Level of event: Regional
Type of event: Race
Please note: Participants who are not members of British Orienteering are not covered by British Orienteering’s public liability insurance. By entering this event, you acknowledge that you are taking part at your own risk. For example, if you were to accidentally injure a member of the public or damage property during the event, you would not be covered.
This event is linked to:
Mixed woodland, with rock and contour features, and a good path network - muddy in places with a couple of crossable streams.
Fast running with quick decision making rewarded.
Whistles are compulsory. Full body cover is required (runners take note this means no shorts) and waterproof top may be required depending on weather.
Please remember to download (even if you don't finish the course) by 14:30 so that we know that you have finished safely.
Parents of children on white and yellow - please note that the paths are plentiful and currently covered with leaves. Most of the courses follow main paths. Where this is not possible red and white tape will be used to mark sections from two controls on the yellow. Smiley and sad faces will be used in other cases to confirm or otherwise the route. An example of these will be available at the start. White background for the White course and Yellow Background for the Yellow course labelled White or Yellow too.
Parking in grounds of Thackley Football Club off Ainsbury Avenue and on Ainsbury Road – please follow marshals instructions as access is required to the Esholt Works.
Route will be signposted off Leeds Road (A657) at junction with Thackley Road. This is a busy junction so please take care entering and leaving the event. Once on Thackley Road bear right onto Ainsbury Avenue (signposted). Post code for SATNAV: BD10 0TL
Nearest stations – Shipley or Apperley Bridge (2 miles)
Start and finish are located within 5 minutes of the event centre.
Registration from 10.00 -12.00
Start times from 10.30 to 12.30
Courses close at 14:30. Please have an early start time if you need extra time.
Due to the time of year it is essential that you return by 14:30 even if you have not finished your course. If we have any late returning competitors after that point a decision will have to be made fairly quickly whether or not to search for them.
Start times are NOT being allocated - turn up and run.
Entries are now open shortly via the Fabian link.
If you are helping on the day please contact the organiser for a helper code to give you discounted entry.
Closing date for pre-entries at these prices is 23.59 on Sunday 28th December. After this date, online entries will remain open until midnight on Wednesday 31st December at EOD prices below.
There will also be limited entry on the day (EOD), subject to map availability. We hope to update you after entries close on Sunday how many maps are available.
Map is 1:7500 with 5m contours for courses Red to Brown. 1:5000 for White, Yellow and Orange.
Provisional – subject to final controlling
The red course is for people used to running but not orienteering. Measured at 5.1k the average runner would take 25 to 30 minutes, however with the map reading element this will take at least an hour. The course helps non-orienteers get experience with the map and hopefully they will be encouraged to try more technical courses in the future.
There are many vague paths in the area that are not mapped. Also with leaf fall (and possibly snow) some paths may be obscured. On the White and Yellow course there will be smiley and un-smiley faces to guide competitors with tapes being used on the Yellow course as well.
Brown and Blue are double sided maps.
Yellow, White and Orange are 1:5000 maps, the rest are 1:7500
| Courses | Length (km) | Climb (m) | Controls |
| Brown | 7.9 | 280 | 27 |
| Blue | 5.8 | 240 | 21 |
| Green | 4 | 125 | 16 |
| Short Green | 3 | 105 | 15 |
| Very Short Green | 2.3 | 80 | 12 |
| Light Green | 2.5 | 95 | 12 |
| Red | 4.4 | 120 | 14 |
| Orange | 2.4 | 65 | 12 |
| Yellow | 1.6 | 40 | 14 |
| White | 1.2 | 30 | 16 |
Mixed woodland, with rock and contour features, and a good path network - muddy in places. Many dog walkers and some horse riders.
There is an extensive path network which can change by the seasons. Some more vague paths are not on the map. There is mostly good runability, the the courses have been planned to avoid brambles The pylons are not shown to enable clarity on the map.
It is also a location of a colony of European Grass snakes. It is Britain's longest snake and is a common non-venomous reptile found mainly near Esholt Water Works.
There is also evidence of a pre-historic enclosure - the lack of cultivation has preserved prehistoric archaeological features, interpreted as dating from the Bronze and Iron Ages, with possible continued occupation into the Roman period; these features include an oval prehistoric enclosure, gritstone rocks carved in the cup-and-ring tradition, and a series of land boundaries, including orthostatic walling. The date of the monument is unclear; the ovoid plan of the enclosure has been interpreted as being Bronze Age and archaeological finds have included a flint, a late Iron Age/early Roman period bee-hive quern, a much corroded copper coin, and large numbers of pot boiler stones, suggesting a potentially lengthy period of occupancy.
Dogs under control in the wood and at assembly. Please clear up any mess.
Organiser: Peter Haines hainesilkleyATyahoo.co.uk
Planner: Peter Carter
Controller: Peter Jones
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.
Insurance: From 1st January 2026, participants who are not members of British Orienteering will no longer be covered by British Orienteering’s public liability insurance. By entering this event, you acknowledge that you are taking part at your own risk. For example, if you were to accidentally injure a member of the public or damage property during the event, you would not be covered.
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