NORTHERN NAVIGATORS
October Odyssey 2005
1st-2nd October 2005

Organisers comments (day 2) - Rob McKenna (NN)
Although I was officially the day 2 organiser, both myself and Boris helped each other out over the weekend and the roles merged into one.
Having spoken to Boris about the event, the following comments also reflect his feelings on how the weekend went.

First of all, many thanks for all turning up and making this 25th Anniversary of the October Odyssey a weekend to remember.
Seeing all the smiling faces and hearing the pleasant comments has made the weeks of hard work very gratifying.  It was a pity about the
weather on the Saturday, but given the time of the year and the location, I think that we were rather lucky.  What a difference on the
Sunday though - it is amazing what a bit of warmth and sunshine can do to encourage a warm and social atmosphere for post event discussions.

As NN are a small club and seem to be getting smaller, I find it amazing that we have been able to cope with such a weekend � a big thank you
to all who helped to make this a relatively successful event.

The use of electronic punching has become the norm these days and is expected, particularly at the big events.  It does have its advantages,
providing almost instant results and a wealth of post race information for the competitor to analyse at home.  The number of people needed
to run the system is also a lot less than the old control card set up, which is ideal for a club our size.  However, the equipment itself
can be rather irksome to manage when putting out and collecting in, being bulky and awkward to handle.  There is also the matter of programming
the boxes before the event. As the region did not have enough equipment to cover a two day event, the logistics and finances of securing
sufficient control boxes added to the workload of the organising team.  On the whole the system worked fine but for one control box which
went down � sorry if this spoilt your run.  I must apologise for the delay at the download point for some competitors � this was not only due
to my lack of practice and inexperience with the system but may have also been down to the way we had the computer set up.

I must single out a few people who deserve a special mention.
Firstly Dave Caudwell (mapper and planner) � he has done so much work over the past year to enable this event to take place � securing
permissions; liaising with the land owners and gamekeepers; surveying the areas; drawing up, printing and bagging both maps; planning courses;
modifying, siting and collecting equipment.  A mammoth task given that these were two new areas some 30 miles apart � well done Dave.

Next the two controllers, Patrick Smyth and Phil Batts.  The fact that the event appeared to run without any major technical problems
is down to the thoroughness of their approach to the task.

Thanks to the staff at the Nenthead Mines Heritage Centre and at the Low Redford Visitor Centre, firstly for allowing us to use their
excellent facilities, but also for the help they gave us both before and during the event.

Thanks also to the small band of TA Cadets from Hexham ACF, who generally helped on parking duties but also filled in where necessary.
They were courteous and professional in dealing with the general public and orienteering competitors alike and were ably controlled by
Boris Spence and Jacqueline Marley.

Andrew Nicoll, although not a member of our club, did a sterling job agreeing to take on the role of entries secretary and SI equipment
technical advisor.  From past events I know how thankless and time consuming this job can be.

Thanks to Border Liners for the loan of their stock of SI equipment and to Dick and Angela Whitworth for their advice on the use of it.

Last, but not least, a big thanks to the small team of club members (almost the whole of the club) who rallied round to help put this event on.
Without their help this event could not have happened.

It appeared that we ran out of the mementoes which were given out after your run on the Sunday (surprising as we had ordered 400 altogether).
As some club helpers also missed out, we are going to order a few more.  If anybody did not get one and would like one, then drop me a line
and I will post one off to you.

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend.


Planners comments (day1 & 2) - Dave Caudwell (NN)
When a small club like NN does a 2 day event, with venues nearly 30 miles apart, the onus of the work falls largely on 1 person:- me!
I suggested the areas we should use, then got the necessary permissions, and then surveyed and mapped both areas, with the day 1 venue,
Nenthead, requiring a lot more work than day 2 at Hamsterley, Dryderdale, and the Cabin Hill/Doctor�s Gate moorland. I then planned
all the courses, and printed all the maps on the club�s Lanier colour laser. Next came the bagging, easily the most tedious of all the tasks.
In the week before the competition, I put out all the SI stakes (except for some deemed vulnerable, which were put out on the morning of the
events), and on the day before each event the SI units were put out, but I had the assistance of a club member each day for this last task
(Norman Harris day 1, Bob Johnson day 2 - many thanks for your contributions).

Although this all seems a mammoth task, it all seemed worthwhile when nothing went wrong (that I could do anything about, anyway),
and so many of you passed pleasant comments to me about your courses. Of course, the fact that nothing went wrong was largely down to the
fact that my two controllers (Patrick Smyth day 1, Phill Batts day 2) were meticulous in their approach, dispensed excellent advice,
and found all my mistakes. Thank you, gentlemen.

While you were trying to cope with the soggy conditions on day 1, I was at Hamsterley (the sun shone from a cloudless sky from 9.30 am onwards)
putting out the SI units till about 1 pm, before going to Nenthead. I wonder how many of you realised how high (vertically!) you were there.
Only the start (just) and towards the finish were lower than 1500 ft, while some controls (148, 150, 151, 154) were above the 2000 ft level,
with several others being close to this. I�m sure you�ll tell me if I�m wrong, but has an event in England been run at a higher venue?
Of course, being that high means that the area attracts a lot of weather, and although the area was quite dry 10 days before the event,
rain in the few days beforehand ensured that the area was sodden for the event, particularly in the flatter areas, where the water tends to
collect. I hope you thought a visit to the area was worthwhile if only for the interesting collection of complex re-entrants and spurs around
controls 120, 121, 122, 135, and also the Dowgang Hush which was the wooded valley at the end of the courses. A hush is formed by a primitive
type of mining excavation, whereby a suitable stream is dammed until there is a good head of water. The torrent released when the dam is
breached strips the stream valley of soil and vegetation, and this enables the miners to see (and reach easily) where metallic ores outcrop
(lead, in this case).

The day 2 area is around 1000 ft lower, hence not so much weather, and much drier conditions, particularly on the moorland. I thought the
lightly quarried (iron ore, I�m told) parts would be an interesting challenge, and there were some impressive spoil heaps on view.
The forest is currently not quite so good as previous, where many deciduous saplings have quite suddenly grown into something of a hindrance.
I decided to put a �slow run� screen over it all (probably not quite right, as some was still quite nice, but other parts were thicker),
and not spend too much time on it as this area is to be completely thinned in the new year, so that no coniferous trees will remain at all,
and only oak is left. Perhaps you saw the tapes on the trees.

Of course, there were things I had nothing to do with, and the input of Andrew Nichol, who did the pre-entries and co-ordinated the
SI side of things was also considerable, as were the efforts of the two organisers, Rob McKenna and Boris Spence.

Despite the success of this event, and the satisfaction gained from so much of it, I don�t think I�ll be volunteering to plan both days
of our next October Odyssey in 2008!


Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Paul Mercer and the staff of the Nenthead Mines Heritage Centre; Nick Walmsely and Weardale Estates; Peter Fawcett and Bollihope Estates;
Robin Lofthouse and the Forestry Commission.  Also to Jaqueline Marley and the small band of TA cadets from the Hexham ACF, who helped man the
car parking and generally filled in throughout the weekend.

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