West Midlands Orienteering Association
POTOC Local Event
Saturday 10th June 2006
2.1 km 10 controls
name club class time
1 Ellie Bales (& Lil Bales) POTOC W5 40.00
2 Will Jepson & Connor O'Donnell SS M14 48.00
3 Rosie Corbett POTOC W9 52.10
4 Dave Perry SS M14 54.55
5 D. Bayne M9 69.25
6 James Shaw & Oliver Farren SS M12 71.35
7 Nathan Fitchford BB M9 71.55
8 Danny O'Neil Leese M10 72.10
9 V. Tonge & 3 IVC members IVC W? 83.00
Louise Paterson IVC W9 81.05 missing 6,7
2.8 km 13 controls
name club class time
1= J. Moore M21 67.10
1= Clare Jonnson W? 67.10
3 James Witte POTOC M13 69.35
4 Tom R & J Stops SS M14 71.15
5 Matt & Phil Goldstraw SS M17 85.10
6 Adam Luto BB M14 98.35
7 James Nelson & Josh Chadwick BB M12 101.00
8 S. Nolan + 2 109.50
3.2 km 14 controls
name club class time
1 N. Townshend POTOC M50 54.55
2 Anne Whitelock POTOC W21 79.30
3 Gordon Witte POTOC M50 85.15
4 Peter Yoxall POTOC M60 99.27
5 Mavis Bailey POTOC W60 100.00
6 Paul Redstone POTOC M14 100.55
7 John Whitelock POTOC M50 120.04
Barbara Farr POTOC W60 71.15 wrong 15
Luke Miller SS M16 62.40 missed 17-20
Alison Corbett POTOC W40 retired
Patrick Redstone POTOC M50 retired
17 controls
name club class time
1 Jean Rostron POTOC W60 94.15
4.8 km 19 controls
name club class time
1 Austin Farr POTOC M60 64.05
2 Dave Bales POTOC M50 96.07
3 Dave Sparks POTOC M60 146.35
4 Garth Reader USA M? 165.15
Tom Taylor SS M18 50.55 missed 17
Alan Webster POTOC M45 retired (missed 17-20)
Bathpool is an area with an interesting past which is well described in John Heaton's Area Profile in the May 2006 Potter. John believes the main pool to be artificial. I was brought up close to the southern end of Bathpool and trespassed it frequently in my youth. My recollection is that the original pool was more extensive before the construction of the railway and it was a natural lake without a dam, set lower in the valley.
The orienteering map is now showing its age. Thickening of the vegetation and bramble growth have limited access to certain areas. I had to reopen two paths in the large western re-entrant which had become overgrown when trees under the powerlines were felled across the paths and simply left there. This felling also allowed brambles to invade these areas. In the near future, the main track around the pool will be given a tarmac surface, it is a pity that restoring the woodland path network will not receive the same priority.
The area has many features which provide complexity for orienteering. Unfortunately at this time of year they are masked by dense vegetation which grew like Topsy in the week or two before the event. It was difficult to set the Moderate course at about Orange standard as anything off-path was immediately difficult, but the unattractive alternative was to make it a long Yellow course with controls on the path. Going onto the area during the event, I met entrants on the Moderate course who had found it challenging and banded together to form a Pied Piper procession.
The times for all courses were very long, suggesting that all courses were a bit too long and hard, however I hope you all enjoyed the challenge. The Long Hard course was harder than I intended due to the misplacing of a control in the wrong gully. This stemmed from my error when transferring the control site from the master map to the map used for putting out controls. I apologise for this, but am glad it affected the Hard course where competitors had sufficient expertise to find the control in the wrong gully.
The hot weather attracted a large entry for a local event but also contributed to the slow times on courses. We were pleased to welcome Garth Reader from the USA who, despite losing his control card, coped with a different style of event than he was used to (plus the misplaced control) and completed the Long Hard course. I give my grateful thanks to all the POTOC helpers, particularly Henry & Brenda Morgan, who set up the tent and prepared the event while I was putting out the last group of controls.
Did you spot the two temporary knolls created by large round bales from the fields above crashing through the fence last summer and plunging down the slope? There is one on each side of the valley.
I hope you enjoyed this area, and will come to our next event at Park Hall on Sunday 9th July. This is a score event (collect as many controls as possible in 60 minutes), and is followed by a barbecue and World Cup/Test Match standard football/cricket/rounders match. Come and enjoy.
Pair of gents suede shoes in GAP bag
Contact Geoff Hollins to reclaim -- 01782 503385