Burnbank Cumbrian Galoppen – 6th April 2025
It’s hard to believe now, but six weeks ago we were close to cancelling this event; there was no organiser, the appointed planner was no longer able to do the job, the normal car park had been planted with trees, and the backup field was half lake.
Fortunately, new member (but experienced orienteer) Ali offered to organise, Karen and Dan were able to take the armchair-planned courses and turn them into reality, and the prolonged spell of sunny weather dried the field.
The outcome was BL’s largest Cumbrian Galoppen event for the last 15 years (at least). The organisation stood up well thanks to Ali’s calm efficiency and a large and willing team of club volunteers. And feedback from competitors was almost universally positive (once you exclude comments on the uphill run-in)
Having to move to a new parking field turned out to be a good thing. It meant that the shorter courses could easily get to the best bits of the terrain, and everyone had less climb. Navigation was generally made easier by the way you could see the landscapes ahead of you, but as even a few experienced orienteers found out, misidentifying a hill and ignoring the compass could lead to large time losses.
As hoped, the long legs on Blue and Brown across the steep slope overlooking Haweswater produced a large variety of routes (see Routegadget), but sorry to anyone who encountered the unmapped mineshaft and accompanying stagnant pond – the map has now been updated.
Back in the car park, the L’al Yan coffee van was a welcome new addition to BL events. Unfortunately the coffee machine itself was out of action owing to a power problem (now sorted) but tea, cake, and hot dogs were still available. The van will (hopefully) be coming to the next BL events at Hallin Fell (26th April) and Knipe Scar (17th May) too, this time with coffee!
Dan’s press report about the event is available here
Results, Routegadget and Winsplits are on the Results page
Border Liners Orienteering Club 