Ham Hill

Directions / Parking

The main car park for the event (labeled 'Car Park' in the image above) is on Ham Hill Road (50.9459, -2.7421 - Google). You can also use the Norton Car Park or Lime Kiln Car Park. The car parks are not for our exclusive use, so please park responsibly and considerately. The 'arena' is a short walk from the car parks and will be tapped as per the red arrows.

(There is a more direct route from Norton Car Park to the arena that is not recommended!)

Please note that the A303 could well be busy on a Summer weekend, so please allow enough time if there is traffic.

Course Information

The format for this year is a 2x2 relay - teams of two who each run two legs each. The legs are colour coded and fairly short (with approximate winning times of 22 minutes).

A team can be made up of two participants who compete on different courses - so you can be in a team with a partner, or a parent can team up with their child. Each competitor just does their usual colour course and as the win times should be the same, everyone competes equally.

(for example, a M45 and a W12 can form a team - the M45 does their usual Brown and the W12 does their usual Yellow)

A team where both members are either in Devon or QO, will score for the overall Devon vs QO competition, but we welcome any teams from other clubs who want to take part. You can also enter as an individual and we will pair you up with someone.

The 2x2 format is a regular of Swansea Bay at their Weekend on The Gower - it is a very social format as everyone attends the full event and half the participants are socialising at the start / finish cheering on their teammates.

Ham Hill is a quarried parkland on a hill top looking out across Somerset. There are complex detailed contour features and areas of dense vegetation (that will be mostly avoided on the courses). The map has been updated with recent surveys of vegetation in the competition area.

View map of the area

Most courses for one of the legs will have two staffed mandatory road crossings to cross a B class road (with a control before the crossing). Please take particular care when crossing and listen to instructions from the marshal - STOP, LOOK, LISTEN. Other than the crossing points this road is out of bounds and marked as such on the map.

The Yellow and Orange courses includes a short section of quiet lane which may have slow moving and manoeuvring cars. This will be marshalled but runners should take care.

Courses available are: Yellow, Orange, Short Green, Green, Blue, Brown

(There is no Light Green - the nature of Ham Hill and a 2x2 relay means that Short Green will not be much more technical, and Orange will not be much shorter, so pick what fits your age and experience)

Ham Hill is a popular destination, especially on a sunny(!) Summer weekend - please be aware of dog walkers, mountain bikers and the general public. Be courteous and give way, especially on some of the narrow paths through the undergrowth.

Take care across the whole site as there are many cliffs and crags of varying heights.

Please ensure your arms and legs are covered as most courses have patches of denser vegetation including nettles. Recent vegetation growth has tended to make undergrowth more dense than necessarily shown on the map. Some smaller paths and tracks are not necessarily mapped.

There will be no loose control descriptions, which will be printed on each map. The circle special symbol has been used to denote a bench, and the cross special symbol has been used to denote a sign.

Butterfly Loops

To facilitate head-to-head competition without 'follow the train', Short Green, Green, Blue and Brown courses will be using Butterfly Loops. These are a group of controls forming 2 loops with a common start and end control in the middle. The loops can be a different length and all the competitors will complete both loops but the order will vary; half the competitors will run the right-most loop first while the other half starts with the left-most loop.

The key thing to note is that you will visit (and punch) the hub control three times - at the start of the butterfly loop, as you switch from one 'wing' to another and at the end of the loop. Some courses even have multiple loops!

Find out more about Butterfly Loops

Yellow and Orange do not have any butterfly loops, but do have controls that will be visited twice at the start and end of the course. Participants on yellow will be allowed to view their maps before starting.

Final Course Lengths

Each participant will do both course 1 and 2 of their chosen course.

Entry Details

• £5 adult (+£1 if you are not a member of an orienteering club)
• £3 child (+£1 if you are not a member of an orienteering club)
• Free dibber hire (limited SIAC and standard dibbers)

Each participant needs to enter separately. As well as the usual details you will also give us a) the name of your partner (leave blank if you want to be paired with someone), b) your preferred legs (1st/3rd or 2nd/4th), c) your team name (optional).

If you do not have a partner, we will pair you up with someone with preference given to them being from the same club.

What course do you enter? This event is for fun and is inclusive for all abilities, so enter the course you would normally run that would be reasonable for your age and ability. It is a local event and we all know each other, so we will all know if you do otherwise!

Entries close on 9th June with no late entries or entry on the day.

Registration & Start Times

Briefing for all participants at 10:30am with a mass start for leg 1 runners at 11am.

Dog restrictions

Although Ham Hill is very dog friendly, the arena is quite cosy with people eating lunches so dogs are discouraged.

Facilities

There is a single public toilet (marked on the car park image). There is a main path to the toilet from the arena:

• To avoid the 1km round trip and walking through the competition area, these are best accessed by car when entering the country park and when leaving.
• Park temporarily near the toilets, bearing in mind this car park can fill up quickly with other users (families and dog walkers)
• Walking to the toilets from the event car park passes you through the competition area - please stick to the main path.

We would like to encourage everyone to bring a picnic to enjoy after your legs so you can cheer in the other finishers and hear the results at the end.

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Phil Sorrell website@

Planner: Mark Goddard

Organiser: Rosie Wych events@

Si: Andy Rimes

Controller: Bryan Smith (Devon)

Important Event Information

Safety and Risk: A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event. All participants must report to download whether they finish their course or not.

Privacy: when participating in our events/activities your name may appear in the results section of this website or in newspaper reports. Read our data protection page to see how we look after your personal data.

Photography: QO has an agreed policy on the taking of photographs at events, based on national guidance. This provides a sensible balance between the benefits and risks associated with the taking and use of images. If you are unsure about acceptable practice, please speak to the event organiser.

Safeguarding: QO is aware of it's responsibilities in safeguarding and child protection. To comply with The Child Safeguarding Practice Review and Relevant Agency (England) Regulations 2018, we now provide an email address for individuals to report concerns to the Lead Safeguarding Officer. This address is safeguarding@britishorienteering.org.uk.