We are pleased to share the winner of the Chichester Trophy 2023 is Greg Best from North Gloucestershire Orienteering Club for the map area of Mallard’s Pike.

Below we will share a summary of his nomination.

The Chichester Trophy was donated by the Honorary President of the British Orienteering Federation in 1971, Sir Francis Chichester. The Trophy consists of the binnacle compass used on Sir Francis' 'round the world' yacht, Gipsy Moth V, mounted on a wooden plinth. The Trophy was first awarded in 1971 to Robin Harvey and Sue Bone for their map of Leith Hill.

It was originally awarded for the Best Map produced in a single year, though later it was awarded for multiple maps or contribution to mapping. In 1985, with the introduction of the 'Bonington Trophy', the 'Chichester Trophy' reverted to the original concept of the best map produced by an amateur mapper.

Greg Best, North Gloucestershire Orienteering Club

Map area location: Mallard’s Pike

Greg Best redrew North Gloucestershire’s Orienteering Club’s map of Mallard’s Pike - nearly 6 square kilometres of woodland in the heart of the Forest of Dean. He drew on his many years of experience mapping the woods of Gloucestershire to complete his biggest project to date, combining newly available Lidar data with over 25 days of surveying to draw the map using OCAD.  This combination of technology and detailed fieldwork is particularly evident in his remapping of the area’s extensive network of drainage ditches: having these accurately represented has transformed the ways in which we can use the area.

By surveying throughout the year, he captured seasonal vegetation changes, and produced vegetation screens which can be toggled for summer or winter use of the area, depending on the state of the bracken. This also extends our use of the map as we can rely on it year-round.

The map was used for the two-day Caddihoe Chase and Veteran Home Internationals in September-October 2023, part of the UK Orienteering League. The size of the map supported courses up to Black length on both days, using entirely separate areas. As a measure of Greg’s dedication, when new felling affecting the courses was discovered on the afternoon prior to the event, he swiftly mapped the necessary changes so that an inset correction could be printed overnight.

Congratulations again to Greg on his award!

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It’s important to us, to recognise the other individuals who were nominated for the Chichester Trophy 2023. Here they are, alongside some of the comments regarding their contributions over the past year.

Nominations for the Chichester Trophy 2023

Klaas Wynne, Clydeside Orienteers: Map area - Mugdock

“The submitted CLYDE map of "Mugdock" encompasses Mugdock Country Park, the Dumbrock area north of it, the Craigallian Estate and Carbeth area to the northwest, and the Clober, Milngavie and Hilton Park golf courses to the west. This was an entirely new map for 2023 and first used in two BOF registered orienteering events in March 2023 and June 2023.

It is completely redrawn in 2023, based on LiDAR for Scotland Phase 3 and 5 data, OS aerial photography, and the OS Mastermap API. LiDAR data were analysed using the normalised difference vegetation density (NDVD) statistical analysis technique (doi:10.3846/20296991.2015.1051342) in OCAD using about 120 on-the-ground vegetation samples throughout the area taken using ~1m-accuracy GNSS (using a U-blox ZED-F9P module).”

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Next up, we will be sharing details of our Silva Trophy Winner 2023. Check our website or social media daily for the latest updates.