Mapping is the one of the most rewarding and enjoyable roles. Not only does it improve your navigation skills, but it can also provide you with a different and new type of orienteering challenge.  

The British Orienteering E-Learning Mapping Courses, Introduction to updating Forest Mapping and Introduction to Sprint and Urban Mapping , developed with the expertise of David Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) and the educational robustness  of Pauline Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) .

Both courses are based around learners having access to either of the two most widely used mapping programs, Open Orienteering Mapper and OCAD.

We strongly advise that you seek an experienced mapper as a mentor to support you through your journey towards being a competent mapper.

Both courses are based on updating an existing map and rather than creating a new map from a previously unmapped area.

Course objectives

• To provide an introduction and basic understanding of the processes involved in how to update and amend an existing Orienteering map.

The course content is designed to only address the course objective rather than attempting to cover the full scope of Mapping. As we recognise that Mapping is a skill that takes much time and practice to hone.

The course should only take around 45- 60 mins to complete and for the whole of May is only £6.00

To access the course and find out more information about our other E-Learning courses, please visit the E-Learning homepage.

Interested in learning about our other E-Learning courses on offer? Visit the E-Learning homepage and access information on all the other resources we provide.

AIRE and CLARO look forward to seeing you all at the British Middle Championships this coming weekend. 

You have entered in greater numbers than we anticipated, but we have adapted to cater for you all as best we can.  Both Danefield and Kilnsey Moor is a lovely places in the Spring sunshine and we really hope the weather is kind so that you can enjoy it at its best.  The technical woodland of Danefield is in sharp contrast to the fast open areas of Kilnsey.  You should enjoy some great orienteering on both days.  Str8 compasses is sponsoring a lot of prizes for the Northern Championships and the British Middles so run well and good luck.

Start times and final details are published, maps are printed and lots of equipment is ready to move.  No controls are out yet, but we have been busy at Kilnsey as you may be able to see from a picture.  There are a variety of crossing points on Kilnsey Moor – many of you will only encounter this one.  There are no stiles to cross at Danefield you’ll be relieved to know.

We will be able to accommodate you all in the parking areas for both events, but as always, it would help if you car shared as much as possible.  The Danefield field has remained in good condition throughout the winter, but as some rain has been forecast over the coming days we will have some tracking available.  Kilnsey has the delight of hard standing in the quarry.  We can’t promise that you will keep your feet dry, but at least cars should not get stuck in the mud as might have happened at some recent events.  We’re hoping that’s true for Danefield.  Definitely true for Kilnsey!

Anyone wanting to carry a club tent to Danefield, could reduce the distance to carry the tent by 800m by using the drop off point suggested in the event details.  It would need to be a rapid drop-off as there are often no parking bays available. They are all quite uneven, and the road is very narrow.  To get back to the parking field it is best to not attempt a 5 point turn but to drive in an anti-clockwise route with LH turns for 2.5k to get back to the parking field.  This should take no morfme than 5 minutes.

Have a great weekend.

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Full details on the British Middle Championships are available via this link. Visit the CLARO website for more details regarding the Northern Championships. Good luck to everyone taking part!

As agreed at the AGM 2023, from 1 May 2024 British Orienteering would like to offer an exclusive part-year Membership to new members.

New members are individuals who have not been members of British Orienteering in any of the previous four calendar years.

Part year membership fees 2024

Seniors – £10

Young adults – £7.50

Juniors – £3.00

Families – £25.00 (all members must be new members and not on the database to take up this offer).

No memberships will be merged with existing memberships.

Please note from 1 January 2025, any “new” members will need to renew their membership for 2025.

Find out more about how to join online today. 

The GB Team got off to a perfect start at the World Orienteering Championships in Tartu, Estonia with all 6 runners qualifying for tomorrow's Sprint Final.

The qualifying rounds consisted of three men's heats and three women's heats with a Great Britain athlete in each. The athletes had to finish in the top 15 to qualify for tomorrow’s Individual Sprint Final.

The Sprint Qualifier race saw the athletes navigate around some detailed contoured areas in the University of Tartu before finishing in front of the picturesque City Hall in the city's Old Town.

For GB's Women, Megan Carter-Davies led the way with an excellent 4th place finish in her heat, completing the 2.8km course in 11:04, 0:31 down on winner Cecille Friberg Klysner of Denmark. Jo Shepherd placed in 10th on the B heat in a time of 12:24, 1:01 behind her winner, Russia's Galina Vidagradova. With the top 15 in each heat qualifying for the Final, Alice Leake made it a hat-trick of women for GBR with a 13th place finish, her time of 12:39 is 1:31 behind reigning champion Maja Alm of Denmark.

In the Men's race, Chris Smithard's 10th place put him safely through to the final, his time of 11:35 is 0:33 behind World Cup 2017 Round 1 winner Yannick Michiels of Belgium. Peter Hodkinson came in 12th place in the B heat with a time of 11:04, 0:31 behind Switzerland's Daniel Hubmann. Kris Jones rounded off GB's day with a storming performance to take 2nd in the C heat; Kris, who missed out on a medal by 10 seconds at last year's World Championships in Sweden, saw his time of 11:15 beaten only by last year's silver medalist Matthias Kyburz of Switzerland.

Full results from the Sprint Qualifier can be found here, and map's of today's courses can be found here

Saturday's Sprint Final begins at 12:40 for the Women and 13:50 for the Men and can be followed here.

Today, the action moves to the Opening Ceremony that begins at 18:30-19:15 (BST 16:30-17:15).