After the club battling to secure car park access with Foresty England, they are now tightening up on the use of the forest. You may have heard of the recent incidents on the P164 where it was pointed out that the use of verges causes environmental damage.

This will affect many of our courses, preventing parking by the time keeper. Whilst we are in agreement, it does pose problems. Time keepers will now have to walk to and stand at start/finish points. The current stopwatch and paper method of recording is the most accurate; personal GPS options have been discounted, but may be an option in the future. The problem with the current method is that rain, wind and even hot sun make it difficult or impossible to record and may mean events are cancelled or even abandoned part way through. Dropping time keepers off at the relevant places is not seen as a practical solution and I have asked the South DC to look in to whether gravel laybys are seen as legitimate places to park.

Be aware that the upcoming P164 has had the start and finish moved by a few hundred metres. This does not really solve the problem, but please note that the changes will affect the event on Tuesday though the weather looks good.

We will keep you posted about each course as we come to use them.