Mardley
Welcome to one of our Saturday series events which is also part of the club Youth League. 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 who will give you socially-distanced help.
You can around individually, in pairs or in a larger family group. From an entries perspective, pairs / group 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. |
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| 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 | 1:5000 pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper. For a previous event on the area see RouteGadget | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courses | Courses for everybody from beginners of any age to experienced orienteers.
*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. |
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| Course Notes | The Orange, Light Green, and Blue have a marshalled, timed-out road crossing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Entry & Fees | Entry only 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.
Dibber hire £1. Charge for lost dibbers £30. |
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| Starts | When you enter, you can choose a 15 minute start block between 10:00 and 11:30. The event centre is close to start and finish. Courses close 12:45. Please choose a start block to allow yourself plenty of time to finish before then. |
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| Timing | SportIdent punching will be used. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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, so there is no need to hang around.
Full results will be published to the same location and to Routegadget; we aim to do so on the day of the event. |
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| Officials |
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The small print
This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 84319.
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.
