Dukeshouse Woods, Hexham

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  • NATO
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    • Date:
    • Location: Enquiries / Download at Hexham Scout Hut, Maidens Walk (NE46 1DP) in between Marks and Spencer and the Hospital

    FINAL DETAILS

    Venue Located on the south-east outskirts of the market town of Hexham, Dukeshouse Woods is one of the North-East’s premier areas for orienteering, and only used once before in the last ten years.

    Terrain Blocks of open runnable woodland with some denser slower woodland with clearings, rhododendron thickets, ponds, crags, pits and depressions. Full leg cover is required. Extensive path network.

    Entries By SiEntries only. Entries close Sunday 17 October. There is no entry on the day.

    On the day enquiries and download This will be at the Hexham Scout Hut: Lookwide Centre, 17 Maiden’s Walk, Hexham NE46 1DP. If you have children and wish them to wait in the Scout Hut whilst you run please contact the organiser to arrange this.

    Starts Allocated 15 minute time slots between 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Follow tapes to the start from the Scout Hut. Distance 1.5km, Climb 100m.

    Finish Follow tapes from the finish back to the Scout Hut. All courses close at 14:30.

    Parking / Travel: Parking is in the centre of Hexham. The closest car park is at Marks and Spencers (Pay and Display). Free parking (Disc) is available in the Wentworth Car Park. Please do not park in the residential streets near the Scout Hut or at Dukeshouse Woods. There are good rail and bus links (bags can be left in the Scout Hut at your own risk).

    Toilets Public toilets are available in the Wentworth Car Park.

    Courses

    CourseLength [km]Climb [m]
    White1.320
    Yellow2.625
    Orange3.240
    Light Green3.230
    Short Green2.745
    Green4.195
    Blue5.6135
    Brown8.0195

    Control Descriptions These will be printed on the map, and are available for download here. Loose control descriptions will also be available at the start.

    Map ISOM2017. Scale is 1:10,000 on all courses. There is one special symbol which is a black cross; this represents a hide. Several new paths and mountain bike tracks have been created over the past few months and may not all be mapped.

    Organiser Francis Shillitoe fshillit at hotmail.com

    Planner Mary Rack

    Controller Duncan Archer

    Pandemic: This event will be conducted with regard to Government and British Orienteering guidelines in force at the time. Participation is conditional upon accepting the code of conduct for participants. It is important that you refer to the full document.
    Note in particular:

    • Do not attend if showing Covid-19 symptoms or are isolating or in quarantine.
    • Arrive reasonably close to your allocated start slot.
    • Respect Social Distancing at all times. Be particularly careful at the start, download and narrow pinch points.
    • Please use hand sanitiser available at Start and Download.
    • No entry on the day. See pre entry details below.
    • No dibber hire on the day. See long term hire details below.
    • Avoiding potential exposure to Covid-19 is more important than saving a few seconds at a control.
    • Leave the area promptly after your run with no picnicking or socialising.
    • A comprehensive risk assessment (covid appropriate) has been prepared.

    Safety Full leg cover is required as there are brashings and brambles. A whistle must be carried. Brown and Blue courses go near to Devils Water (a river) where there are dangerous crags. These are avoidable but a path goes quite close to the top of these. They are not taped off. If the weather is poor competitors may be required to carry waterproofs. If you get completely lost there is a road at the western edge of the map; following this to the north will take you into Hexham town centre. There is also a wide track running east-west through the centre of the map, which you generally hit if you head uphill from any direction.

    Orienteering is an adventure sport.  A comprehensive risk assessment for the event has been prepared and identified risks have been mitigated, however please be aware that participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event.

    Punching SPORTident electronic (SIAC enabled). If you do not have a SPORTident dibber you can hire one for a cost of £5 on the entry page. NATO club members may keep the dibber on a long term hire basis. Non-club members will return their dibbers at Enquiries/Download after the event. Dibbers can be picked up at Enquiries/Download at the Scout Hut prior to competitors going up to the start. Dibbers are available for purchase from £29 upwards from  SPORTident

    Club Trophies We are currently in the process of collecting back in all club trophies. If you have a club trophy e.g. club championships, night owls, Plessey, Morpeth etc, then please bring it to the Scout Hut.

    Route Gadget

    Please visit RouteGadget to upload your route, and to see where other runners went.

    Advantages of using RouteGadget are:

    • You and others can see each other’s routes taken.
    • You can see the other courses that were on offer at the event.
    • You can become aware of alternative route choices.
    • The planner can see what responses there were to the navigation challenges that were set.
    • You can have youngsters talk through their routes to other members of the family

    Help and guidance on uploading routes to RouteGadget

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