‘A Few Surplus Maps’
Following on from the item in February Capital O, a bit more about John Colls’ book ...
‘A FEW SURPLUS MAPS’
This item follows on from the item in February issue of Capital O about a book called ‘A Few Surplus Maps’, a history of the Scottish 6 Days compiled by John Colls on behalf of the SOA and the Scottish 6-Day Company.
As some of our more long-standing member of ESOC will already know, John has been a member of ESOC for very many years, possibly as many as 40 years. Nobody I’ve spoken to recently could tell me exactly how long and I haven’t had time to check the old Club records but it is a very long time. For a lot of this time, especially in the early years, ESOC has been John’s main club and for the remaining periods INVOC has been his main club with ESOC as his second club. He is in fact a past president of ESOC and also of SOA. I’ve also been told that John was Vice-Chairman of British Orienteering just before he headed off to Australia some 30 years ago.
Even after moving to Australia John remained an active part of the Scottish orienteering scene. In recent times he has been at ESOC events and socials when he has been in Scotland, often with his wife Sheila who is also a member of ESOC. He has also regularly been involved in the Scottish 6 Days, usually as a controller and/or competitor. This year he is the main controller for Day 1 for Oban 2011.
The book John has compiled is a 216 page (A4) full colour history of the Scottish 6 Days. I haven’t seen it but I’m told by Lynne Walker, Chairman of the Scottish 6 Day Company, that it is an entertaining read. You can read a bit more about it and download a free sample chapter (Royal Deeside 1983) from the Scottish 6 Days website
If you would like to order a copy you can do so as part of the entry process for the 2011 Scottish 6 Days in and around Oban. Full details about how to order are on the ‘Oban’ website.
If you haven’t yet decided whether to enter the 6 Days this year you can still order the book by sending an
