Location Info

• Postcode: Mk45 3QD *
• Lat,Lng: 52.06158,-0.37377
• Grid Ref: TL114415
• Google Map
• Streetmap (OS 50k)
• Bing Map (OS 50k)
• OpenStreetMap

* Postcodes are not very precise in some areas, so don't rely on them for an exact location.

Directions / Parking

Night event and associated parking will be located at the Chicksands mountain bike park (DIFFERENT from usual, and from the arrangements for the day event on 4th).

Post code for SatNav is slightly ambiguous: Either MK45 3QD or SG17 5QQ should get you close, but see details below.

What3words: ///coffee.arriving.scrambles

Access to Assembly will be from Chicksands Bike Park car park on the minor Northwood End road leading off the A600 Shefford to Bedford road. The event will be signed from the junction of the minor road with the A600 which is about 2.5 km north of the A600/A507 junction.

Course Information

There will be three courses, as in the table below. All details are subject to final controlling.

Course	Technical Difficulty	Length
Yellow	Easy	1.7 km
Light Green	Harder	3.0 km
Short Blue	Hard	4.2 km

Contactless punching will NOT be enabled. All controls must be contact punched.  We will be using electronic punching. S.I. cards/dibbers can be hired from registration.

Entry Details

Entry on the night will be available, subject to the number of course maps available.

Advance entry for both day and night event are now closed (were open until 28^th January 2024 via Fabian4.

If you volunteer to help at this event you can obtain a helper discount - contact the organiser before you pre-enter to obtain the discount code.

As this is a night event, Juniors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

	Early entry up to evening of 21st Jan	Late entry after 21st Jan and Entry on the Night
Adult BO member	£8	£10
Adult (non-member)	£10	£12
Juniors (U21) and full time students	£3	£3
SI card (dibber) hire	£1	£1

Loss of a hired S.I. card will incur a charge of £30.

Registration and Start Times

Enquiries and registration: 5pm to 6pm.

If you are new to orienteering or require assistance, then please enquire at registration. If you are bringing a school party, or other group such as guides, scouts or ATC cadets, please inform the organiser in advance using the Group Entry Form. Please provide this information by 26 January. Note all under 16s will need to be accompanied by an adult.

Starts from: 5:45pm until 6:45pm. Punching start.

The start and finish for all courses involve crossing a minor road from the car park. The start is less than 5-minute walk along a taped route. The finish is less than 1 minute walk back to the crossing point at the car park entrance. Please take care when crossing the minor road, as traffic can be fast moving. There is no clothing dump. Hot drinks will be provided at the finish.

Please clean shoes before travelling to the event to avoid spread of plant-based diseases.

Courses close at 8.00pm - you must report to Download by this time.

Terrain and map details

Maps: Map scale is 1:7500. 5m contours.

Maps will be A4, printed on waterproof paper, with control descriptions on the front of the map. Loose control descriptions will also be available in the start lane.

Hides/dens are not mapped (not even some quite significant ones in the SE of the area). Undergrowth symbols represent bramble rather than bracken.  

A green cross is a distinctive root stock. 

There are numerous mountain bike tracks throughout the area. Only the most obvious such tracks, as at January 2020, have been mapped. Do not be surprised to find other, less obvious, unmapped tracks throughout the area. Some tracks may also have
become more obvious, and new tracks created, since the map was updated.

Terrain: Rowney Warren is well-contoured area with a number of significant spurs and valleys (re-entrants).
Extensive path network; also numerous mountain bike tracks. Mainly mature pine forest, with some smaller areas of deciduous woodland and some newer planting. Extensive covering of dead bracken (not a significant hinderance to running or navigation, and hence not mapped). Some limited areas of bramble – mapped where significant. 

Mainly fast running (but steep in places!)

Facilities

Loos will NOT be provided at the night event. Nearest toilets are Baldock services, BP garage on A421 Interchange, A6 Elstow, Bedford MK42 9BF, or Tesco on Cardington Rd, Bedford MK42 0BG.

Acknowledgements

Our grateful thanks go to Chicksands Bike Park for their kindness in allowing us to use their land for Assembly and Parking.

Contacts / Officials

Organiser: Mark Scaife entries@waoc.org.uk

Planner: Bob Hill

Controller: Dorien James (SMOC)