Visions 2026 City Centre Treasure Hunt – 23rd July

What better way to spend a summer evening than exploring the city, solving clues, hunting for unusual sights and taking photographs along the way?

On 23rd July, six teams of three or four set off on the Visions 2026 City Centre Treasure Hunt, starting from Black Sheep Coffee at 7pm, with the finish line – and a well-deserved drink – waiting for us at the Prince of Wales at 9pm.

Each team was given a route map, a list of locations to find and a series of questions to answer. Some were relatively straightforward, while others required a little more thought – including the question, “What was James Clerk Maxwell a pioneer of?” There was also a photographic challenge, with 18 different categories to capture as the teams made their way around the city.

The great thing about the hunt was that there was no single route to follow. Teams could choose their own way around the locations, deciding which clues to tackle first and where to go next. And, thankfully, the weather was on our side, giving everyone ideal conditions for an evening of photography.

The questions and photographic categories were put together by Mark Bisset, Andy Reader and Susan Gordon, with a little helping hand from ChatGPT!

Meet the teams

With six teams taking part, there was certainly no shortage of imagination when it came to choosing team names:

• The Missing Link
• The Only Ones
• We are not Graeme Youngson but we are Fiona Dyas
• The Snapdragons
• The Prospectors
• Team HIK

The challenge was to submit 12 photographs from the 18 categories, with the additional requirement that each team member contributed at least three photographs. This meant that everyone had to get involved – no hiding behind the camera while someone else did all the work!

There were plenty of creative interpretations of the categories, some impressive finds and, no doubt, a few moments of frantic searching as the 9pm deadline approached.

The photographs

The real highlight of the evening was seeing how differently each team interpreted the challenges. From carefully composed shots to more spontaneous and humorous photographs, there was a great variety of images across the categories.

A selection of the photographs from each category is shown below.

And finally… the Prince of Wales!

After two hours of exploring, photographing, clue-solving and probably a fair amount of debate over whether a particular photograph really did meet the category, it was time to call it a night.

Everyone made it back to the Prince of Wales for a well-deserved pint and a chance to compare notes, share stories and see what the other teams had managed to find.

It was a fun evening all round, with plenty of creativity, teamwork and good humour – exactly what a city centre treasure hunt should be.

Thanks to everyone who took part, and especially to all the teams for making it such an enjoyable evening!  

Review by Andy Reader