What is it with the North East?

[Lard]

Ky;oe is only two hours away from Edinburgh if you can't drive properly!

It's north of Alnwick and therefore do-able in 90 minutes.

Let's face it, people have a right to be choosey about where and when they orienteer. November - wet and miserable, North East - wet and miserable, North East clubs.......

Oh, and there's a SEDS weekend on in Speyside - control picking and fine'O practice in Uath Lochans, Anagach East and Tomvaich. No match.

Lard

[Guest]

There appears to be an 'invisible' barrier across the eastern side of the country at about the level of Ripon.

Although there are good roads north from here (A1M and A19) orienteers from south of here often can't break through to get to a NE event (of whatever standard), but can travel for a similiar length of time eastwards (or westwards) to, say, an EBOR area.

Of course, it is possible from orienteers living in Teesside or Tyneside to break through and head south!

Now some people would argue that an event at Dipton or Arncliffe or Hamsterley or Hutton Lowcross offered better 'O' than say Cropton or Allerthorpe Common, but events at those latter areas, because they are not in the NE perhaps, will attract 3 or 4 times the numbers of participants.

It is all very dispiriting for orienteers in NEOA

[Guest]

Here's another perspective.

I've left the North East (IMO not at all wet or miserable) for 2 weeks working in the US. There is an "A Meet" this weekend just down the road, and from what I can work out around a third of the 350 runners fly in and the rest drive several hours.

Mind you they do get a full weekend. Friday afternoon - Sprint, Saturday - classic race, trail O and a communal dinner in the evening, Sunday - long O , presentations. £50 all-in. If its like last weekend's colour coded event, there are even doughnuts at the finish.

Paul T

[Mrs H.]

Well I am biting the bullit and flying up with the young Misses H. - Nev is staying at home with his dad - and I am looking forward to it
BUT
I must say I have become a little wary of NE events after the British - and I don't just mean the weather. The relays were changed and then abandoned in a very last minute fashion after I'd booked an entire youth hostel for the club in the vicinity (which was still the best bit of the weekend) and then I thnk the association pulled out of some other big event (possibly schools - can't quite remember). but it does make you wonder about investing several hundreds of pounds (yes I mean that) in a weekend - if you don't absolutely feel you have too - anyway I did enjoy the British nights and following day event a few years back (thoughtfully arranged for the half term holiday which made travelling easier) Just disappointed that the tides are exactly WRONG to allow us to go over to Lindisfarne in the afternoon before our flight home - Klebe is right - you need extra value to make a trip like this worthwhile.

[FatBoy]

then I thnk the association pulled out of some other big event (possibly schools - can't quite remember).

Think you mean JK (2007?).

If Kyloe is as it was when I was there last then I don't think you'll regret it Mrs H. Tough but good.

[Neil M37]

November - wet and miserable, North East - wet and miserable, North East clubs.......

Lard

Well, Lard, what about North East clubs? Do you want to elaborate?

[Guest]

The NE and the JK in 2007 is a very sore subject, particularly in the NE. I understand that the request to BOF was to DEFER staging the JK by one year, not to say that the NE wouldn't do it.

Unfortunately, I understand, JK 2008 was then allocated to some other region, but the impression going around is that the NE refused to do the JK at all.

As for the British Relays, I believe the event was planned 3 times on 3 different areas, and each time permissions were lost. In the end, the officials just ran out of time to find a 4th area and plan the event a 4th time.

The request to defer the JK arose in no small way as a result of 'major event fatigue' in the NE (which other people have noted is nearly as small an Association as Wales), particularly in the aftermath of the British weekend (and the carping, uninformed critiscm hurled the way of the NE). Volunteers in our sport can only take so much before they say 'enough'.

Finally, on a positive note, if the tides won't allow a visit to Lindisfarne, may I recommend either a visit to the Alnwick Garden or a trip to the Newcastle Quayside to see the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Baltic Arts Centre and The Sage music centre (look them up on the web to see what they look like - you'll be blown away when you see them in the flesh - and the Quayside sites are all within 250m of each other!)

[Mrs H.]

I'm not carping - I said I'm coming and i said I'm looking forward to it - but those things passed through my mind and the cost prevented the whole family from attending what is essential only a selection race as far as the Misses H. are concerned

I see from the Alnwick Garden site there is a special event on this weekend - \chrismas tasting etc and shall certainly go there - these things need to be flagged up in the fliers - special rates negotiated etc - like i did at the JK/ MADO etc it all helps to make an event more attractive.

I see you are down to do the JK in 2009 - I will certainly look forward to being able to spend a week or so in the NE at that time of year as I well know there are meny fine things to see in the area.

[Guest]

No-one can say Kyloe is a LONG way from the south... last night I reached the Kyloe turn off in 4.5 hours from Stanstead

[PKJ]

What's the view on 'cross-region' major events? Could this be done more often - eg: holding a JK in the NE (Northumberland) & Scottish Borders, or East Midlands borrowing an area from a neighbouring region?

[Marco Polo]

All for it, and I'm sure that some sharing arrangements have been discussed already for some upcoming major events -and of course day 2 of the 2004 JK was organised by EMOA .

Not without it's problems though the (already large) number of hours that volunteer officials have to put in for large events and the mileage they have to cover would make it a more difficult proposition.

Mark

[kedge]

Its not just Scotland & NEOA where officals have long distances to travel. SWOA also covers a huge area of the country. For the British at Penhale this year, planners for both individual & relays, the Trail-O organiser & the entry secretaries for all 3 events, mainly WIM members, lived 170 miles or so from the area.

[[my username]]

i think anyone who went to the Kyloe event today will understand why the NE doesn't have the best reputation ever for terrain!!

[mikey]

I bet the heather was deeper at Ash Ranges.

[Lizi Beee]

The heather may have been deeper but the felled trees were unbeatable! got stabbed in the leg as well.. boohiss... mainly enjoyed the course though so bring on jk2009 then! plus, i enjoyed the british on simonside... my map half disintegrated but that just added to the fun