Telegraph Woods, West End adjacent to Rose Bowl Cricket Ground. 
A brand new map of an interesting contoured wood and adjacent parkland with the occasional pond, wet pit and marsh.  100% runnable bar a few bramble patches!! The contours are the remanants of an iron age hill fort and the site of the Telegraph Beacon used to send news about the Spanish Armada.  Previously used to train police dogs!!

Limited Colour Coded Event

Registration Times:09:45 - 12:00 Start Times: 10:00 - 12:00 Courses: Yellow 1.8km(50m), Orange 2.4km(65m), Green 3.8km(80m) Cost: Adults £3, Juniors/Students £1 (No charge for Emit hire) Map Scale: 1:4000 Officials:  Organiser/Planner - Philip Cooper

Head for the Hedge End Superstores, then follow the brown signs for the Rose Bowl.  There will be orienteering signs for the Car Park as you enter the Rose Bowl complex.

Volunteers are needed to help set up and run registration and start, please email Philip at Philip.Cooper [at] dsl.pipex.com (Philip[dot]Cooper[at]dsl[dot]pipex[dot]com)

Its with great sadness that I have to announce my retirement from competitive Orienteering. Ive been advised on medical grounds to defer from running/impact/high flexion activities. I have arthritis in both of my hips and will likely need both hips replaced at some point. In order to defer the operations as much as possible (as is advisable given the expansiveness of some hip operations), I am heeding the advice and switching to more sedate activities. Although the decision is the most logical one, its impact upon me and my lifestyle are huge. Ive been lucky enough to meet a lot of great people from this and other great clubs, and I'll miss the regular contact with all of you. The Tuesday night runs and Wednesday army events had become staples in my weekly orienteering diet along with my regular weekend fix. 

This hasnt been caused by running (its caused by an underlying condition that has been exacerbated by running), so this shouldnt deter anyone from taking part in running/orienteering activities. In fact, I hope the opposite is true, and that it should encourage you all to enjoy the best (yet still quite hidden) sport in the world and to be the best that you possibly can be. I urge you to set achievable goals and reach for them, you never know how good you can be until you try, I hope you can win the national title that will now elude me forever.

I'll still be around, the odd MTBO here, local forest events etc. I'll never fall out of love with the sport, I'll just have a slightly awkward separation...

Sam