Contours training at home with our Junior Orienteers!

Since the start of lockdown all of our Irish juniors from M/W10 up to M/W20 have been engaged in orienteering activities and training on Zoom.  We have had a great response from seniors, coaches and older juniors to host these sessions and this initiative has been incredibly successful.  A massive thank you to all of these mentors!! 

On 16^th May the juniors were treated to an engaging zoom presentation on contours by Steven Linton.  We are incredibly thankful to Steven for sharing his time and experience in such a fantastic presentation.  This particular zoom meeting was for juniors from M/W10 to M/W16.  Straight away the juniors were practically involved by circling hills, re-entrants, spurs and depressions on their screens.  Steven helped everyone visualise the map terrain by adding 3D videos and detailed illustrations.  All of the juniors learned a great deal and to help them assimilate this knowledge they were all set a challenge at the end of the presentation. 

The 10/12 age groups were tasked with creating their own set of contours in a tray using sand, clay or soil and whatever added details they wished.  The challenge for the 14/16s was made a bit more difficult as Steven gave them a specific section of map that they were to recreate in 3D (See the map section below).  All the juniors were given instructions as to how they might add in their contours.  This was an incredibly informative presentation.  

In order for all models to be judged fairly, Steven came up with a marking scheme for each challenge.  The 10/12s were marked out of 5 for terrain quality, marked out of 5 for contours and marked out of 3 for imagination to give them a total score out of 13.  The 14/16 group were marked out of 5 for accuracy on plan, marked out of 5 for ground shape and marked out of 3 for overall presentation to give them a total score out of 13.  We had some incredible entries and were delighted with all the results.  

Top Marks in each category were as follows:
M/W10:  Deirbhile Hassett
M/W12:  Fionnuala Rowe
M/W 14-16:  Eve Buckley

We do hope everyone had a great time making their models.  Rebecca Linton has created two collages of all the entries we received.  All participants received a little box of treats and the winners each earned themselves a voucher to choose their own special treat.  Well done to everyone and huge thanks to Steven and Rebecca for their time and expertise.

Looking back to May 1969

I’m sure we’re all feeling nostalgic as we spend what should be our annual weekend get together and Irish Orienteering Championships in our various 2km zones. So I set about taking a look through some of the archives and found this beautiful piece of writing which follows. I hope you enjoy this piece by Aubrey Flegg.

Decade

The owls of the Devil’s Glen looked in, no doubt, on Emlyn Jones as he prepared five meticulous tracing for the new Devil’s Glen map. Winter had laid mapping by the heels and a map was urgently needed for the first of the Leinster Orienteering Championships in May. Planning went ahead on black and white and in the evenings the roding woodcock whirred over the woods. Then the map was at the printers. Leaves fell from the calendar like autumn. A week to go… days … then the maps were there. It was Friday: the event was on Sunday.

Two years previously, almost to the day, Michael Lunt, stimulated by an article in the Observer, organised the first of our now familiar Orienteering events. The map was an unmodified six inch Ordnance Survey sheet. The course, with glorious disregard for wind or limb, plunged from the north of the present map down into the Devils Glen, across the river, up to the summit, down to the farm, and then like hound on hare across the road to a finish in a distance which even Mike can not remember. The event was won by Niall Rice in the first of many wins. “we had very little idea of fairness in setting courses in those days”. Mike Lunt recalls. “A control was once put hard up against a wide ditch. There were only two alternatives: total immersion or a very long run round.” Tactics too were different. Was it at the Devil’s Glen that Jim Butler, when hard pressed, was seen to hide in the grass until the opposition, missing the control, had passed?

The map prepared by Emlyn, sided by others, particularly from A.F.A.S., represents an enormous stride forward in ten short years. The development of modern maps reflects the unfolding of an almost surprised awareness of the richness and variety which the sport has to offer. Accuracy and details have become intelligible through the use of colour, and the orienteer carries with him not only fact but opinion. This is runnable, this is not. Tedious thought the modern map may be to produce, it carries with it completefreedom of choice for the orienteer. For the planner it makes it possible to set a course designed, as mike puts it, “to elminiate chance and to reward skill”.

“The important thing on that first event, “Mike Lunt recalls, ” was to find features which the organiser could recognise. We were not the least bit worried about whether they could be recognised by an orienteer on the run. The controls were H.Williams’ bags and the markers coloured felt pens. Nobody worried too much in those days: we just came out and had a great time.”

A great time? A great time? Is there something in that for us? Something perhaps we are in danger of forgetting?

The course was all but set. Worried about one last bearing, I was following, in advance, the track of many feet when a yard before me, the leaves erupted and a woodcock rose and curved down through the trees. At my feet was a nest with two or maybe three brown-smudged eggs. The course was changed, the many feet went else-where, and the woodcock sat, merged with the fallen leaves, until we too had gone and the owls of the Devil’s Glen flew again over Tiglin.

An original piece taken from the archive by Aubrey Flegg penned in May of 1979 , looking back at an earlier event held in May of 1969.

So who are these characters of early Irish orienteering?

Well I did a bit of googling and also sought the wisdom of John McCullough, (feel free to send me any corrections) if Aubrey, Emlyn, Mike or Colin’s family would like to add or subtract please do, let me know!

Aubrey Flegg was a club member of Irish Orienteers, later in Setanta. He was born in Dublin, but his early childhood was spent in County Sligo, Ireland. He was a geologist and worked with the Geological Survey of Ireland. His wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Eleanor, were also active in orienteering as well as their son Nigel. Aubrey retired from G.S.I. and took up writing children’s books; he also gave up orienteering. Unfortunately none of the family are involved now. (Source: O’Brien Press and John McCullough!)

Emlyn Jones was an instructor at the National Adventure Centre at Tiglin in Wicklow. He was Welsh and a physical oceanographer by training. He instructed in a range of adventure sports including mountaineering, canoeing and orienteering. The director of the centre at the time would have been Paddy O’Leary who was one of the founding fathers of Irish orienteering. Paddy wrote a history of Irish mountaineering called “The way that we climbed” which was published a few years ago. Many of the names from the early days of orienteering are mentioned in the book: Joss Lynam, Seán Rothery, Raymond Finlay, Paddy O’Leary.

Mike Lunt was also one of the original Irish orienteers, having previously been involved in mountaineering (Ireland, Alps etc). He was in Irish Orienteers, later in GEN. Mike was a commercial artist who designed the 1972 Roadstone calendar depicting various adventure sports like mountaineering, sailing, orienteering etc. The orienteer looks pretty dull but in those days it was against the rules to wear bright clothing, even if you could get it!

Colin Dunlop was another Irish Orienteers transferring to Setanta member. He was very competitive in his day and was a prolific controller (controlling IOC 1994 in Fermanagh a few months before he sadly died of cancer). His sons were also a very good junior orienteers. Colin had been a hockey player. His wife, Alison, used to come to all the events but didn’t ever orienteer – she used to sit in the car and read, and chat to everyone.

Colin is remembered each year at the Irish Championships where the Colin Dunlop Trophy is awarded to the leading M or W 50, men and women on alternate years. It is a silver plate which was in his family and has the inscription “It’s a good day – go with it!”, which was Colin’s attitude to life. He was on the Irish Orienteering Association committee back in the ’80’s and was involved in the Federation of Irish Orienteering which brought together the Irish Orienteering Association and Northern Irish Orienteering Associations to agree rules, team selection, Irish Championship titles etc. Colin also managed the Irish team at World Orienteering Championships of 1985 in Hungary.

I would like to thank Aubrey for this beautiful piece of writing, I hope he comes across this post and reflects on his time spent orienteering. (we’d love to hear more if you would like to chat!) Also thanks to John McCullough, font of all knowledge Irish orienteering for his help with information on these Irish Orienteers.

Whatever you are doing and wherever you find yourself this would-be-Irish Champs weekend, in the words of Mike Lunt remember to “just” get “out and have a great time”

Debbie Whelan

We’d love to hear your orienteering story, you can contact me on comms@orienteering.ie.