Here are extracts from an interview with the team of three who discovered the treasure, Paul, Martin and Clive!

How did you three meet?
“Through the ‘Armchair Treasure Hunt Club’. We all met at a club meeting there – after working on a hunt called ‘Treasure’ by Dan James. Martin and myself worked together at first, then Clive joined us later. We work in pairs mostly, on each hunt, but this is first hunt we’ve worked as a threesome.”

How long have you been hunting treasure together?
“Myself and Martin have been at it for twelve years! Clive has been with us for five.”

What do you enjoy about hunting for treasure?
“For me, its definitely the intellectual challenge. The nice prize at the end is almost secondary. It’s the thrill of the chase, and getting there before everyone else too. For Clive especially, there’s something about being able to hunt and actually discover things in the ground that’s almost primeval, something innate in human nature, that we don’t get to do much in modern times. There aren’t many pirates burying treasure these days! So yes, I think it fulfills that side of our humanity.”

What will you do with the treasure?
“Oh, we’re all definitely keeping it! There are three of us and five rings so we’ve just drawn straws to see who only gets one! Clive drew the short straw, I’m afraid, but both Martin and me have wives whereas Clive is single, so it kind a works out. But we’re definitely keeping them. It’s so nice to have them so beautifully displayed in these lovely porcelain caskets Sophie Lowe made. Treasure doesn’t normally come with such thoughtful display mechanisms. They’re going on my ‘Treasure Shelf’.”

What made you want to tackle this hunt?
“ It was so well presented. As soon as the Helfa Gelf Treasure Book came through the post, with such beautiful images of the artists’ work and so well designed it drew you in straight away. It was excellent to have it linked with an arts and crafts project, with all the clues scattered in odd and interesting places like the artists’ studios themselves, which really made the hunt unique. And the clues were very well designed. It was all written and managed in such a way that it was really accessible, it drew you in bit by bit, you didn’t hit a brick wall straight away.
We spent several days visiting the artists studios. And that was a fantastic, and thoroughly enjoyable experience. We spent a lot of time with the artists and their work. There was a great atmosphere in all the studios, which were so varied – you never knew what to expect next! I felt really privileged to be invited into their home environment. We are all definitely coming back this year to visit the artists studios again, even though there will be no clues this time – it was such an enjoyable experience.”

Are there any tricks of the trade for cracking treasure clues?
“Keep an open mind! All hunts are so different. There are no rules. Try and get inside the author’s head, look for the oddities that give you the clue to it.”

Has the hunt introduced you to North Wales?
“Yes, its definitely introduced me to more of North Wales. I do travel through quite often, but I’ve got to see some very scenic parts of Conwy county. The views were stunning from where the treasure was buried. And driving around the studios; some were really in the middle of nowhere and I discovered so many new places here as a result.”

Was this a good Treasure Hunt?
“Definitely, we have a lot of experience with Treasure Hunts and this was definitely one of the best, in how it was presented and organised, and how the clues were constructed. You could get into it so easily, even if not experienced treasure hunt people. It eased you in gently and patted you on the back as you solved one of the clues. And knowing there were these beautiful handcrafted rings at the end made it really worth working towards.

Clive met the ceramicist who made the porcelain caskets when visiting the open studios, and spent a lot of time in her studio, which was really lovely. Many of the artist’s were intrigued by the hunt and asked us a lot about it. So there was this great exchange in the studios where we’d be telling them about treasure hunts and they’d be telling us about painting, or pottery or whatever. It was a genuine exchange and a great atmosphere.”

And here’s a picture of the treasure as it is un-earthed!

I’m gutted!! so close but oh so far away. Well done to the guys. I’m looking forward to reading the answers now!

Still waiting for the answers to the clues. How come it’s taking so long?

any one got all the clues can we have some anserws

I’m very disappointed that after 7 months of the treasure being found , the answers to the clues have not yet been published. surely you had the answers at the begining or the clues could not have been devised? this is a very poor follow up to such a good original competition and jeopardises loyalty to any of your future events from a Local supporter.