By Graham Nilsen, member of Deeside Orienteering Club (DEESIDE).

All sorts of odd memories 

My first was JK '73, in Scotland. The story went around that a group of Scandinavians were there early, had been taken out on a training run by some locals, and had come up with a new plant name: the 'hang on, wait a minute bush'. Supposedly each time they came to an area of gorse, the Scottish leader had said, "Hang on, wait a minute..."

Star Posts, JK '75. About an inch of snow had fallen overnight, and I was one of the first starters: magical.

And then 3 am on Monday when the caravan owners drove out of the campsite whilst the ground was still frozen...

Sheffield, JK 1978. The wind got up. I was sat in the front of my tent, cooking, watching frame tents rolling past.

Bigland, JK 1992, when we planned the relays. The organiser (Bob Forster) running around, making sheep-dog noises, trying to coax a dozen sheep back into the field they had got out of. And the start of the Open class: the first leg went past a paddock, marked as OOB, where lambing was going on. There was a concern that, from the mass start, runners might blunder through the paddock (and apparently they did all plough through a mound of fresh stable-sweepings close to the start) so a group of us spread out in front to deflect anyone. We heard the whistle: "They're on their way." 30s of silence. "Fix bayonets!"

Never did find out who it was who said that.

JK Relays, 2008, Eridge Old Park. The weather. Having sunk in that bog just before the finish, falling snow or not, I had to remove all my kit outside the car. And then realised that I could no longer see the end of the car.

Slieve Croob, JK 2011, controlling. Arriving on Wednesday evening to be met by the planner with "Did you get my message? We have a problem." One of the landowners had given permission to use some land which wasn't his; the real owner had brought sheep up, found controls, and wasn't happy. Fortunately, it only affected the elite courses... Replanned Wednesday night, moved controls then sorted out new CONDES files on a laptop on my knee in a field on Thursday morning, new maps printed Thursday afternoon. Apparently nobody noticed.

Then on Sunday morning, having finished checking controls, I looked down from the fell in bright sunshine at the distant solid line of competitors heading for the starts, and all was right with the world!

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Memories of the JK Online
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