By Clive Allen, Former British Orienteering Federation Chairman.  

50 years old, that is – so it came into being in 1970.  The late 60s and early 70s were a period of rapid growth and development in British Orienteering, with many new clubs being formed.

Chances are that the British Orienteering Federation Archive contains some of the first maps your club made.  Your regional magazine or newsletter from those days, also in the Archive, might have interesting details of the club’s formation.

Want to find out more? 
Then send an e-mail to info@britishorienteering.org.uk no later than 11 December 2019, stating what in particular you are interested in, and we’ll reply before Christmas letting you know what we have found in the Archive.

Our Archive

The British Orienteering Archive is one of many Special Collections stored in the University of Sheffield Library.  It contains all manner of papers, correspondence, magazines and books right from the earliest days of orienteering in the UK through to the time when records became digitalised.

You can see a full list of what is held by visiting http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/special/borient.html.  There is also an extensive photo collection, mainly from the 1970s and 80s; these are not held in the Archive for copyright reasons.  We can do a check for you, to see if we have photos of specific individuals or events.

Recently, Ned Paul has donated a lot of fresh material and a host of photos from his time as owner/editor of CompassSport.  Every so often we are delighted to be offered additions to the collection.  In particular, more photos from large events (finish areas etc.) held in the UK, and photos from the very early days showing the clothing and equipment in use then, would be very welcome.

Anyone can book to see specific contents of the Archive – you just say in advance which boxes you would like to see, and they will be waiting for you when you arrive.  For opening times and booking arrangements, see the Special Collections home page here.  The library where the Archive is held is in the centre of the University of Sheffield complex, a short tram ride from Sheffield rail station.