COMBLEY GREAT WOOD -- 10^TH SEPTEMBER 2006

PLANNERS REPORT

Combley in September is a planners delight. The woods are dry, the undergrowth is

manageable and there are numerous features to assist the planner for control point

and route selection. In addition, Mr Brown the farmer, kindly allows us to use both his

field, farmyard and woodland access point, which allows us to use the more interesting

areas of the map. Indeed we were treated to a fine display of obedient sheepdog and

sheep interaction, as the farmer cleared the field for us on the Sunday morning, in

traditional 'one man and his dog' style.

As he is familiar with the woods, this planner only needed a couple of sessions on site

to finalise the routes for the various courses. The twilight sessions enabled close up

views of red squirrels, buzzards and jays, in addition to a troupe of roughsleeping marine

cadets. Saturday planning was accompanied by music of variable quality, drifting over

from the lively Bestival site, just behind the woods.

Combley is a fairly small area for the longer courses and therefore a second master

map was used half way around the dark green route, with competitors required to

mark up the second half of their route. This allowed a certain amount of area duplication

without criss-crossing the route on the same leg. I trust the green course runners

appreciated the planner, who provided a chair at the second master map. It is not often

that the green course winner is allowed to sit down part way through his route !

Most controls were set out on the Saturday late afternoon, with the more vulnerable

control points set up following a Sunday morning early start. It is sometimes difficult

for the planner to set an orange course at a suitable level and it will always be a

significant step up from the straightforward yellow course. A few newcomers failed to

complete orange, but hopefully they will persevere and maybe learn from any mistakes.

Contestant numbers were a bit disappointing, particularly for the junior courses. Please

all encourage your friends to come and try orienteering. There is absolutely no necessity

to be a "runner" !

We had a couple of injuries on the day, involving both blood and ligaments. Contestants

are reminded that moving quickly through and over rough land, can be dangerous and

runners must use their best judgement at their own risk. The planner will never set a

course presenting an unacceptable level of risk, but injuries do sometimes occur.

ApolApologies to those green course runners who were confronted by a large barking dog

and an apparently irate woodside householder who incorrectly believed that he owned

the woods.

Thanks to Anne and Alex Ralph for planning and setting out the string course and to

Sara Fish and Ann Marsden for winding in 1.4k of string !

Ian Ralph - Planner