LEICESTERSHIRE ORIENTEERING CLUB Permanent Orienteering Course Fosse Meadows, Sharnford Fosse Meadows Nature Park lies off the old Fosse Way (Roman Road) to the east of Sharnford. The park is managed by Blaby District Council. The 57 Ha park was formerly farmland but several areas have been planted with blocks of trees. Some of these blocks are now mature enough to be used for orienteering and together with the other more open areas of the park they provide a reasonable challenge, particularly for less experienced orienteers. The stream running along the east side of the map is the River Soar, not far from its source. This is Leicestershire’s longest river and eventually joins the River Trent in the north of the county. Getting there The permanent orienteering courses start and finish at the car park on the old Fosse Way at Grid Ref SP489909. This cul-de-sac section of the Fosse Way is only accessible from the north. You can use the following links to other maps which allow you to zoom in or out. Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=448865&y=290890&z=4&sv=448865,290890&st=4&a r=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf Google Maps (also provides directions and aerial photographs) http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&t=h&lr=lang_en&ll=52.517997,- 1.287675&spn=0.019586,0.043774&z=15 WGS84 co-ordinates Lat 52.5129 N, Long -1.28116 W Nearest postcode LE10 3AB Car Park Free (2010). The nearest bus service passes through Sharnford. There is a public footpath from Sharnford to the old Fosse Way (1km) which passes through Fosse Meadows. The Map Orienteering maps are drawn to an international standard using specific colours and symbols and unlike most maps, use white to show woods which are easy to run through. Darker shades of green are used to show that a wood is harder to run through. Orienteering maps can be very detailed and are usually drawn to a scale of 1 to 15,000 or 1 to 10,000. The Fosse Meadows map is drawn at 1 to 7,500 where 1cm on the map represents 75m on the ground. Control descriptions and courses 26 Control sites have been created within the park, mostly using small posts. Currently there are six courses available:- Easy 1 2.0km 9 controls) Technically easy, approx Yellow standard Easy 2 1.8km 9 controls Similar length and difficulty to Easy 1 Medium 1 2.7km 9 controls Suitable for novice adults, approx Orange standard Medium 2 2.6km 10 controls Similar length and difficulty to Medium 1 Hard 1 3.4km 12 controls A bit longer and harder than Medium. Light Green standard Hard 2 3.6km 14 controls Similar length and difficulty to Hard 1. The starti is a notice board in the southwest corner of the car park and is indicated on the map by a purple triangle. Courses finish at the same point. You must visit the controls in the order specified for the particular course. A list of the controls used for each course is printed on the map and this has a description of the feature where the control is located. Controls are indicated by an orange / white marker, usually on the top of a post. Each marker has a number and a letter. The number identifies the control and is shown in the course description. If the letter is written on the control card, supplied in the pack, it can be used later to check that the correct controls have been visited. You will probably be able to complete all of the courses without the need for a compass providing you follow the map carefully. Orienteers are taught to hold the map so that it is horizontal and rotate the map so that the arrows on the magnetic north lines on the map always point north. This means that when you are going south the top of the map (north end) will be closest to your body. This ensures that features on the ground are in the same relative position as features on the map. Bear in mind that permanent posts can suffer from deterioration and / or vandalism so some posts may be missing. In addition, some of the posts might be obscured by long grass or undergrowth during the summer period. Safety All courses start in the corner of a car park – watch out for vehicles. A full risk assessment should be carried out having regard to the abilities of the people undertaking the courses and the need for appropriate supervision. The Club cannot accept responsibility for any accident, loss or damage incurred by any person undertaking these courses. Further information The Leicestershire Orienteering club (LEIOC) website www.leioc.org.uk has details of forthcoming events and information to assist newcomers to the sport. We organise more than 40 events per year and these are generally open to non-members. Information on Orienteering in general can also be found on the British Orienteering website www.britishorienteering.org.uk Feedback We would welcome any feedback on the courses or on this information particularly if you find posts vandalised or missing. There is a feedback form on the website. FOSSE MEADOWS NATURE PARK Permanent Orienteering Course Check Letters and Control Descriptions 31 G Fence corner 32 Y Bird box 33 S Car park, West corner 34 N Knoll, South end / fence 35 R West gate, North side 36 F Stile, disused 37 R Short Fence, West end 38 T Stile 39 S Fence bend 40 V Middle fence corner 41 W South knoll, top 42 C Culvert, Northeast side 43 Q Post, 4m south of ride junction 44 P Vegetation boundary bend, East side 45 V Fence corner 46 W Stile, disused 47 M Gate, west post 48 T Pond, South side 49 H Tree, North side 50 X Bridge, Northwest side 51 J West gully, east end 52 L Fence end 53 K Pond, South side 54 A Path junction (West of gate) 55 E Bridge, Northwest side 56 B Fence corner, Southeast side 57 D North fence corner .