Turf Zone – SayAhhh
I was looking through the Turf Wiki the other day and came across some interesting terms in the Turf Vocabulary. The terms were Turf blogger and Turf blogging, concerning anyone who has a blog related to Turf or the act of blogging about Turf. And I must say I was dead chuffed with that as that refers to myself, Planet Gary. But what I was actually looking for was the term turfer unique, the term relating to a zone held by another turfer that you have never taken a zone from previously, an activity I’m found myself enjoying recently. However, I did find the following:
“TvT (Turfer versus Turfer) – Statistics, showing which turfers you as a logged in user have taken zones off, or lost zones to. Is registered on the statistics page warded. Contains, among other things, information about when you first took a zone of a certain turfer, when you first lost a zone to a certain turfer, and plus/minus statistics.”
No mention of the term “turfer unique”. So, I’m wondering where that came from? I first starting looking at TvT on Turf Blog 11-01-24 but no mention of the term there.
“There is something in the Game of Turf called TvT, or to give it it’s full name Turfer verses Turfer. It can be found on Warded and shows you which Turfers you have taken zones from as well as some additional related stats. Seems to be a game some turfers play, hunting down other turfers and taking zones from them. You might have thought this would be ideal for an official Turf medal but unfortunately this is not the case.
But what about a Planet Gary unofficial Turf medal for taking zones from as many different turfers as you can find? Well, I did consider that, making a medal for, say, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 250, even 500, but find I’m off two minds about doing that. To date, I’ve taken at least one zone from 286 different turfers. This would get me the 250 medal but what next after that? It would be a long way to the next medal, the 500, and yes, I could create any number between, but I prefer to follow the normal Turf format. Of course, an alternative would be to start from scratch. Something to think about.”
Next, I tried the search on Planet Gary, using the phrase “turfer unique” and came up with the first instance where the term was used, on my very own blog page, down at the very bottom, on Turf Blog 31-01-24. Looks like it was me that might have coined the term, though there might be other mentions elsewhere that Google search does not locate. This might also explain why turfer always seem to look very confused when I tell them I’m out hunting for turfer uniques! I never did get round to creating the unofficial turfer unique series of medals.
Today, I was hunting down another turfer unique, just the one, down in Wallyford and going by the name of EastLothian12, though that is the third turf name change I’ve noticed by this new turfer in the past couple of day. Wonder what it will be tomorrow? And if you are thinking I’m daft cycling all that way for the one turfer unique, I did grab another 40 or so zones along the way, so a trip worth the effort.
As I cycling along the route, I was also keeping an eye out for brickmarks at any zones I was taking to go towards my Brick Spotting 25 medal. Didn’t have much luck but did find something interesting at zone EskIsland by way of something known in brick spotting circles as a ghost brick. A ghost brick is the imprint of the brickmark reversed in the mortar bedding between bricks, in other words, a trace fossil of where a brick was once located. In this case it was a NIDDRIE. Unfortunately, this does not count towards the medal.
And finally, I’ve bought another bicycle. And yes, it’s another Brompton, this time the Brompton G Line, the bigger and chunkier version of the C Line model. Flat bars, hydraulic disc brakes, 8-speed internal hub gear and 20″ wheels with chunky tyres. Looking forwards to turfing adventures with this one. More later. Bye for now.
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