Knipe Scar Middle – 17th May 2025

Day 1 of the Northern Champs Weekend

Border Liners and Manchester and District OC are holding a weekend of high quality orienteering in the North West Lake District on the 17th/18th May. On Saturday there is a BL Middle Distance UKOL event at Knipe Scar near Askham. Sunday is the Northern Champs (details here), organised by MDOC, at Angle Tarn Pikes.

Location/Parking
Parking is in a field at Butterwick, on the west side of the minor road between Askham and Bampton. It is about 15 minutes drive from either junction 39 or junction 40 of the M6.
Grid Ref: NY510197
W3W: chitchat.ports.bloomers
Postcode: CA10 2QQ
The entrance to the field is narrow so unfortunately campervans, minibuses etc will need to park at Bampton Village Hall about 2km south of the parking field. You can go directly to the start from the Hall to save a bit of walking.

Terrain
Knipe Scar is a limestone escarpment. The top is fairly flat with areas of limestone pavement and a stone circle. To the west is a moderately steep slope with areas of old mine working giving interesting contour and rock detail. On the lowest slopes there are many gorse thickets which have been accurately mapped and require careful navigation. Generally the going is very fast, though some of the more complex areas have dead bracken to slow you down. The map from a previous event can be seen on Routegadget here

Courses
This is a middle distance event. (See How to Choose a Course)

(The age classes only apply to the UKOL. Otherwise, you can enter whatever course you want)

String Course
There will be a string course adjacent to the car park. Enter on the day.

Entries
Pre-entry for all courses is now closed.
Late entry still available on all courses. Contact bldanandkaren@gmail.com with your details and which course you want to run. (Senior £11.00, Junior/Student: £5.00 – you will be asked to pay by bank transfer before the day,)
Entry on the day will only be available for Yellow, Orange and Light Green courses (Senior £11.00, Junior/Student: £5.00). Spare maps for anyone wanting to go round as a pair or group will be available for £1.00

SI Card (Dibber) hire
For anyone who doesn’t have their own, SI Cards (not SIAC enabled) will be available at no charge. for both pre-entries and entries on the day. Lost cards will incur a charge of £30.

Start and Finish
The start is about 1.2km with 40m climb from the parking. The distance back from the finish to the parking is 700m, flat. You will pass very close to the finish on the way to the start.

Start Times
11.00 to 14.00.
Start times will be allocated and made available soon after entries close.

Map
1:7,500, 5m contours for all courses.

Dogs
Dogs are permitted on leads in the car park, but no dogs on courses please.

Officials
Planner: Keith Tonkin (BL)
Organiser: Karen Parker (BL) – bldanandkaren@gmail.com
Controller: Nick Evans (WCOC)

British Orienteering AGM
The AGM will be held after the event at Bampton Village Hall, about 2.0km from the parking field (where campervans etc. are parking). Details available later from British Orienteering.

Other Orienteering Opportunities
For anyone staying in the Lake District between the British Champs Weekend and the Northern Champs Weekend, Border Liners are putting on a “Penrith Explorer” MapRun Event in Penrith, between now and 16th May.
Also check the WCOC website for the events that week (Thursday 15th – High Rigg Fell, 4 miles SE of Keswick, Friday 16th – Keswick Urban Sprint)

For information about data privacy, safeguarding and insurance please see the BL website https://borderlinersorienteering.org/