Oh! to be in England now that spring is here - or - What a difference a day makes. We visited the area to plan this event twice during March. The weather was mild and pleasant. But as the day approached we had our share of April showers . One of the main routes into the forest was already cut up by horses and we feared the worst.
We put the controls out on the Friday when snow was forecast and there was a biting, gale force, northerly wind blowing. But on the day itself we were blessed with perfect weather for orienteering dry and not too hot. So everyone was able to enjoy the views. This area has an old map (1991) that is no longer as accurate as we would like. But, with its mixture of forest and downland, it gives a lot of variety and allows the planners to indulge themselves by sending people up hill and down dale ( several times! ).
We were able to use Chessell Pottery for parking and registration , as it was not too far from the start. At all our venues local people allow us to use such facilities free of charge and it was pleasing to see that several groups patronised the Pottery CafÈ after the event.
The start was near some riding stables and at one point there was an exciting mixture of horses, riders and orienteers, some with their dogs. But it soon settled down and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. We were joined by scouts from the Brighstone pack, the second group to take part in our events. Let’s hope that we sees some of them as adults at future events.
A special mention for two shy ladies, Kellett and Boyland, (no other information on the control card). They set out on an orange course then discovered that they had copied a yellow map! Undaunted they went back to registration for the correct map and returned to complete their chosen course. A mention also for the Arthur family who did a yellow course with Mum carrying the baby in a sling. Could this be our youngest ever competitor?
Finally, please put you full name and class on your card so that we can give you full recognition in the results sheet. Class is Woman or Man followed by your age. E.g. W40 or M65.
Lesley Curran and Frank Winter