Potteries Orienteering Club

Easter weekend in Yorkshire saw a large representation from POTOC – 15 adults, 4 juniors and a contingent of 14 from Sandbach School, competing in 17 different classes. On Saturday after parking down by the River Wharfe everyone walked up through the middle of Ilkley to the assembly area between the town and the moor. I don't suppose the residents of Ilkley had ever seen anything quite like it before! The start was about half way up the hill onto the moor and the first part of the courses was typical moorland. The weather was good and the views of Wharfedale were excellent (if you had time to look at them!). On descending from the moor the tired brains and legs had to cope with an intricate area with boulders, marshes and small paths which caught many people out.

Sunday in a North Yorkshire forest was a complete contrast. There was another long walk to assembly, this time along forest tracks. With huge events like the JK this is inevitable on occasions due to the difficulty of finding suitable parking. For some the start was a further long walk from assembly. The lucky ones of us had a short walk and our whole course in the best part of the area although it was tough going at times. Lots of rhododendron bushes added to the challenge.

The best performances overall were Tom Taylor 2^nd and Luke Miller 8^th on M18S; Lil Bales 3^rd and AlisonCorbett 12^th on W40S (Alison was 5^th on day 1); Judy Douglas 9^th on W60L; Austin Farr 14^th on M60L and Peter Yoxall 16^th on M60S. M60S and W60L had the same course – overall Judy was less than a minute ahead of Peter. In a close fought mini contest on M50S Dave Bales beat Nathan Townshend by about a minute each day.

There were also some good individual performances on day 2: Barbara Farr was 8^th on W60L after a day 1 she would like to forget; on Orange Alice Townshend was 1^st, Alistair Corbett 7^th and Jack Victor 8^th; on Yellow Will Jepson 8^th and Connor Benson 9^th; on White Richard Townshend 3^rd.

Unfortunately the weather did not hold for the Relays on the Monday when there was a blustery wind and a succession of heavy showers. Bramham Park is almost flat and has an extensive ride/path system so the courses were not difficult and the winning times were fast. However brambles were also a significant factor! We had a team in M165+ and another in W165+ who performed competently but without distinction! Sandbach School had several teams in M48- with varying success but they all appeared to enjoy themselves.

Jean Rostron