We invite you to a “Local” level event in the Church Stretton area. There will be courses suitable for newcomers.
Note to Wrekin members: our AGM will be held at the King’s Arms from 1pm. Please come if you can.
The following details are also available to download or print in Word format (which you may find easier to copy and paste for sending in entries!).
We would like to put on record our thanks to Church Stretton Town Council and National Trust for access to the local open spaces.
Venue: Church Stretton Town and Open Spaces including Rectory Woods LNR, the lower part of Carding Mill Valley and Church Stretton Town Centre.
The Start and Finish will be at Rectory Wood Field, less than 100m from the entrance by the junction of Church Street and Churchway.
Postcode (nearest): SY6 6DQ
Grid Reference: SO 4518 9373
What3Words: ///depending.recorders.swarm
Nearest rail station: Church Stretton, 600m away.
Car parking: there are plenty of parking spaces around Church Stretton town and in Carding Mill Valley. Parking fees apply.
Map: 1:5000, 5m contours, on ordinary paper. Bring a plastic bag to protect yours. Surveyed, drawn and updated 2022 by Peter Jones.
Terrain: Short course completely off road on forest and field paths or tracks. Medium and long courses on a mix of tarmac, playing field and off-road tracks or paths. Trail shoes recommended.
Facilities: WREKIN help point for newcomers
Public Toilets in Church Stretton near Co-op.
Many excellent cafes and shops in town centre
Dogs: Dogs allowed; on leads and kept under control and leaving no trace of their presence.
Sportident: Electronic punching, SIAC enabled but manual punch needed at start and finish. For anyone without a dibber, they are available for hire (£1.00). Lost dibbers will be charged at £40
Entries: Seniors £4, Juniors/helpers £2.
Pre-enter if possible using the format below and making payment direct to WREKIN Orienteers bank account. Entry on the day in Rectory Field
Account Wrekin Orienteers. Account Number; 25108206Sort Code; 09-01-51
Please choose a start block and show this in your entry. The start blocks are:
| First | 10:00-10:30 |
| Second | 10:30-11:00 |
| Third | 11:00-11:30 |
The courses are:
| Course | Controls | Length | Climb |
| Short Local | 12 | 1.5km | 80m |
| Medium Local | 14 | 2.8km | 90m |
| Medium technical | 13 | 3.5km | 110m |
| Long technical | 17 | 5.9km | 220m |
Note: because of the road traffic Juniors up to and including the age of 16 can only compete individually on the Short local course. Juniors can only run the longer courses if a responsible adult runs with them.
Enter by sending the following information – it will help if you use this format. Fill in details on the form below and email it to Adrian.pickles@gmail.com
Entry limit of 120 – the organiser reserves the right to allocate people to alternative start blocks if any one is becoming over full or is too popular
| Name | Club | Age Class | SI Number or “hire” | BO Number (if you have one) | Contact Phone number and email(optional) | Course | Start Block |
Insert more rows if necessary!
Courses close at 12:30 to allow WREKIN members time to get to The King’s Arms for the club AGM at 13:00.
Safety: Competitors take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety. Whistles must be carried. Full leg cover is not required. In case of bad weather cagoules may be compulsory. Please remember to download after your run, or a search will take place for you. In the event of extreme weather please check the WREKIN orienteers website or Facebook page to check the event is still happening. It would have to be quite extreme.
TRAFFIC DANGER: Church Stretton town Centre will be busy with traffic, some roads are narrow, not all roads have pavement. Please be careful at road junctions, coming out of side paths and narrow alleys. Avoid car and pedestrians. In case of emergency Phone 07846301251
Organiser/Planner: Adrian Pickles
Important Note: We must follow BO Guidelines to prevent spread of Covid-19.Anyone who has symptoms of Covid-19, who is living in a household with someone who has a possible or confirmed Covid -19 infection, or who has been asked to isolate by NHS Test and Trace, must stay at home. Outside please maintain 1m+ social distancing from those not in your household at all times. Masks optional.
If you are not a member of WREKIN Orienteers and would like to be kept up to date with results and news of future orienteering events please leave your email address.
Results as PDF to view or download
Organiser and Planner’s Report
Thank you all for coming and taking part in the inaugural Church Stretton Town Orienteering Event. The sun shone, 40 people came to participate, everyone returned safely, fastest times on all courses were as intended, no kit was interfered with, many local people saw orienteering in action and enquired about what was going on.
Church Stretton Town Council were supportive of our use of the town open spaces. Access to the National Trust owned Long Mynd and Carding Mill Valley enhanced the options for route choice in planning the courses. Thanks to both organisations.
As ever all of this only happened due to the efforts of many people. Thank you to all of them. Pete Jones surveyed and drew his first new Urban map last year and then responded patiently to my numerous recent updates and requests. Richard Rogers handled the admin of entries, download and results. Many people helped on the day, and all of this allowed the event to occur.
The four courses each had a different target audience. The short local course was planned so juniors could take part unaccompanied and remained in Rectory Woods and Field. The medium local provided a taster of Urban and Forest orienteering for newcomers. The technical courses for experienced orienteers were planned to give route choice and control finding challenges with a physical demand of some steep slopes. Well done to course winners and everyone else who took part.
The event was deliberately low key, and courses were restricted to the west side of the map leaving a greater area of Church Stretton for use in a larger event with marshals for road or rail crossings. We are hoping the map can be used to provide activities for local schools or in Scouts, Guides, U3A or WI.
Wrekin Orienteers’ next event is at Wrockwardine Wood, Telford on November 27th. Further details will be on the event page soon.
Adrian Pickles
