Saturday 2 June - Exeter University
It is very difficult to ensure that urban races are entirely fair generally because traffic both pedestrian and motor is unpredictable. It can also be extremely frustrating when moving obstacles prevent smooth travel around the course.
None the less I enjoy urban events immensely and have found that the university campus during vacation is ideal. We have been fortunate to compete at Brighton, Surrey, Guildford and Warwick in this country and Macquarie in Australia.
The Streatham campus at Exeter is better than most, being constructed on a sloping hillside and within the grounds of what was a country house and estate. Erik Peckett’s map is a work of art and as planner he designed some excellent courses which were both fast, technical and challenging. Ongoing building works are often a thorn in the side of planners and this event was no exception. He did well to re-arrange the start of the first race within the building and follow a taped route to the outside and to the start triangle. You might have thought that this was for the benefit of the start team in the event of inclement weather but no, the dreaded orange fence and tape of the builders was the cause.
Reed Hall, the original country house is surrounded by botanical gardens and an ideal venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions but not on the day of an orienteering event. On the A5 course which included M70 and certainly on others the leg from 8 to 9 took one past the windows of the reception room and across the adjacent terrace. On arriving at the location of control 8 I found no flag and after a short search concluded correctly that the control had been removed. The giveaway was a tag in the correct position. Being a cowardly gentleman when I saw the optimum route from here was through a mêlée of wedding guests I opted for a circuitous and scenic route around the botanical gardens.
The jury on receiving a formal complaint decided that it was as well to void the times of the leg before and after the repositioned control which I felt was correct in the circumstances.
The second race of the afternoon was less controversial but just as challenging. Unfortunately both races had more than the usual number of miss punches. The downside of this fast and furious form of orienteering is that it is too easy to punch incorrectly. Vikki Crawford and Sue Hands won their races and thanks to some miss punching by my rivals so did I. Other Wimborne Orienteers were Frazer, Jane and Noel Smith, Kath Pike, Deborah Mays, John Warren, Richard Brightman and Kevin Pickering.
Keith Henderson
View map of Exeter University campus
Day 1 Results
Sunday 3 June - Wheal Florence
Orienteering should always be a challenge and Day 2 of the Tamar Triple threw down the gauntlet with a vengeance at 'Wheal Florence',on the SW edges of Dartmoor.
With a name like that the terrain had to be old mineral workings and this area is quite legendary in SW orienteering. Some years ago orienteering mappers were challenged to map it in detail. It consists of a strip of old opencast mine workings about 900m from E to W and no more than 200m wide on the slope of a bleak and blasted moor from which on a clear day you can admire the view of the distant Plymouth Sound. It contains hundreds of holes ,knolls,spurs,re-entrants,gullies and a few ponds. There used to be quite a lot of gorse just to add to the challenge but it has all been cleared giving uninterrupted views of the area from end to end unless of course it is misty which being Dartmoor it often is!
Most competitors at the Tamar Triple had secretly looked forward to this challenge and on the day it only rained, no mist and no hurricanes! The map drawn by Jim Prowting is quite incredible, being on a scale of 1:2500 with 1.25m contours but just to add to the challenge the first part of all courses took us through a wood and across open moorland on a 1:10000 map. After this rather long flog things changed dramatically.
To start into Wheal Florence I found it best to stop and mentally and physically change scale from 1:10000 to 1:2500. Next take a very accurate bearing and then either walk or slow jog trying to pace count and identifying what the mass of contours really meant. Identifying several large depressions and a knoll helped my confidence but with uneven ground and deep gullies to cross it was very difficult to keep a straight line. It was a mixture of relief and elation to find the first control with the correct code on it- one down 14 to go. The course twisted and turned and the whole area was alive with orienteers mostly walking,frequently standing still and either muttering or at times swearing. Visually it reminded me of the 'Meercats' with people popping up on top of knolls,scratching their heads and then diving off down gullies either purposely or in hope of finding the right route. Proceeding round the course it was a case of so far so good, don't blow it now, and counting down towards the final control. It was a great feeling of satisfaction to get to the finish banner and feel that you have 'cracked' Wheal Florence.
This area is sadly about to be covered up to 30m deep with spoil from a newly re-opened mineral working so it was the last time that we shall ever use it, but it will live long in the memory as one of the toughest technical challenges in Orienteering.
John Warren
Barbara Warren also cracked Wheal Florence successfully - it earned her the position of SW W75 Middle Distance Champion!
View extract from Jim Prowting's 1:2500 map
Day 2 Results
Monday 4 June - Cookworthy
Sitting today at my PC and scratching vigorously, I recall how on parking, we were immediately attacked by hordes of midges which pursued us round our courses and back to the car. At least the route to the Start wasn’t thigh-deep in mud as at JK 2010. This obviously haunts Devon OC, for I overheard speculation that the map should have been renamed something like ‘Holsworthy East’ to erase such horrendous memories.
The Green course was just right. Most legs needed good compass work through runnable forest where earthbanks and ditches made excellent handrails and collecting features. After a dodgy start on the 1st control (216) where I took too much time ‘getting into’ the map, I engaged brain and enjoyed myself. Lovely orienteering terrain! “It’s not that muddy,” I thought as I leapt from an earthbank onto the firm-looking ground by control 225. I was wrong….
Thank you, Devon and Cornwall OCs, for an interesting experience!
Mike Kite
Day 3 Results
