Stonebarrow and Golden Cap
4-colour Regional Event on Sunday 27 June, 2021
Planners: Michelle Spillar & Rodney White, Organiser: Rob Mills, Mapper/Controller: Mike Kite
Golden Cap Estate is a National Trust gem lying between Charmouth and Bridport on Dorset's Jurassic Coast. It is named after Golden Cap, which at 191m above sea-level is the highest point on the south coast of England. Its name comes from the golden yellow Greensand covering the summit.
This was our first event on the new map, now enhanced by Lidar contours. It’s a combination of the smaller Stonebarrow and Golden Cap maps with an extra section in the middle to link them up.
Joining up was not straightforward. Stonebarrow is an up-to-date georeferenced Ocad 9 map; Golden Cap was an older map created with Ocad 8 & OpenOrienteering Mapper. I thought it would be a simple matter to merge them and then upgrade everything to Ocad 9 format. Wrong! Harmonising colour tables and symbol sets was horribly complicated and the job is still not finished.
Michelle & Rodney started planning many months ago but Covid restrictions delayed the event, originally planned for February. They worked hard & long to create 4 good courses, with Michelle concentrating on Blue & Green and Rodney on Short Green & Orange. They were a real pleasure to work with, conscientious, receptive and good-humoured. The vagaries of Condes tested their patience towards the end, and I suspect much wailing & gnashing of teeth, but they got there!
They agreed to undertake the huge task of replanning Blue and Green during the last month, when an area of complex woodland used previously was placed out of bounds. They solved it by taking Blue across to Langdon Hill, though the extra distance & climb meant Green had to be reworked elsewhere. The new plans presented a choice between maintaining course quality or sticking rigidly to BOF guidelines. Course quality came first although consequently Blue and Green were both overlong.
We alerted competitors in case they wished to drop down a colour. The vast majority were happy to stick with their original choice and results suggest their judgement was correct. Winning times were quite quick – 48 minutes on Blue & 41 on Green – and median times were also respectable – Blue 70 & Green 65. Perhaps all those lockdown energy reserves were being burnt off!
Stonebarrow & Chardown hills, Westhay & Ridge Water valleys and the SW Coast Path
Crossing points were a particular planning headache. We tried to anticipate all likely route choices, but shortly before the event two gates on possible routes were found to be shut fast, and we missed one non-optimal Short Green choice completely. I apologise if you were affected by this.
Vegetation grew massively in the first weeks of June, which turned control-hanging into a fine art. Flags were apt to disappear into the long grass so some light gardening was needed to ensure they were clearly visible on approach. It made reading control descriptions very important. Looking for a control on the wrong side of a feature could be costly!
On the day the weather looked unkind. We watched the dark skies east and inland and hoped the rain stayed away - it did! A little fell just at the end, 2:30ish, as we were packing away. Otherwise nothing. Imagine that panoramic open run from the Start along Chardown Hill in steady rain with a brisk northeasterly. We were very lucky!
Rob’s keen oversight and attention to detail ensured everything ran smoothly. Thanks are also due to the WIM volunteer helpers for their classic teamwork. Everyone was pleased to meet with old friends again, from Wimborne and other SW clubs. A happy if socially distanced reunion!
Finally, thank you to the National Trust for their support for this event. We appreciated the input of Scott, Jon and Mark and hope to work with them again one day. We had many newcomers to the area who enthused about the glorious scenery. What an enjoyable introduction to west West Dorset!
Mike Kite
Roger at the Finish
Message to helpers from Rob Mills:
Folks,
Just a quick note to say a big thank you to everyone for helping today. Thanks to all your efforts and that of Michelle, Rodney & Mike, everyone seemed to have really enjoyed the event and their visit to Stonebarrow & Golden Cap today.
Di & John expertly patched up a BOK member who had a nasty tumble but luckily escaped with only a significant collection of cuts & scatches for his troubles.
The National Trust were very complimentary and as we drove away, I felt we had left Stonebarrow as we had found it.
Thanks again
Rob
Results Photographs RouteGadget
Background photo: Looking SW from the gate to the meadows, SE of the Finish