When I first visited Knettishall for familiarisation last May I suspected that the course lengths would need to be towards the top end of the guidelines. At its best the area is runnable and fast – I therefore wanted to avoid too many of the technical course competitors arriving back at the finish in under 45 minutes. Then as the weeks passed by I watched the bracken and brambles grow – by September there was little sign of the vegetation beginning to flatten. We had a problem! Final planning therefore became a challenge to second guess where the routes through the vegetation would be passable and whether or not certain provisional control sites would be visible and fair. Obviously such concerns caused a number adjustments to earlier plans: sadly a little more path running than was ideal. However as we counted you all back before the closing time I guess any navigational difficulty was surmountable.

It is always a privilege to plan whilst a new map is being prepared especially now that OCAD files of revised survey drafts can be so easily exchanged. Simon Peck’s and Bill Mclean’s map was bang up to date – to my mind a very clear production from the SUFFOC school of surveying & cartography – thanks guys.

Thanks are due to Russ Edwards, my assistant planner for helping with control site selections and our respective sons Ashley and Jon for helping us with setting up the courses over the weekend. Thanks also to the organisation team led on the day by Louise Walker and the other volunteers who offered to help with control collecting at the end – all cleared up and heading for home by 4pm – great team effort.

A special word of thanks is reserved for Pat Martin our controller. I certainly appreciated having someone who was happy to work with my ideas and share the benefits of his experience.

We should never take land access for granted. We are therefore grateful to Suffolk County Council and in particular Stephen Grimshaw the Countryside Ranger for granting permission for us orienteer on the Heath.

And finally and by no means least - thanks to you all for coming - Clive Coles

Organisers’ Comments - Thanks to those of the willing helpers who turned up on the day to assist in the smooth running of the event. Unfortunately some people had to cry off at the last moment due to circumstances beyond their control. Apologies therefore to everyone as we were unable to process the results on the day. But as usual there is always someone in the club ready to help out in a crisis and yet again it was John W. and Jeremy G stepping in at the last moment to finalise the results. Thanks guys! Louise Walker

As most of you were warming up for your runs at Knettishall Heath I was just crawling into my bed after an invigorating 'through the night' run in the Epping Forest Rodings Rally. As the two events fell on the same weekend it stretched our club resources and it was perhaps a good idea to have just one person pulling the teams together for both events. Many thanks to all of those club members who helped on the day and particularly to Simon Peck and Louise Walker who sacrificed their runs so that there was sufficient cover. I gather there were 200+ competitors at the event, a good number that makes it seem very worthwhile. And I am told that there was even a short spell of sunshine. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed my sleep!. Regards Goff Hill

Controller’s Report - When I first went to have a look at some of Clive's potential control sites in September I was quite horrified by the amount of bracken and undergrowth and I could foresee some drastic replanning. However, while you may not have appreciated the amount of rainfall in the last few weeks in your areas, it certainly made the going more tolerable at Knettishall.

Clive originally planned with electronic punching in mind – ideal in a compact area like Knettishall, but as the club decided that they lacked the experience in its use, there had to be some minor changes, particularly to the long courses. Given the constraints of the 2 large fenced areas, I felt that the courses were sufficiently challenging both for novices and experienced orienteers and the finish times generally bear this out.

I very much appreciated Clive's highly efficient and timely approach to everything. Apart from one early site meeting, all communication was by e-mail transferring spreadsheets and OCAD maps back and forth between us. It was a pleasure to work with Clive and I thank him for his efficiency and enthusiasm. - Pat Martin