Daniel

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We’d love to hear your feedback from today to help us shape our future events. Use the QR code on your map, or follow this link for a few quick questions – all comments welcome!

Organiser’s Comments

Having spent the previous night listening to the rain lash the roof of my house I was somewhat concerned about what the conditions underfoot would be like in the wood and heath. However, despite the wet weather we were fortunate that Sunday morning brought drier weather and the terrain was less muddy than anticipated (do feel free to correct me!).

While the area is not huge in size, we were able to offer a range of challenging courses for which we received very positive feedback. Runners who undertook the harder courses enjoyed the the technical area on the Southwest side of the heath which put their navigation skills (and fitness!) to the test, locating controls around the many land features that are present.

We received some comments regarding the timed-out crossing over the road linking the two competition areas. Some runners felt that the 90 seconds afforded to traverse the road between controls was a little too short, particularly as these were navigation legs also. These comments are noted, and we will take them into consideration when planning future courses.

On a personal note, I would like to say a very big thank you to Ben Budsworth from Bylaugh Hall who supported us in every aspect of the event from access, parking, a warm dry room for the download team, and toilet facilities (always invaluable if you have travelled a distance to attend!). His generosity is greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank Mr. Robert Gurney for giving permission to use Bylaugh Wood for our event which allowed us to visit and compete in a location which perhaps we would not normally have the chance to experience. And finally, my biggest thanks go to the volunteers who helped with car parking, registration, starts, road crossing, downloads and clearing up when all was done.

Neil Stockham.

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Planner’s Comments

Felbrigg proved to be a lovely place to plan a night event. Once we had decided on the car park and registration site it was relatively straightforward to come up with rough outlines for the three courses which enabled both the start and finish to be close to each other and close to registration.

Although there is a significant path network which helped planning the Yellow and Orange courses, the fact that some of these paths become less visible in winter due to the amount of leaf litter on the ground automatically adds an increased element of difficulty at night.
Also aiding with the course planning was the fact that there are plenty of features available to use, some near paths for Yellow and Orange, and some further away which helped with the Green.

I hope everyone enjoyed their visit to a cold but thankfully dry Felbrigg (two weeks ago you would all have needed wellies) and also enjoyed the unique challenge of night orienteering in such a lovely deciduous woodland.

Paul.

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Organiser’s Comments

I was very pleased with the turnout for this event given it is a busy time of year for most people and my thanks go to Neil for organising the publicity.

In common with many smaller clubs we aim to put on quality events with a relatively small but dedicated band of helpers and would appreciate feedback, especially from first-timers, to help us achieve this. You can provide feedback by following the link: https://forms.office.com/r/YCT54BUFRa

You will have noticed that the main car park was unavailable to us and I would like to mention the support we received from Forestry England regarding alternative arrangements.

Finally, I would like to thank our controller Clive (SUFFOC), the local landowner and the NOR volunteers who ensured the event ran smoothly.

John Ward.

Planner’s Comments

Owing to an unavoidable change of Planner, my first visit to the wood was in mid-September. I left feeling very deflated! The bracken was 100ft tall, the map was massively out of date, the rhododendron had taken over some of the nice bits, and several areas were a sea of wind-blown. Over a period of weeks a set of courses did come together. I elected not to use the western end (as had been suggested by the pre-plan by the original Planner) but to concentrate courses in the trickier part of the wood. I tried hard to make the courses challenging and, thankfully, the feedback suggested that worked. The map updates made a huge difference, but I accept that some areas show a need for a comprehensive re-draw. Something to add to the NOR list of jobs to do…

Thanks to the team who made the event a success. There are lots of them. Particularly thanks to Controller Clive for his patience with our challenges and his level-headed approach.

I hope all those who ran enjoyed their time in the wood today.

Ben Bethell.

Controller’s Comments

I hope those of you who had a late run and those who picked up controls at the end have dried out. Those of you who finished before the rain – well done!!

It was a pleasure as always to work with the Norfolk team. From comments received, Ben’s courses were enjoyed and they used the area well and allowed for options of cutting across the grain as well as path running. It was appreciated that even after the very last minute map changes that more will be required in the future. In terms of control sites it was hard to evaluate how quickly the bracken would die back in certain areas but it was noticeably easier to get through on the day than it was when I checked tapes two weeks ago; it was worth holding firm on the chosen sites.

Thanks to Ben, John and the team and see you in the forest soon.

Clive.

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This event was also the NOR Club Championships, see Glen’s Planner’s comments below to learn who the 2023 winners are!

NOR’s next event is Shouldham Warren, 10th December. Before then we’re off to contest the CompassSport Trophy on 12th November. If you’re not joining us, keep an eye out for the results on the Bristol OC website.

Organiser’s Comments

Thank you to everyone that came to the Cawston and Marsham Heath event. We were very lucky that the weather was probably the best day we have had for several days and made competing in the forest more enjoyable.

A lot of work went on behind the scenes to enable the event to go ahead which most competitors are not aware of, from permissions to use the areas, finding helpers for the day and collecting and returning equipment. Glen the Planner did a great job and Kim assisted by Tim had everything under control as Controllers.

A special thank you to all the helpers, without who the event would not go ahead. From the car park marshals who managed to get everyone parked safely and stop the general public from using the O carpark, the crew on the starts, my Mum who helped me on registration, the people who volunteered to collect controls and finally John and Daniel who manned SI.

Everything went smoothly until we had reports that there were controls missing on the yellow course, in total we had 2 SI boxes and 3 control kites that went missing. Luckily this was quite late on and only a few competitors were affected.

Finally, I must thank the landowners, Cawston and Marsham Heath trustees for giving us permission to hold the event.

Here’s looking forward to the next event at Shouldham Warren. If you could help please get in touch as without volunteers these events can’t take place.

Karen.

Planner’s Comments

It is always a pleasure planning orienteering courses. While finding time in our busy lives to fit in recce visits might seem like a chore, I always find I enjoy the opportunity to stroll round an area and appreciate it, rather than charging round with sweat in my eyes. I particularly enjoyed my visits to Cawston & Marsham as it is a wonderfully varied area, with lots of wildlife, and it was full of colour a month ago.

I was determined that the TD5 courses should experience the full variety of terrain, including the contour features in the woods as well as the heathland. My first visit showed me that using the open bits of Marsham Heath (the eastern half) would be most challenging. After my legs had been turned into pin cushions, I realised I couldn’t really put controls out in the heath. But I know some people like the challenge of such difficult terrain, so instead, I made a few legs that gave the option of following the purple line through the heath, or going round the long way on the path. Speaking to finishers, it seems that quite a few did opt for the straight line route. But those who opted for the path run generally got there quicker.

Well done to everyone who completed their first orienteering course today. And congratulations to the NOR Club Champions for 2023 – Ian Renfrew and Gill Pilgrim.

Glen.

Controller’s Comments

Just like to thank everyone who came to Cawston and Marsham Heaths today. Glen had some challenging courses which I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks to Karen for organising the event, and to all the helpers, it went very smoothly to start with, unfortunately 3 controls on the yellow course were vandalised later on in the morning, we managed to retrieve all the stakes and kites but lost 2 control boxes. I think this only affected 2 entrants, so sorry this happened, we think it was some kids on bikes.

Apart from that the event went very well and thanks to Glen for planning. We were very lucky with the weather, so nice to run in sunlit woods!!</p?

Kim.