Lauriston Castle

ESOC local event in Edinburgh and the Lothians

Sat 08th Sep 2018

Info updated: 09th Sep
Type of event: Local
Type of terrain: Parkland

Results

Results are now available. Apologies they have taken so long on this occasion, a lot of work was needed to sort out the Orange course results to incorporate the strategy element.  

Organiser's Comments: Janet Clark writes - It was brilliant that so many of you decided to come to Lauriston on this lovely afternoon.  The downside was the rather long queues, so apologies for that.  You can shortcut the waiting time next time by joining the Club and buying your own dibber........  No, seriously, these events are all about giving it a go and seeing if you like it; which I hope you did!
This is such a lovely venue on a sunny afternoon; and Ewart as the Planner made sure that there was something for everyone with his urban section on the Green course and the extra "strategy" on the Orange, along with standard easy courses for the many "first-timers".  
Do all please come to our next events; at The Bush next Sunday 16th Sept and at Holyrood Park on 13th October.
Lost Property:   a very nice merino wool top, grey with pink trim, size Small.   Contact me quickly to get it back (or you might see me wearing it around....).  Phone:  0131 225 7771  or email:
Thank you very much to all who contributed to the success of this lovely afternoon in a beautiful setting.  We're so lucky in Edinburgh to have these places.  

Planner's Comments:  Ewart Scott writes - Most experienced orienteers will observe that the grounds at Lauriston barely sustain courses of technical difficulty much beyond yellow, so the challenge was to plan courses beyond white and yellow with some form of additional challenge. Even the white and yellow courses in Lauriston are somewhat limited by what the terrain offers and the openness of the ground, vegetation changes were used as line features rather than more obvious features such as paths.

The idea of a strategy score was a theme previously used and here it incorporated a form of route planning to maximise available points and keeping track of the route taken.  Clearly, a few more controls might have been better with the very fast winning times recorded.
The green course, using two maps sections of different types and scales was an attempt to vary what was on offer at this level and the urban section did catch out some at the disused railway line. 

Many thanks for the positive feedback about the courses and also to Mike Stewart, the Robertson Family, Terry Johnstone, Bill Stevenson and Brian Miller for help with the placing and collecting of controls.

General Information

This small city centre area is fabulous for newcomers and the addition of an urban section in the surrounding streets provides a challenging course for experienced orienteers.

See below under 'Course Information' for more details.

Dress: Please check the weather forecast on the day and dress appropriately.  This event is in the city but is exposed directly to the Firth of Forth and can be coolish and windy even on sunny days.  

Terrain:  The area is the grounds of Lauriston Castle which is best described as 'parkland'.

Other Users: There will be other people using the castle grounds and some parts of the grounds may out of bounds to orienteers  (even though others may be using these areas). Specifically,croquet could be in progress on their pitches and we have to be careful not to disturb the players by running too close to the pitches (which are marked OOB on the map). Please respect their right to be there at the same time as you are orienteering. 

Dogs: Dogs are allowed but should be kept under close control at all times.

Course Closure Time: Please note that courses have a closure time of 4.00pm after which controls will start  to be brought in.  

Things to do at Lauriston Castle: There will be brambles in the wild hedges so bring a container 'just in case'.  There are no longer any picnic tables but there is a cafe now.  The cafe is adjacent to the Castle and it is open until 4pm.  Very handy for refreshments after finishing your orienteering course. The Japanese Garden is out of bounds on the orienteering courses but it is lovely for a walk afterwards.

Medical Conditions: If you, or anyone in your group (including juniors), have a medical condition that first aiders or health professionals should know about in the event of accident or illness during the course of the event please print off the Medical Form, fully complete it and bring it along to the event.   You should complete a separate copy for each individual who has a medical condition.  Please leave the completed Medical Form at Event Registration.  It will be put in a sealed envelope and only be opened in an emergency.  It will be destroyed immediately after the event.   If you prefer, you can bring your completed form in a sealed envelope with your name (or the relevant person's name) on the front and hand it in when you arrive.  

Location

Nearest town: City of Edinburgh

• Grid Ref: NT203758
• Postcode: EH4 5QD
• Latitude: 55.96886
• Longitude: -3.27878
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

Head for Cramond Road South.  Parking for the Lauriston Castle event will be in the surrounding streets; Lauriston Farm Road or Barnton Park, both off Cramond Road South just south of the main entrance to Lauriston Castle. When parking please be considerate of local residents. Postcode for the event is EH4 5QD 

It is possible to come to this event by bus, service 41 is probably the closest.  Check Lothian Buses website for more information.

Registration & Start Times

REGISTRATION:  Registration will be close to the small car park just inside the main gate.  Please take care if you are walking in from the local streets as there may be cars moving about within the estate.

Registration will be from 1.30pm to 2.30pm for newcomers to orienteering and will run from 1.30pm to 3pm for experienced orienteers.

It is not necessary - or possible – to pre-enter for this event.  Everyone is very welcome, just to turn up.  Whether you are a newcomer or have been to a lot of events, please try to come and start early if you think you might take a long time over your course.

Registration Form - We know how time consuming, and occasionally frustrating, it can be for our competitors to have to complete the Registration Form outside in the cold and wet of a Scottish Saturday afternoon so we have produced an ESOC REGISTRATION FORM for you to complete online, print off and bring with you to the event. This will save a lot of time and typescript makes the forms so much easier to read!!  Apologies to those experienced Saturday attendees who feel they don't need the sample at the top of the page but it will be very helpful to our newcomers and properly completed, legible registration forms are a huge help to those manning our computers during and after the event.  

Thank you in advance for helping us by typing your details on to the form and bringing it with you.

If you would like a little more advance information about the registration process at a local event why not read our QUICK GUIDE TO REGISTRATION?

NOTE: Current members of an orienteering club who will be orienteering on their own and have their own SI registered in their own name can to come to Registration and go through the speedy entry system.  If in any doubt whether this applies to you then it is best to complete the attached application form and bring it with you. 

DATA PROTECTION UPDATES MAY 2018:  Entry to this event is by completion of the ESOC entry form on arrival at the event.  By completing the entry form to enter this event you agree that we may publish your Personal Information as part of the results of the Event and may pass such information to the governing body or any affiliated organisation for the purpose of insurance or for publishing results either for the event alone or combined with or compared to other events. Results may include (but not be limited to) name, any club affiliation, race times and age group.

START AND FINISH: These will both be close to Registration. Start times will be from 1.30pm to 3pm.

COURSE CLOSURE TIME: 4pm.  Controls will start to be brought in from this time.  Please make sure you arrive in plenty of time to register, get to the start and complete your course before controls begin to be brought in.

Course Information

As usual for ESOC local events there will be White and Yellow course for beginners.  The Orange course for beginners and improvers is a Score with an element of strategy. There will also be a Long course for experienced orienteers.   The Long course has an urban section outwith the Castle grounds and is unsuitable for unaccompanied Juniors (under 16 years, whatever their level of experience) due to road crossings. 

Explanation of colour courses

• White are very easy with all controls on paths. They are mainly used by 6-10 year olds and family groups.
• Yellow use simple linear features like paths, walls and streams. They are mainly used by under 12’s and family groups.
• Orange progress to basic use of the compass and route choice. They are ideal for novice adults or experienced youngsters.
• Light Green are ideal for improvers as the navigational difficulty begins to increase and uses simple contours and point features.
• Green are used mostly by experienced under 18’s and adults wanting a short but challenging course with a very hard navigational difficulty.
• Blue are a longer, more physically demanding course in comparison to the green. The distances are more varied between controls and the course attracts experienced orienteers.
• Brown & Black are very physically demanding and have a very hard navigational difficulty. They are for experienced orienteers only.
• Score means visiting as many controls as possible in any order in a specific time, like 45mins.

Entry Details

Seniors (born 1997 or earlier)
British/Scottish Orienteering members - £4
Non-members - £6

Juniors (born 1998 or later)
British/Scottish Orienteering members - £2
Non-members - £3

Students
British/Scottish Orienteering members - £2
Non-members - £3

Family Groups (Adults + children)
British/Scottish Orienteering members - £4
Non- members - £6

Note: A family group for the above entry fee purposes comprises up to a maximum of 2 adults and up to 3 children. 

Extra adults are £1 each and extra juniors are 50 pence each.

SportIdent (SI) electronic timing will be used.  If you have your own SI (dibber) please bring it with you. We'll have SIs for hire free of charge but there is a £30 charge if lost. If you would like to buy your own SI-Card then a variety are available directly from SportIdent UK.   The choice may be confusing and it may help you to know that the SI-Cards which ESOC hires out are very similar to the most basic model shown on the linked page - the SI-Card 8.

PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE INFORMATION: Please note that participants who are not members of an orienteering club automatically have Public Liability insurance cover provided by British Orienteering/Scottish Orienteering only for their first three "taster" sessions (i.e. events). Thereafter, if they wish to continue with this cover, they should become a member of an orienteering club, such as ESOC, which, depending on the membership option chosen, includes membership of British Orienteering and/or Scottish Orienteering.  Details of how to join ESOC are here or pick up an application form at this event. There are many benefits of being a member of an orienteeering club and one of these is lower entry fees at most events.

Contacts / Officials

Phone Janet on 0131 225 7771

Safety and Risk

A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event.

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