Northcliffe and Heaton

Course map

Course guide

Update: Jun 2016

Missing: D, L, E, B (I found the post for B in the woods and I have left it lying down next to U) In wrong place: O - it has been placed on a (mapped) platform but should be about 15m higher up the slope, on the (obvious) boulder. Paths around the A,H,B area need to be changed. Action CB (map) and Mel Smith (Bradford) posts. 

Parking

Parking is best in  the car park on the west side of Bradford Road, Shipley (A650).  opposite The Branch pub. Post code: BD18 3DE. From there the Start and Finish post is through the main park gates and 100m uphill.

Details

You can run or walk between the controls in any order you want or you can follow some of the courses recommended below.  You may get a bit muddy on any of the courses – the more so the longer the course is - it is worth wearing old trousers and some shoes with a bit of grip.  On the harder course you may encounter some steep and slippery slopes where shoes with good grip will really help.  
Please note that the longest and hardest course involves using minor roads and is not suitable for unaccompanied children.

Introducing children

Use the Easy course first. Explain how to keep the map Northed (North arrows point between the bowling green and tennis courts from the start.) and walk with them round a couple of posts (eg F and I) pointing out map features on the way. They can then have a go, in small groups, at finding, say, S and Q. Then give each group a challenge, perhaps timed, of finding five or six posts, which could include those they have already found. After that, with older children, move on to a harder exercise. The easiest strategy is to give them a time limit, say an hour, and tell them to get as many posts as they can in the time (but do not include the controls in Heaton Woods M, P & O because of the roads crossed).   Alternatively, set up a small race with teams of six in three pairs, with each pair having to find a post or pair of posts and return to a central point and handover to the next pair.

Recommended Courses

Easy, 1.1km: S-Q-B-I-F

Fairly easy but further, 2.0km, I-K-A-H-B-Q-S

Makes you think, 2.7km , J-T-D-L-K-H-E-C-U-G-S

Hard and steep, 4.9km,  D-T-H-U-G-M-P-O-E-L-J

The ultimate: get round all the posts in any order in the shortest time.