Mardley Heath

Saturday 04 February 2023

Welcome to our Saturday Series and Youth League event. Beginners are very welcome and there are courses for all standards.

Mardley , Scout & Guide Centre, Canonsfield Rd, Woolmer Green Al6 0QA

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Update Feb 2nd: The Short Blue course is almost full. If you are planning to enter on the day, please do so before travelling to avoid disappointment.

PARKING The event centre is Scout & Guide HQ, Canonsfield Road, Welwyn, AL6 0QA. OS grid ref TL242179. Free parking on the road near the event centre and around the A1(M) bridge. Space is very limited and it would be greatly appreciated if people could share transport. Many of the local lanes are not suitable for parking, so to minimise congestion please follow marshals’ instructions.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT Bus 300/301 from Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Hatfield, WGC and Stevenage stops at the bottom of Canonsfield Road roughly every 20 minutes on Saturdays.
TERRAIN Mardley Heath is a small but complex woodland, mainly regenerating naturally following gravel extraction in the middle of the last century. A small area of open heathland has been maintained in the northern part of the site. The area is now a Local Nature Reserve owned and managed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, who have kindly given us permission for our event. Gravel working has left this area with complex contour detail, in addition to the already hilly nature of the site. Public access for walkers, horse riders and cyclists has added a maze of small footpaths. Open areas and the mature remnant former woodland offer fast running, whilst the less mature areas provide plenty of route choice where close contact with the map will be required.
BEGINNERS First timers are very welcome. Look for our greeters in hi-vis jackets.
COURSES Courses for everybody from beginners of any age to experienced orienteers.

Course Straight line Distance Difficulty School Years*
White 1.2 km Easy – all along paths. Control flags when you need to decide whether to turn. Up to Y4
Y5
Yellow 2.1 km Fairly easy – navigate along line features such as paths, walls, streams.
Some turns with no control flags.		 Y6
Orange 3.2 km Moderate – start cutting across country, some controls a bit away from line features. Y7-8
Y9-10
Light Green 3.9 km Harder – a range of navigational skills needed to find controls on any mapped feature. Y11-13
Short Blue 5.6 km As hard as we can make it on the area. n/a

*These are the recommended courses for people in these school years who enter the Youth League, however some will be invited to ‘run up’.

You may enter any course and will automatically be entered in the club’s Saturday League unless you ask not to.

Wheelchair suitability: None of the courses are suitable for all-terrain wheelchairs.
STARTS You can choose a 15 minute start block between 10:00 and 11:30.
Start and finish are within 200m of the event centre and car parking.
Courses close 12:45
ENTRY & FEES Entry now open via SI Entries. You must enter on line. Online entry will remain open until 11:15 on the day, while maps and start slots are available.

Entries up to midnight on Sunday 29th January:

  • BOF members: Adults £4, Juniors £2, HH juniors free.
  • Non-members: Adults £6, Juniors £3.
 Entries from Monday 30th January:

    • BOF members: Adults £6, Juniors £4, HH juniors £2.
    • Non-members: Adults £8, Juniors £5.

Dibber hire £1. Charge for lost dibbers £30.
PUNCHING Sportident punching will be used.
CONTROL DESCRIPTIONS Control descriptions will be on the map
MAP 1:5000 pre-marked maps for all courses. For map of a previous event see here.
FACILITIES Enquiries, Dibber issue, Download, First Aid, Clothing Dump and Toilets will be available at the event centre. It has a wooden floor, so no muddy or metal spiked shoes indoors please. There’s a small entrance lobby where you can leave them. For download you need only approach the back door.
DOGS Please keep dogs under control and clear up behind you
SAFETY Orienteering is an adventure sport. You take part at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety. A full risk assessment will have been carried out.

You should abide by the British orienteering Covid-19 Code of Conduct. In particular:

  • If you have symptoms of COVID-19, are living in a household with someone who has a possible or confirmed COVID-19 infection, or have been asked to isolate by NHS Test and Trace, you should not come. You’ll get a full refund.
  • Before, during and after your run, maintain appropriate distance from other runners and other park users.
  • Hand sanitiser is available – please use it.
RESULTS Interim results will be published direct to the club website every few minutes during the event. There will be no printed results.

Full results will be published to the same location and to RouteGadget; we aim to do so on the day of the event.
OFFICIALS
Planner Hugh Wiltshire
Organiser Penny Parkes
Controlling David Saunders
The small print

This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 82489.

Orienteering is a great sport for youngsters. If you bring children, please help us to keep to our safeguarding policy and British Orienteering’s photography policy.

Your personal data is used for results and insurance, see our privacy policy.

If you have to cancel for a COVID-related reason, write to entries@herts-orienteering.club and we will give a full refund. If we have to cancel the event we will offer a choice of a full refund or a voucher for use at a future HH event. That choice will be sent to the email address used for the original entry. If you do not reply by the deadline, the default is a voucher.