West Midlands Championships 2024
“POTOC held the 2024 edition of the West Midlands Championships at Bathpool Park on the 15th September. The event was originally scheduled to be held in May at the newly mapped Morridge area but access for that event was denied at a late stage. It is hoped to hold a West Midland League event at the area in May 2025.
Thanks to all of the West Midlands orienteering community who supported the Bathpool event in atrocious wet conditions. And to the POTOC volunteers for their help on the day with particular kudos to Gordon Witte and Marian Denham the organisers plus Jim Cooke the planner. Having the indoor small pavilion was definitely a huge bonus given the weather. Thankyou to Kidsgrove Cricket Club for use of their excellent facilities.
POTOC website
Full results are on the POTOC web site and the champions were:
| W10 – Georgina Hudson (HOC) | M10 – Edward Lewis (WRE) |
| W12 – Pippa Blackmore (HOC) | M12 – Samuel Hudson (HOC) |
| W14 – Eden Pigott (POTOC) | M14 – Seb Blackmore (HOC) |
| W16 – Olivia Stamp (WCH) | M16 – Jonah Hearn (WCH) |
| W18 – not awarded | M18 – Max Straube-Roth (OD) |
| W20 – not awarded | M20 – not awarded |
| W21 – not awarded | M21 – Samuel Naylor (POTOC) |
| W35 – Juliette Soulard (OD) | M35 – Thomas Lewis (WRE) |
| W40 – Katie Lewis (WRE) | M40 – Alistair Landels (OD) |
| W45 – Julia Allinson (WRE) | M45 – Martin Pigott (POTOC) |
| W50 – not awarded | M50 – Rob Bambrook (OD) |
| W55 – Diane Jacks (WRE) | M55 – Ian Hopkins (WRE) |
| W60 – not awarded | M60 – Marcus Tett (WRE) |
| W65 – not awarded | M65 – Adrian Pickles (WRE) |
| W70 – Margaret Willdig (OD) | M70 – John Robinson (WCH) |
| W75 – Sheila Carey (OD) | M75 – Keith Willdig (OD) |
| W80 – Barbara Farr (POTOC) | M80 – Peter Carey (OD) |
| W85 – Alison Sloman (HOC) | M85 – Trevor Simpson (OD) |
Worcester City Race – WMUL, 1st September
“The city looked at its best and made a great venue for people staying over after the Stroud Urban the day before. The back to back events seemed to generate good attendance on both days making this something to contemplate for the future.
The planner, Dave Aldridge made us visit all the best bits of the city, including the university, the cathedral and Diglis Docks as well as the cannon on the highest part of Fort Royal Park. The event venue and finish were great and the HOC machine, guided by Chris McCartney, delivered smooth starts and results, and were present in force to help collect signs and controls in.”
The West Midlands Urban League scores and standings after the first three events can be viewed on the WMUL site. The fourth and final event will be on the 13th October in Stratford, organised by Octavian Droobers. More details are here.
West Midlands Urban League latest
It’s time to get your entries in for the next two events in the West Midlands Urban League.
Shrewsbury Urban, Sunday 25th August, Wrekin Orienteers
Shrewsbury is a medieval town which retains many ancient buildings and has a number of small alleyways connecting its streets. All the information on the Wrekin Orienteering website and the event flyer is here.
Worcester City Urban, Sunday 1st September, Harlequins Orienteering.
An exciting new area for orienteering including historical landmarks, the main city centre, canals and the University. More information on the Harlequins Orienteering website and the event flyer is here.
Wanted: WMOA Fixtures Secretary
Rick Roberts is standing down from this role; we are grateful for all his work over the previous years.
Could you volunteer to take on this vital role? There’s a job description here and you would have full support from the rest of the committee. Please contact Carol Dredge (WMOA Secretary) or Richard Lewis (acting Chair) if you are interested. Email addresses for all committee members are here.
Lichfield Urban CANCELLED
June’s West Midlands Urban League event has been cancelled.
WM School Championships
Thanks to everyone who came to the WM Schools Champs at Cannon Hill Park on Saturday, and Harlequins orineteering for organisning the eevent. We hope that you enjoyed it. The results of the event are available here.
Congratulations to everyone who took part. The WM Orienteering Schools Champs Trophies were awarded as follows:
- Primary School Trophy to New Hall Primary School
- Middle School Trophy to Winterfold House School
- Secondary School Trophy to Discovery Academy
Whitchurch Urban – date change – 7th July
This event will now be held on the 7th July.
It will be organised by Wrekin Orienteering and is part of the West Midlands Orienteering League
Morridge, 12th May POSTPONED
The West Midlands Championhips (incorporating a WML event) on 12th May are now definitely postponed, due to changes to the access.
Fortunately, POTOC has now managed to secure the area for Sunday 15th September, with Whitfield Valley identified as a fall back if necessary.
West Midlands Relays results
Harlequins Orienteering hosted the 2024 West Midlands relays on a sunny day in Baggeridge. The results by relay class are here, and a pdf file of the results by course is here. Scroll down for a gallery of images collated from the clubs’ social media, and some backgound on the mapping of Baggeridge.
Many thanks to all the volunteers, particularly Adrian and Kerstin for planning and organising, and congratulations to the winning teams:
| Class | Club | Runners |
| A – Mini | HOC | Danny Fox, Joey Fox & Jake Fox |
| B – Junior Women | (trophy with Mel Elkington) | |
| C – Intermediate Women | (trophy with Mel Elkington) | |
| D – Open Women | WCH | Claire Stamp, Jenny Bryant & Olivia Stamp |
| E – Senior Women | (trophy with Mel Elkington) | |
| F – Veteran Women | (trophy with Mel Elkington) | |
| G – Super Veteran Women | (trophy with Mel Elkington) | |
| H – Junior Men | HOC | Sam Hudson, Pippa Blackmore & Seb Blackmore |
| I – Intermediate Men | (trophy with Mel Elkington) | |
| J – Open Men | HOC | Rob Atkins, Kin Wai Lee & Steve Blackmore |
| K – Senior Men | WRE | Tom Lewis, Andy Clough & Tony Callow |
| L – Veteran Men | HOC | David Williams, Alex Morgan & Ian Gamlen |
| M – Super Veteran Men | HOC | Dave Arnot, Mick Sadler & Rew Francis |
| N – Mixed Ad Hoc | HOC | Karen Thompson, Georgina Hudson & Ka Man Leung |
From Rod Postlethwaite’s archives:
Did you know that WRE were the first club to map Baggeridge Country Park way back in 1985? Back in those days there was no computer mapping and training maps were drawn with pen and ink and photocopied in black and white.
The map was surveyed by the late Ken Posnett (Wrekin’s one time Chairman) and drawn by Dave Gittus and was used for a couple of Tuesday evening training events before HOC mapped it in colour.
Running on the map was quite tricky!