Saturday 15/11/2025 – 2025 League 2 – Soudley Ponds East

This is a mature mixed woodland on the steep slopes of a north-south ridge to the east of Soudley Brook. Running conditions are varied with some lovely open beech woods, slower terrain with recent thinning, many charcoal platforms and some fine contour details from former mining, old field enclosures and quarries. The longer courses (Brown and Blue) have route choices including a network of public footpaths around cottages, gardens and paddocks which will be new to most orienteers. Some areas are impacted by recent thinning operations.

Maps are pre-printed on waterproof paper at a scale of either 1:7,500 or 1:10,000, A4 size.

Brown and Blue courses have 1:10,000 maps. All other courses have 1:7,500 maps.

Areas with heavy brashings that may slow progress have been mapped with the undergrowth slow run symbol (widely spaced vertical green lines). Generally routes can be found around the brashings. Track-side log stacks which may affect navigation choices are marked as fight (dark green line). However, timber extraction is in progress and these may not correspond with the situation on the day of the event. Dense bramble tends to be limited to open, track-side situations which are not mapped. Bracken is localised and seasonal dieback is now well advanced. Following recent storms there are a number of fallen trees that are not mapped. These generally occur individually and can be avoided. Several temporary wooden shelters, hides etc are not mapped.

All courses use footpaths around Soudley Ponds on approach to the finish. The Soudley Ponds, Soudley Brook and adjacent marshes are strictly out of bounds and orienteers must only cross the brook on surfaced paths and bridges as shown on the map. Brown and Blue courses will encounter private land clearly mapped as out of bounds and you must not climb any fences to enter gardens or paddocks. Orienteers using OOB areas will be disqualified. Adjacent public roads are also out of bounds.

There are some steep slopes and dangerous crags on the lower valley sides in the SW part of the map. The Soudley Brook is likely to have a high flow and should be regarded as uncrossable. No courses require the river to be crossed.

The start is located 250m and 70m uphill from the start. The finish is adjacent to the public car park and assembly. The route to the start is up a steep footpath and there are some large fallen trees to climb over.

SI Touch free punching is enabled, but all runners must punch both Start and Finish.

Standard NGOC League courses are available: Brown, Blue, Green, Short Green, Orange and Yellow. There is no Light Green course. A string course will be available within 150m of the assembly. Easy walks are available from the public car park at Soudley Ponds.
The Yellow course will have two taped legs where the footpaths are indistinct, particularly because of fallen leaves.

Course details subject to final controlling. Course distances are straight line.

We will use SI Timing, in contact and touch free modes. All runners must however punch the Start and Finish controls.

You MUST go to Download even if you do not complete your course – we need to confirm that you are back safely!

Whistles must be carried by juniors running on their own and are highly recommended for all competitors. If you hear a distress whistle, please go to assist.

We hope to have a string course on the day.

In order to minimise demands on scarce volunteer resources we operate a 90 minute start window for this event, and we recognise that this can be a challenge for parents seeking split starts. We are happy to accommodate split starts provided:

• You let us know in advance that you need a split start. Do this by emailing the organiser, address in the introduction above
• You come early; the start team will normally be ready to allow very early starts up to 30 minutes before the published start time, so aim to be there with this in mind. We do not offer starts later than the published end of the start window.
• The shorter course runner goes first. We will not turn you away if you can't manage this, but it gives you both a better chance of beating the course closure time.

Entry Details

You should enter the course appropriate to your involvement in the NGOC league, if relevant, or whichever course you choose otherwise.

Please note there is a £1 increase in senior pre-entry fees, but all other fees remain as last year

Starts: 11:00 - 12:30
Courses close: 14:00, meaning that you must report to download before 14:15, or risk disqualification.

SI dibber hire: Standard dibber £1 Adults, Juniors free

Touch Free dibber: £2 Adults, £1 Juniors

Entries are now open, and will close at midnight on Wednesday 12th November.

Entry on the day is possible only while maps last, but note the premium price to discourage this. We should be able to accept credit/debit card payments, but this is not guaranteed so bring cash just in case.

A helper discount is available for those offering to help on the day. These events don't happen without volunteers willing to help out on the day, so if you are able to do so, before signing up to enter, email Ian Prowse, Volunteer Coordinator, to let us know if you can help, and ask for the helper discount code that you can apply when entering. You don't have to be a NGOC member to help, but you do need to be a BOF member to be covered insurance wise.

As the Government has removed all restrictions on events and activities, COVID related refunds are no longer available. The standard Fabian4 terms and conditions offer an automatic refund up to 2 months before the event date, and we do not normally vary this specification. That means that in most cases no refunds are possible, as we do not publish details until less than 2 months before the date of the event.

However, for all except large events we hold entries open until only a day or so before the event, so you can delay entry if unsure whether you can run, until very close to event day.

Dogs are permitted on leads in the car park and assembly areas and under close control on the courses.

First Aid will be available at assembly.

The NGOC pop-up café should be present.

Portaloos will be situated close to assembly.

A café, toilets and children’s play area are available at the Dean Heritage Centre in Lower Soudley.

There are no covered changing facilities and competitors are reminded of the need for discretion when getting changed by their cars.

If you are interested in obtaining club kit, whilst there will not be an extensive range of sizes to try on at the event, we can have a few sizes available for specific items. You can see the options, and a size chart, on the Club Kit page. Email paul@ngoc.org.uk with details of any items, and relevant sizes, you wish to try, and we can have those available.

Orienteering is an adventure sport. All runners take part at their own risk and must take responsibility for their own safety.

In the event of wet weather, please assess risks on any steep slopes.

Everyone is advised to carry a whistle, and for Juniors it is compulsory. Full leg cover is compulsory for everyone. In the event of severe weather, a cagoule may be made compulsory; please ensure that you bring one just in case.

A first aid kit and trained first aiders will be present at Registration. Note that we are not permitted to provide epi-pens or antihistamine tablets in the event of stings. If you know you react badly to stings you should carry your own epi-pen or antihistamine tablets.

There are no public roads within the competition area.

Safety bearing. If lost the best option is head west, down the ridge to the Soudley Valley and then north to the public car at Soudley Ponds.

The Soudley-Blakeney road lies on the south western edge of the map and is marked as OOB. This is a narrow road with poor visibility and fast traffic. It should only be accessed in case of an emergency. Some route choices may use public rights of way along access roads to private properties. Care should be taken for any vehicle movements, cyclists, horses and pedestrians, especially when using paths between buildings with low lateral visibility.

There are steep slopes and old quarry workings and great care should be taken when descending slopes especially in wet conditions. There are no significant streams that need to be crossed apart from the Soudley Brook, which must be crossed on surfaced paths and bridges.

All log stacks must be avoided.

Courses are planned to avoid forest tracks where orienteers are parking, however orienteers should be aware of possible vehicle movements.

Orienteering is a great sport for young people. If you bring children, please help us to keep to our safeguarding policy and British Orienteering’s photography policy.

By entering this event, competitors agree to abide by the British Orienteering Code of Conduct.

A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser and a copy will be held at Registration, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event. All participants must report to download whether they finish their course or not.

When participating in our events/activities your name may appear in the results section of this website or in newspaper reports. To see how we look after your personal data, please read our privacy policy.

NGOC follows British Orienteering’s national guidance. This provides a sensible balance between the benefits and risks associated with the taking and use of images. If you are unsure about acceptable practice, please speak to the event organiser.