Mardley Heath, 2nd January 2027
Welcome to Mardley Heath, one of our monthly Saturday Series events. Beginners are very welcome and there are courses for all standards.
Beginners
First timers are very welcome. Look for our greeters in hi-vis jackets.
You can go around individually, in pairs or in a larger family group. From an entries perspective, pairs and groups are treated as a single runner – it’s one entry, you get one map, one timing chip (“dibber”) and one finish time listed in the Results. We charge per “entry” not per person and it’s easiest to enter in advance – see Entering for the first time for more info on how to do this.
If you’ve not orienteered before, we suggest most people start with the yellow course. Young juniors, say primary school age, and family groups are better on white. People confident with a map and compass may start on orange. If you find your course too easy, club policy is to offer you a run on the next course up at no cost, provided there’s enough time and there are maps available, but don’t forget to download between runs!
Location
Mardley Heath near Welwyn.
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.
Map
1:4000 with 2.5m contours. Pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof A4 paper. For a previous event on the area see RouteGadget. Control descriptions will be on the map.
White and yellow course maps are available at the pre-start.
Course Timing
Sportident punching will be used.
For those with ‘contactless’ dibbers, SIAC will be enabled for controls, but you must punch the Start; the Finish will be “fly-by”.
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
Keep under control and clear up behind you.
Safety
By participating in this event, you acknowledge that you do so at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety.
Members of British Orienteering—which includes those who have joined an affiliated club such as HH—are covered by the organisation’s public liability insurance. Please note: If you are not a BOF member, if you accidentally injure someone or damage property during the event, you are not covered by this insurance.
A full risk assessment has been carried out.
Officials
| Planner | Alex & Kerria Lines |
| Organiser | Jacob Sharpe |
| Controlling | Alex Soulsby |
Courses
Courses for everybody from beginners of any age to experienced orienteers.
| Course | Straight line Distance | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| White | 1.5 km | Easy – all along paths. Control flags when you need to decide whether to turn. |
| Yellow | 2.0 km | Fairly easy – navigate along line features such as paths, walls, streams. Some turns with no control flags. |
| Orange | 2.5km | Moderate – start cutting across country, some controls a bit away from line features. |
| Light Green | 3.5 km | Harder – a range of navigational skills needed to find controls on any mapped feature. |
| Short Blue | 5.5 km | As hard as we can make it on the area. Only for over 16s due to road crossings. |
You may enter any course and will automatically be entered in the club’s Saturday League unless you ask not to.
Course Notes
The event centre is close to start and finish.
Courses close 12:45.
Starts
When you enter, you can choose a 15 minute start block between 10:00 and 11:30.
Courses close 12:45. Please choose a start block to allow yourself plenty of time to finish before then.
Entry & Fees
Entries are will be 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.
| Up to midnight on December 27 | From December 28 |
|---|---|
| BOF members: Adults £5, Juniors £2, HH juniors free | BOF members: Adults £7, Juniors £4, HH juniors £2 |
| Non-members: Adults £7, Juniors £4 | Non-members: Adults £9, Juniors £6 |
Dibber hire £1. Charge for lost dibbers £35.
Dibber Collection: from the Event Centre which is about 200m from the parking and will be signed . Please collect before going to the start.
If you cancel more than 7 days before the event we will refund your fees less an amount for admin and transaction costs. There is no refund for cancellations less than 7 days in advance.
If we have to cancel the event we will try to reschedule it. We will transfer your entry to the rescheduled event unless you ask for a refund.
Results
Interim results will be published direct to the club website every few minutes during the event. There will be no printed results (apart from your own splits) or WiFi available.
Full results will be published to the same location and to Routegadget; we aim to do so on the day of the event.
Photography
Please note that we may take photographs during the event and these will be published on our website and / or Flickr. If you wish to opt out of this on behalf of yourself or your children, please contact the Organiser who will brief the photographer accordingly. For reference, here are links to our safeguarding policy and British Orienteering’s photography policy.
The small print
This event is registered with British Orienteering, number TBA.
Your personal data is used for results and insurance, see our privacy policy.
