Hive Beach, Burton Bradstock
WIM/WSX Summer League Event, Saturday 18 May 2024
Rob Mills (Planner & Organiser), Mike Kite (Mapper & Controller), Dick Keighley (Entries & Computing)
Click for Summer League course
Controller's Comments
The Burton Bradstock map covers three linked areas: the village & fields to the north, the open peninsula between the sea and River Bride to the west, and the small but tricky terrain of Bind Barrow hill in the south-east. The Summer League course on an A3 map visited all three areas whereas the Short Score on A4 stayed on the peninsula, thus keeping juniors and newcomers away from the busy B3157. The map scale was 1:5000.
The weather was dull & mizzly, a shame with such glorious views all around although it meant no adders were basking in the sun. We found two gates locked that should have been open but both were quite climbable. Oh, and the grass had grown an awful lot in the last few weeks - sorry!
The only major snag was a small herd of cows. When controls were put out they were grazing in the far west of the peninsula. Later they migrated east and took great interest in control 138, uprooting it and generally milling around. Rob soon reinstated it so hopefully it didn't cause great inconvenience. We awarded 10 points to one runner who clearly found the control but thought twice about intruding on grazing rights!
Rob's courses were very well received and comments were all positive. His control sites were carefully planned to create route choice and were fairly placed. That includes 136 (wall bend, SE corner, inside) which reminded the unwary about reading descriptions properly! Finishing times on both courses were impressive. Short Course time could arguably have been 45 minutes though better weather might have encouraged more newcomers, in which case 60 would be fine.
Rob was well supported by a small but highly efficient team: Dick Keighley expertly managing IT, Ben on the Short Score road crossing, and the various talents of the Harveys and Bratcher-Howards. Thank you to all and apologies to anyone I've overlooked.
Mike Kite
Planner/Organiser Comments
I hope everyone enjoyed their day out at the coast at Hive Beach & Burton Bradstock even though the weather could have been a little kinder. However, I was glad to see some brave competitors went for a quick dip in the sea afterwards.
It was a joy to get to plan on Mike Kite's new map - hopefully you felt the courses offered some challenge with regard to finding the best route choice and optimising your score. The winning time on the League Score course felt about right (I was worried James C would get around it too quickly!) and I was pleased we could offer a Short Score course that allowed juniors to run unaccompanied.
A big thank you to the National Trust without whom the event would simply not have not been possible - their whole team in West Dorset continue to be unfailingly supportive and encouraging to us with regard to holding events on their land in conjunction with Mike's stalwart mapping efforts. The challenge in West Dorset is the physicality and lack of technical difficulty/route choice on the coastal areas coupled with journey times but you cannot beat the scenery!
A big thank you to everyone who helped on the day, especially Dick for managing entries and all the computing.
The next physical Summer Series event is being held by WSX at Corfe Castle on Monday 10th June - entries are now open on RaceSignUp - hope to see you there.
Rob Mills
Background photo: Looking west from Bind Barrow above Hive Beach on a fine day!