Verulamium

Welcome to one of our Saturday series events. Beginners are very welcome and there are courses for all standards.

Location Occupying the site of the Roman City of Verulamium, this 100 acres of parkland is the first of its kind to be listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The chalk stream River Ver flows through and provides a home for many water birds and wildlife habitats. Archaeological excavations have uncovered numerous roman artefacts. The Hypocaust mosaic is free and Verulamium museum is also on the map.
Getting there
Westminster Lodge Pay & Display AL1 2DJ – free for 2 hours, then chargeable.

For 2 hours free parking, you need to go and register your car registration plate in the leisure centre.  The iPad/ machine for doing this is on the right as you walk into the leisure centre foyer, just past the vending machine.

The ticket machines in the car park itself will no longer register you for the free parking, however if you wish to pay, they are still taking pay and display and takes debit and credit cards.

The closest car parks are the western ones. If all car parks are full, use street parking opposite the entrance to the park, or shop in Sainsbury’s or one of the other stores there.

Please note: Westminster Lodge is very well signed, so there won’t be any O signage on the main roads.

St Albans City rail station is just over a mile away. St Albans Abbey station is adjacent to the park entrance.

Bus routes to Westminster Lodge include:

  • 321 (Luton-St Albans-Watford)
  • 721 (Hemel Hempstead-St Albans-Harpenden-Luton)
  • 725 (Stevenage-WGC-St Albans-Watford-Rickmansworth)
  • 361(Borehamwood-Bricket Wood-St Albans)
  • 724 (Harlow-Ware-Hertford-WGC-Hatfield-St Albans-Watford-Denham-Uxbridge-Heathrow Airport)
  • 601 (WGC-Hatfield-St Albans-Borehamwood)
Event centre is in a portakabin adjacent to the Sea Cadets’ Hut what3words ///hill.teams.zoom.
Terrain Open parkland with some woodland and contour detail. Much of the area is the ancient monument covering the Roman town of Verulamium, although all you can see is a few fragments of walls that were left after the townsfolk had raided the site for building materials.

Part of the area is new for orienteering. It was a 9 hole golf course, now vegetation is increasing.  It made for good X country racing earlier this year, so will make our event a bit different and add interest with new control sites (sandy pits ) and route choice .

The paved area around the lake can be flooded if there is heavy rain the day before so clothes should be appropriate. Full leg cover is mandatory.

Courses Courses for everybody from beginners of any age to experienced orienteers.

Course Straight-line Distance Climb Difficulty
White 1.4 km 30m Easy – all along paths. Control flags when you need to decide whether to turn.
Yellow 2.2 km 30m Fairly easy – navigate along line features such as paths, walls, streams.
Some turns with no control flags.
Orange 3.1 km 60m Moderate – start cutting across country, some controls a bit away from line features.
Light Green 4.1 km 60m Harder – a range of navigational skills needed to find controls on any mapped feature.
Short Blue 6.0 km 75m As hard as we can make it on the area.

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

Beginners First timers are very welcome. Look for our greeters in hi-vis jackets who will help you.

We suggest that complete beginners start on the Yellow course, or Orange if you are confident with a map and compass. Young children, say primary school age, are probably better on White.

If you find your course too easy, club policy is to offer you a free run on the next course up, if there’s time and there are maps available.

Maps 1:7500 pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper. For a previous event see Routegadget.

Control descriptions will be on the map, there are no loose descriptions.

Starts Start and finish are within 200m of the event centre.

Starts are between 10:00 and 11:30, you can choose a 15-minute block within that.

SIAC will be enabled for those with contactless dibbers. Punch the start and finish; other controls will be in dual contactless / punching mode.

Courses close 12:45. Please start in good time to finish by then.

Entry & Fees Entry are now open at SI Entries. All entries are made online. You can enter up to 11:15 on the day (subject to map availability).

Entries up to midnight on Sunday 29 Sep:

  • BOF members: Adults £4, Juniors £2, HH juniors free.
  • Non-members: Adults £6, Juniors £3.
Late entries from Monday 30 Sep:

  • BOF members: Adults £6, Juniors £4, HH juniors £2.
  • Non-members: Adults £8, Juniors £5.
Juniors born 2004 or later. Seniors in full time education at junior rates.

If you don’t have your own dibber (timing chip) you’ll need to hire one for £1. Charge for lost dibbers £65.

If you are running as a pair or group you only need to enter once. You’ll get one timing card. Enter using the name of the lead map reader (if a junior you pay junior rates) plus all other names in the free text “additional runners” box. If you want extra map(s) so that you don’t have to share they are £1 each.

Punching SIAC (contactless mode) will be enabled for controls on the course. The start and finish controls will be in punching mode: ensure that you punch the start and finish.
Results Live information will be available from your smartphone / tablet on www.herts-orienteering.club:

  • List of pre-entered competitors so you can check your entered course, start block and the dibber number you entered with.
  • Live Results and splits updated every few minutes.

Full results will be published on www.herts-orienteering.club and Routegadget as soon as possible after the event.

Dogs Keep under control and clear up behind you. Dogs are not allowed in the event centre (Sea Cadets’ Hut)
Facilities Toilets at the Leisure Centre (200m) and at the running track (150m). Please note that another function is taking place within the Sea Cadets’ Hut and those toilets are not available.

There is a cafe in the Leisure Centre and any number of places to eat and drink in the city centre, up Holywell Hill to the NE corner of the map.

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 be been carried out.

Climbing of fences and entering out of bounds areas marked with purple cross-hatching is strictly forbidden. All water (lakes, river) is uncrossable (can be deep and contaminated with blue-green algae)

Competitors travelling alone are advised to leave something of value that they will not forget at Enquiries (e.g. car keys).

Please show due consideration to walkers, pushchairs, cyclists and other park users.

You must go to Download (in Assembly) even if you don’t finish your course. We need to confirm you’re back safely.

First Aid will be available at the Event Centre.

The nearest A$E is Watford General A&E (24 hours) Vicarage Road, Watford, WD18 0HB. Tel: 01923 244366
Minor Injury Units nearby are:

  • St Albans City Hospital- Integrated Urgent Care Hub (9am – 6pm) BY APPOINTMENT ONLY on 01727 866122, Waverley Road, St Albans, AL3 5PN
  • Hemel Hempstead Hospital- Urgent Treatment Centre (8am-10pm) (UTC Tel: 01442 287451 or 01442 287452), Hillfield Road, Hemel Hempstead, HP2 4AD. Tel. 01442 213141
Officials
Planner Stu Levene
Organiser Beatrix Li
Controller David Saunders
The small print

This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 84567.

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.

Refund policy:

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.