SLOWprint 147

April 2004

 

 

 

Lake District Training Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://sloweb.org.uk/

 

 

Chair: Chris Robinson,   :	Secretary: Don McKerrow,   :	Ladies’ Captain: Karen Jones,   :
Treasurer: Liz Armitage,   :	Mapping Officer, SEOA Rep. and Fixtures Secretary: Andy Robinson,   :	Club Kit: Teresa Turner,   :
Men’s Captain: Peter Huzan,   :	Publicity Officer: Paul Canham,   :paul.canham@btinternet.com	Social Secretary; VACANT
Membership Secretary: Ginny Catmur,   :	Beginners’ Rep. and Training Officer: Heather Walton,   :	Equipment Officer: Chris Fry,   :
Archivist: Sue Lumas,	SLOWprint Editor: Sarah Brown,   :	Webmaster: Andrew Trimble,   :

 

Copy date for Issue 148 will be late May/early June 04. Letters, event reports, articles, cartoons, gossip, scandal, notices, small ads, court circulars, births, deaths and marriages should be posted to Sarah Brown (address above); electronic copies via e-mail are particularly welcome.

 

New Members: If you are new to SLOW, you might not know about ... Training:

PLEASE  READ about our spring season  page 9, and also Hot Picks page 10 - a chance to meet other members

            … and Transport: we can organise lifts to events: ring any of the club’s officers, as listed above, and one of us will sort this out for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another action-packed few months in the life of South London Orienteers are Wicked (new name? discuss!):

 

xOur monthly club nights/street Os - are growing in popularity with well attended evenings hosted in Battersea by Charlie Whetham and in Surbiton by Jackie Steinitz.

 

xBox Hill Race - it's 12 years since SLOW (aka Andy) took this on and this year was another sell-out, but with a new winner.

 

xCoaching weekend, Lake District, January - all I can say is, if you weren't there you missed a treat.  Tremendous intricate terrain, excellent exercises, great accommodation and company.  JK here we come.

 

xSouth East Night League (SENILE!) - on Holmwood Common.  Someone actually said: "I always like SLOW events - they are so well organised".

 

xCompassSport Cup, Esher - beautifully run, except for the Cup result.  However a lot has actually been said as we try to figure out why we didn't win again.  We have to be at full strength to beat Southdowns.

 

xCoaching day, Esher Common - another GO/SLOW collaboration with lots of new members learning some new techniques.

 

xSchools development work - 2 introductory days held in Battersea Park for Salesian College; a day is planned on Wimbledon Common for Southfields Community College; we've been asked to revised and extend the Southfields College map.

 

xHilary Palmer, BOF Development Manager, attended our March committee meeting and led a wide-ranging discussion on development. Various options of targeting schools, universities, or post education young people were discussed. The range of possibilities is huge, as is the danger of spreading resources too thinly by trying to do too much. Getting publicity right is crucial to any development plans. BOF has some little-known development funds we could tap into.

 

xThe absence of Sprint Races in the O-calendar was discussed.  Agreed to put on a Sprint Race with the SLOW Frolic in the summer:  a) Sprints are different, fun, spectator friendly and rarely held; b)  we need more experience of them before World Cup 2005.

 

x         Club fleeces are on their way!  Watch this space!

 

x         Did you know that if you type London orienteering into Google, SLOW's website appears in 18^th position, behind DFOK (Dartford) and even SYO (South Yorkshire)!  The Webmaster is looking into it.

 

Big thanks to all responsible for the above activities:  Chris Fry, Heather Walton, Andy Robbo, Charlie Whetham, Jackie Steinitz, Don McKerrow, Alan Leakey, Gordon Parker, Andrew Trimble, Mark Vyvyan-Robinson, Nicola King, Simon Evans,  as well as Simon Greenwood (Saxons) and Angela Darley (GO).

                                                                                                           

  Chris Robinson  Chair

 

 

From Ginny Catmur, Membership Secretary

No changes of address in this issue, as I’m enclosing the latest address list. Please check that your details are correct, and let me know if they’re not!

Ginny  ; )

 

SLOW members’ news, January – April 2004

Welcome to the following new members

Justin (M21), Michelle (W21) and Chloe (W2) Morrison,  , Wimbledon  

Paul Wilson (M21),  , Forest Hill, London SE23  

Chris Wroe (M18),   Carshalton, Surrey   ;

Auriel Glanville  (W60),  , Wimbledon SW19   

Anthony Covey-Crump (M21),   Welwyn Garden City, Herts  ;

Veronica Tonge (W21  Little Green, Richmond, Surrey  

Andy Hodgson (M21),  , Putney, London, SW15    

Dominic Lawrance (M21) (actually a returning member),  , Putney, London, SW15  ;

 

 

 

 

At each of these fixtures, SLOW will organise:

 

·Transport from south west London

·Suggested block of start times so we can meet up (11.00-12.00)

·Club tent for changing, coaching – or whatever

10^th-12^th April JK, Ulverston, Lake District

10^th & 11^th - Individual days – Graythwaite.  A large hilly area with intricate contour detail and many rock features.  Few paths/tracks increase the navigational challenge!

12^th – Relays - Graythwaite

CD: 07/03/04 or internet late entry by 20/03/04 for higher fee. www.sroc.org/jk2004.html

25^th April         District Event, Frith Hill, Camberley

Undulating runnable woodland.  Full colour coded courses, white to brown.

All EOD.  www.geocities.com/southern_nav

1^st – 3^rd May    Triple O Severn, Forest of Dean.

1st – Medium Race  Russell’s Enclosure. An area of typical Forest of Dean terrain. Ideal for a fast and furious middle race.

2^nd – Classic Race    Lydney Park.  Considered by many to be the best area in the Forest of Dean.  It is complex and rife with old mine workings, evidence of the Forest industrial heritage.  Runnable, undulating area of mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland.

3^rd – Relay Now the British Relay Champs at Danby Lodge.  Mixture of deciduous and coniferous vegetation.  The activities of former residents has left a wealth of intricate contour detail.  E-mail Captain, Pete Huzan before 5^th April for a place in a team.

www.ngoc.org.uk for further details and special entry form.  CD: 12/04/04

16^th May Harvester Night/Day Relays, Pipingford Park, Crowborough.

Teams or seven or five runners with first few legs at night, a dawn leg and then day legs!

CD: If you would like a run E-mail Captain, Pete Huzan before 5 April. www.mvoc.org.uk

23^rd May         SE Relays, Happy Valley, Croyden

CD: If you would like a run E-mail Captain, Pete Huzan before 8 May.   www.croyden-orienteering.co.uk   To arrange transport, contact Ginny Catmur   020 8398 8190

CD = closing date, often possible to get late entry.  EOD = entry on the day available

 

 

The year started off with a coaching weekend in the Lake District full of enthusiastic participants. There is a report of this elsewhere (page 14) but particular thanks should go to Chris Fry and Alan Leakey for planning, despite the fact that the areas kept changing up to the weekend before. Thanks also to Nicky King for taking one of the coaching exercises, to Mark
Vyvyan-Robinson with Keira, Owen and Charlie for sorting out the food and to Simon Evans for co-ordinating transport I am looking forward to seeing if all the practice pays off when you all compete at the JK.

We have also just had a coaching day on Esher Common. Many thanks to Angela Darley from Guildford Orienteers for planning the exercises. Thanks also to all the more experienced orienteers who came along to coach. It was good to see some new faces such as the Clemens family and some recent faces such as Laura Ashworth and Jessica King. We had some impressive runs down the steep hill to the finish from Robert Hanson, for example. The
team score finale was won by Michael May, Chris Wroe, Linda Clemens and Alice Clemens by a mere inch from Ralph Street, Anna Steinitz, Holly Clemens and Jenny Steinitz.

The provisional date for the next coaching day is Sunday 9th May. Subject to land permission, this will be on Puttenham Common near Guildford. This will be good preparation for the SE Relays near Croydon on 23rd May (see Captain's report).

 

Other events coming up that are good for beginners/juniors include an event on Frith Hill just half an hour down the M3 on 25th April. This is a 'hot pick' event (an event nominated by SLOW as a good event to which several SLOW members are expected to go. see page 5).

 

If you want to go further afield, how about the Annual Junior Coaching Course for 7-13 year olds (Yellow-Light Green) at Coniston in the Lake District. The course is on Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th June 2004 during the day. Accommodation is not included. It is followed by 2 events in the ake District on 5th/6th June. Cost £45/£40 (discount for parents who help). Details: send SAE to Carol McNeill, Oxen Park, Ulverston LA12 8HG or e-mail

.

Congratulations to Ralph Street who ran for England and won the M14 competition against Belgium and the Netherlands at Blackheath.

And finally much admiration to all juniors for even going out on their courses in the gale force winds at the British Championships.