Turf Zone – OutOfGas
It’s funny, sometimes when out turfing, thoughts and ideas for a turf blog post come to mind and, yet by the time I’ve taken the next zone, those thoughts and ideas have vanished into the mysterious electro-chemical infinity that is my brain. I do wonder where they go. Then, sometime later, and that could be days or even weeks, they suddenly pop into existence again. So, this page is going to feature some of these random turf thoughts and ideas. Perhaps I should go old school and carry a notebook and pen to record them. Hmm, probably won’t be able to decipher my own dodgy hand writing!
Turf Zone – LauristonPark
The first item is zones that you miss because there are hidden and there’s one good example I’m going to mention. That zone is called Wee and it’s located down the Wee Brae here on my local turf patch of Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. When using the turf app and depending on your zoom level, zone Wee can be hidden behind the name Lasswade, underneath the letter “a” and can easily be missed when displayed in red, green and yellow are not so bad. Okay, you are unlikely to miss the zone when you have local knowledge and know it’s there but perhaps less so for visiting turfers. I’ve not added a screenshot because I’m holding the zone and its bright green just now and quite obvious.
Here’s another good example, and a zone I did miss during my first visit to that area of Edinburgh, though I did finally notice the zone before I departed for home. On the above left you can see the zone in the centre of the image, just to the left of Dumbiedykes. No problem there. On the right-hand image, shown at a slightly different zoom level on the turf app, the zone is almost totally concealed behind the logo for Hutton Memorial Gardens. Add the difficulty of seeing your phone screen on a bright sunny day and perhaps add a few splashes of rain from a summer shower and it’s not so obvious.
Turf Zone – TreeCircus
Now, I’m not complaining, just wanted to highlight that this can occur and to be aware than some zones, at some zoom levels, can be either totally concealed or partially concealed by other map information. Just to show you need to keep your wits about you and avoid that situation where you’ve travelled to far away exotic lands, like Methil in the Kingdom of Fife, with the intention of clearing the region, only to return home and find you’ve missed a zone. That can be rather annoying.
Turf Zone – SeeThruBridge
Next item is GPS or Global Positioning System, something the turf app uses on our mobile phones. Have you noticed how fickle it can be, how the placement of your turf icon can change from time to time and also vary between different makes, models and versions of mobile phones and their software. I’ve noticed this when turfing with ChoccyMuffin. One of us, usually ChoccyMuffin I might add, will get into the zone first and start taking it, while I will occasionally struggle to get into the zone before she completes the take. Can be rather annoying but perhaps I’ll say no more on this matter.
Turf Zone – WindyView
The variability of GPS can also be quite noticeable for zones where you are only able to access the outer edge of the zone area. I recall a few risky examples where I’ve had to hold the phone at arm’s length, such as through a fence or locked gate, to get the turf icon into the zone. Yet on other occasions find I’m unable to get into the zone at all. Yes, you can request the zone location be amended but that’s no use when you are actually standing there shivering, cold wet and miserable on a dark February evening. Zone Rossbridge in Princess Street Garden, Edinburgh, is a good example, though this has now been moved slightly north to resolve this issue.
Turf Zone – ModernArtPark
There are a number of ways to resolve GPS issues. One is to try approaching the zone from another direction or even rotating the mobile phone 180-degrees sometimes does the trick. Restating the turf app and/or the mobile phone itself can also help. There’s a whole heap of other factors that can affect GPS signals, most of which you can do nothing about. Physical obstruction like tall buildings, tunnels, bridges and dense foliage and in some cases your own body are probably the most common ones encountered when turfing urban areas. Bye for now.
Copyright ©2026 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
