Kent Orienteering League 6: Scotney Castle Estate

Location

Nearest town: Lamberhurst

• Grid Ref:
• Postcode: TN3 8JN
• Latitude: 51.09383
• Longitude: 0.40469
• Google Map
• Streetmap (OS 50k)
• Bing Map (OS 50k)
• OpenStreetMap

Directions / Parking

Parking is in the main National Trust car park. Signed from the A21 SE of Lamberhurst. Use postcode TN3 8JN and once on the A21 follow the Brown Tourist Signs for Scotney Castle. Parking is free for NT members and £4 for anyone else.

Note: If it is a fine day, space in the car park may be limited. Please share cars where possible and follow the National Trust car parking team's instructions upon arrival.

Public Transport options

Nearest  Railway stations (none nearby): Wadhurst 10km, Marden 11km, Tunbridge Wells 15km.

Registration & Start Times

Registration from 10:30 to 12:00

Start times from 11:00 to 12:30

Courses close 14:00

Course Information

Five courses available:

Yellow. Controls (checkpoints) are very easy to find, mostly on main paths, ideal for younger children and complete beginners.

Orange. Moderate, controls are on or near paths with more route choice. Good for progressing juniors and beginner adults who are reasonably confident reading a map.

Light Green: Harder. Controls away from paths giving more challenging navigation. For those with some experience.

Short Blue. As technically hard as we can make it, for experienced orienteers.

Score. No set distance, but a 60 minute time limit. Find as many of the 20 controls as possible in one hour. Good for adult beginners, those progressing from orange to light green, and those that want to be back in a set time.

 

1:7500 scale map with 5m contours, updated 2018. Maps will be printed on A4 waterproof paper.

Controls are not SIAC enabled. Separate/loose control descriptions will be available for the longer courses.

Explanation of colour courses

• White are very easy with all controls on paths. They are mainly used by 6-10 year olds and family groups.
• Yellow use simple linear features like paths, walls and streams. They are mainly used by under 12’s and family groups.
• Orange progress to basic use of the compass and route choice. They are ideal for novice adults or experienced youngsters.
• Light Green are ideal for improvers as the navigational difficulty begins to increase and uses simple contours and point features.
• Green are used mostly by experienced under 18’s and adults wanting a short but challenging course with a very hard navigational difficulty.
• Blue are a longer, more physically demanding course in comparison to the green. The distances are more varied between controls and the course attracts experienced orienteers.
• Brown & Black are very physically demanding and have a very hard navigational difficulty. They are for experienced orienteers only.
• Score means visiting as many controls as possible in any order in a specific time, like 45mins.

Entry Details

Entry on the day.

Adults: £5 (members of an orienteering club) £7 (non members)

Juniors: £3 (members of an orienteering club) £5 (non members)

Groups: £10 (club members and non members), includes 1 dibber hire.

This price includes loan of electronic timing equipment (aka dibber) if required, and a waterproof map per competitor (yours to keep after the event). Dibbers are expensive and a £35 charge will be due if the dibber is lost.

Juniors are registered separately, compete in a group containing at least one adult, or be ‘shadowed’. Shadowing is explained below.

Juniors and Shadowing:

Whilst many juniors will initially complete a course as part of a group, some juniors may want to progress to be able to run on their own. We understand that many parents/guardians will want to ensure their child’s safety by completing the course with them, or following a short distance behind. We call this ‘shadowing’ and there is more information here. Parents shadowing juniors will be given an extra map at no charge. The entry fee will be the junior entry fee. Alternatively, juniors are also welcome to compete in twos or threes, and will be entered individually.

Terrain Description

Mixed forest, parkland and fields. Particularly hilly in the eastern part!

Facilities

The National Trust shop, café and toilets are open from 10:00.

Dogs allowed?

Dogs on leads are welcome. Note, there may be livestock in the fields.

Contacts / Officials

Organiser: Alan Hickling

Planner: Jean Fitzgerald