As Chair and Capricorn planner I would like
to thank all those Club members that helped over the weekend.
Everyone that was asked to do a job just got on with it and
made the organisation on the day much easier than it has been
in the past.
I would personally like to thank Paul Wilmore for the hard work
that he put in organising the event and remaining optimistic
even when things looked so bad that we might have to cancel
it altogether. Also my co-planner Trevor Smith and controllers
John Britton (MDOC) and Jim Mitchell, all of whom spent many
hours out on the hills, before, during and after the event,
most of the time being in atrocious weather.
During the summer, we have had members at the French 5 Days,
the Scottish 6 Days and the White Rose, it is good to see
more members becoming active in the sport. - Any chance of
some comments?
It is nice to see that some of the newer planner/organisers
haven't been put off from their previous events. It is also
great to see new ideas for the technical courses being tried
out. As Club we need to encourage new ideas and different
ways of doing things. In event terms we would be less limited
if we had our own SI units and despite the expense I feel
that this is something that we must have in the very near
future. To this end I am exploring the possibility of getting
a grant or matched funding to help us with getting these.
Our first new area for some while is being mapped - Hameldon
Woods - between Burnley and Accrington which by all accounts
is an excellent area. Hopefully we can use this for the Spring
Series next year. Also some of the town centre streets are
being mapped in a similar style to the SROC maps used for
the street night orienteering. Maybe we can have our own street
events in the very near future.
Capricorn planning is underway for 2008. Anyone who would
like to be part of the team we'd love to hear from them. We
are also looking at identifying new areas for future Capricorns,
if anyone would like to help by walking some of the areas
to assess suitability again we would really welcome them.
We have a team entered in the Peter Palmer event and we wish
them success.
Finally a plea for help. Traditionally PFO have been responsible
for the starts of the KIMM now OMM. Usually we have to chase
people at the last minute to get the helpers that we need.
This year if you can help then please let Carole Pilling carole.pilling@virgin.net
know as soon as possible. The earlier that we know the easier
it is to arrange transport and accommodation.
Capricorn
The Capricorn this year was again very successful, despite
many set backs. There seemed to be one problem after another
and made it look that cancellation of the event was a real
possibility. Our initial campsite and event centre was fixed
early on even before permissions were finalised, but this
we had to change due to the difficult with gaining access
to the Kinder area from the Glossop to Hayfield road. With
the help of the National Trust we found Rowlee Farm where
the event centre was relocated. The move to Rowlee meant some
rapid changes in planning, but also added the attraction of
using Alport Moor for day 1 of the event. We were beginning
to get worried about the amount of water in the rivers Alport
and Ashop following the heavy rain during June and July making
the crossings dangerous; however we noticed that the levels
dropped quickly once the rain had stopped. Three weeks prior
to the event signs started to appear announcing the closure
of the A57 Snake Road for resurfacing due to reopen on the
weekend of the event. The highways department for Derbyshire
County Council were helpful and assured us that access would
be available to us.
We have always been short of Club members helping at the Capricorn,
and this year looked no different when we were discussing
manning a couple of weeks prior to the weekend - in reality
what a wonderful turnout - I would like to thank all of the
Club members that helped it made life so much easier for Paul
who did a magnificent job of organising the event, my co-planner
Trevor Smith, the controllers Jim Mitchell and John Britton
(MDOC) all of which spent some very wet days out of the hills.
Our thanks also must go to the National Trust for their permission
and help and to Peter and his wife at Rowlee Farm for the
tremendous hospitality.
Planning for the Capricorn 2008 is underway as are selection
of areas for future events. Anyone who would be interested
in getting involved with planning or visiting areas to judge
their suitability please let me know.
|
