specific supplier. Like Treasure Hunt Design for example. Have a good look around, compare and contrast and go to the one you choose. Like Treasure Hunt Design for example.

Commercially, Land Rover do an international scale treasure hunt survival adventure called the G4 Challenge where teams race around the world competing in a variety of gruelling environments to be the best in their orange-mobiles. In the current financial climate the adventure has been put on hold – keep your eye out for the relaunch when things pick up.

If you are looking for a commercial treasure hunt, or fancy getting involved with a team building treasure hunt then we suggest you call Treasure Hunt Design today.

We hope that everyone experienced a wonderful and magic afternoon at the launch of our TV treasure hunt for Channel 4’s Country House Rescue.

Toby Wilson from Treasure Hunt Design had laid out a fun and engaging set of clues for the locals through the woods. Secrecy about the outcome of the event is still utmost, so we can’t tell you if it was a success or not and we can’t tell you if the fairies who run the mystery location were happy with the outcome. “I saw a goblin!” said one child “I saw a REAL goblin!!” We cannot confirm or deny the sighting.

Ruth Watson and the team were on hand to gauge the reaction of participants. You’ll have to wait until the programme comes out to see if anyone actually enjoyed it or not.

Food, drink and entertainment were laid on for the launch, with bouncy castles and the occasional waft of burger. The weather was very kind. We’d love to tell you more, but then we’d have to… …you know….

To host your own – take a tour of our website – www.treasurehuntdesign.com

Wednesday 23rd June 2010
By Michael Pickard

Treasure hunters will search for goblins and fairies in a “secret piece of countryside” when a television programme visits Watford.

Garston Manor, in High Elms Lane, will be the setting for Channel 4’s Country House Rescue, when producers visit the 19th Century house next month.

There a goblins and fairies treasure hunt will take place for children as part of the programme, which aims to create innovative ways of making money for local country houses.

The treasure hunt was created by Sam Gething-Lewis, of Herefordshire-based Treasure Hunt Design.

Sam left his job as a corporate games designer to create clues, puzzles and games for country houses, holiday companies and hotels.

Sam said: “They asked me to go into Garston Manor and give them ideas about how to make money. They’ll be able to use the treasure hunt again and again.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me because it’s quite a quirky product that I sell. I was on site for a day and then I spent a day designing the treasure hunt.”