We spent the weekend attending ‘Springtime in Shropshire’; a three-day orienteering event centred around the Ludlow area. This weekend was slightly unusual because we were accompanied by Richard’s parents …. although we did find a hotel for them, whilst we camped!

Day 1 was spent at Brampton Bryan. A great orienteering area in beautiful surroundings. It is also the place where Richard and I spent our first day as a ‘couple’ almost exactly four years ago! . Unfortunately this time we were a little flummoxed and arrived late due to traffic. It wasn’t until I had sprinted up the hill to the start and finished that I realised (through chatting to someone else) that actually we were an hour early!

The mayhem didn’t end there, we arrived at the orienteering campsite, was shown a suitable spot, looked in the boot and realised that we had forgotten the tent (Richard would say that I forgot the tent, I would just say that I hadn’t packed it)! I figured that this wasn’t the end of the world and that a resolution would be found, and indeed it was. Our good friends Tony and Catherine happened to have a tent the size of a palace and hence they let us squat in the awning . Squatting came with tea and biscuits both morning and night and hence this was a good outcome.

Day 2 was spent at Mortimer Forest. This orienteering area hadn’t been used since 1983, which in the orienteering world, usually means that the area is covered with bramble, forest, tree stumps and spikey gorse. Therefore we weren’t expecting too much, and so I was quite pleased when the terrain turned out to be ok (mostly). I was only reduced to crawling beneath tree branches on one occasion.

During the evening of day 2, we headed into Ludlow for dinner. This was a good time to be in Ludlow because an urban street orienteering event was being staged. We were too busy entertaining the inlaws to join in, but we did capture this control, complete with power pack near Ludlow Bridge!

O Control; what is the powerpack for????

Strolling in Ludlow

Day 3 was a middle race (a shorter race) that was also run in Mortimer Forest (a different part). The area had great terrain and we enjoyed the courses, even though it was pouring down with rain and we got completely and utterly soaked. After re-fueling on burgers and chilli we all headed off to Richard and Carol’s for a proper re-fuelling and natter.