Event Summary

• Approach from A355 2km S of M40 J2, turn West at  ///luck.wages.scan Ignore Google maps which tells you the junction is closed.
• Start 600m from event centre, 3 minute call up.
• Strict timed start (late starters as in Rules), flyby finish
• All courses have a taped and marshalled road crossing, not timed out but give way to any vehicles.
• Parking adjacent to event centre containing professional first aid, toilets, food (Tom's), equipment (CompassPoint), marquee (bring your own chair)
• New map at 1:10000  with 1:7500 for courses with predominantly over 65s, 5m contours
• Full leg and torso cover compulsory, shoes with good grip recommended, hooded cagoules may be compulsory in bad weather
• Kit check and GPS tracker issued on leaving field. Check for head torch + spare, whistle, leg & torso cover, cagoule if bad weather
• Sorry, no dogs
• If you have the 2025 trophy, congratulations! Please bring it with you unless you've already made arrangements for its return

Saturday 7 February 2026

Starts from 18:16 to 19:53. We aim to have the prizegiving at about 21:30.

Event Location

Egypt Woods, between Farnham Common and Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

There is good motorway access from the M25, M40 and M4 and public transport links to Beaconsfield or Slough. Heathrow Airport is half an hour's drive. There are many options for  accommodation in the area including at the nearby Beaconsfield Services. We will have catering in the event centre.

Public transport

Burnham and Beaconsfield stations are each about 5.5km away. Bus 103 passes the end of Harehatch Lane.

Parking

Harehatch Lane, Egypt, OS Grid reference SU948872, What3words care.punks.cone. Nearest postcode SL1 8PQ (but this does not necessarily take you to the car park).  We strongly recommend you enter from the A355 2km S of the M40 What3words ///luck.wages.scan, other routes include a very narrow width restriction and narrow lanes.

Google maps is currently showing the junction off the A355 to be closed but that's wrong - there were roadworks last year and it hasn't updated.

Start and Finish

Start is a 600m flat walk from the event centre and parking. There is ample room to warm up in the field (the first 450m of the distance to the start) so please do so there rather than in the woods.  Kit check will be at the exit from the field, 2 minutes before the Start.

All entrants will have a timed start.

Late starts will be in accordance with BOF rule 24.6.

The Finish is adjacent to the event centre and is 'flyby' for SIAC, as are all controls. You must go directly to Download after finishing to confirm your safe return.

Courses close 21:30.

Start Times

Start times are available by name and by class

List of people on courses 1 and 2 allocated GPS trackers here.

The Start Times menu item on this page has more details on method followed for spacing, seeding etc.

Terrain

Egypt Woods is a mixed commercial woodland; there are large areas of very runnable beech, oak and pine forest as well as areas of recent forestry work and a number of fenced-off pheasant pens.  You will encounter a wide range of terrain and there is a noticeable difference between Egypt Woods (the two thirds of the mapped area south of Harehatch Lane) and Jennings Wood and Hangings Wood (the third of the mapped area north of Harehatch Lane).  There are plenty of deer and pheasants around.

Runnability varies considerably and is mapped as run, slow run, walk or fight as appropriate.  Green areas to the south of Harehatch Lane are mainly holly and those to the north are mainly rhododendrons and patches of windblown trees.

There are areas of dead bracken across the whole map but in most places this is intermittent and has died back enough to have little impact on running speed.  The most significant bracken is in the central third of the map.  Where this reduces running speed in what would otherwise be white forest or open areas, widely spaced green stripes are used (407 Vegetation, slow running but still easy enough to get across, good visibility). The map reflects the situation in the middle of January and any subsequent frost, rain and snow will only improve runnability. 

In the south west of the map there is a block of forest that was thinned about a year ago and which has been left with extensive brashings on the ground. These are mapped, as for bracken, using widely spaced green stripes (407 Vegetation, slow running but still easy enough to get across, good visibility).   Piles of brashings can also be found at the edge of major tracks.

There may be some stakes out for Sunday's controls in the forest but they will not have flags or boxes.

Note that the published embargoed area is too large; we will not be using the Southern part as that is no longer available to us.  

Map

Pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper.  For a previous event see Routegadget.

Area remapped 2025/2026 by Simon Errington using LiDAR data. 1:10,000 (A4) & 1:7,500 (A3), 5m contours.

Courses

Classes and estimated winning times are as British Night Orienteering Championships rules section 5 although course 1 is shorter than recommended to avoid too much repetition.  Climb is typically 1-1.5%.

**  Two map flips (so side 1, side 2, side 1)

*    One map flip (side 1, side 2)

Note that some loose control descriptions are quite long and may need folding (see above).

Safety

Orienteering is an adventure sport. You take part at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety.  A full risk assessment has been carried out.

Competitors must have:

- a headtorch and spare torch

- a whistle

- appropriate clothing for the weather conditions eg hooded cagoules may be compulsory.

There will be a kit check on leaving the event centre field.

There is one taped road crossing for all courses; for BNOC this will not be timed-out but competitors must be prepared to give way to any vehicles. Immediately after the control at the start of the taped route there is a refreshment point (water), ~75% of the way through most courses.

One steep slope will be taped off at the top with yellow and black tape and marked on the map (courses 1 & 2 pass nearest to this).

On courses you will meet the usual slip and trip hazards. Shoes with good grip are recommended. Water features are in general shallow and courses are planned to avoid the worst.

The safety bearing is N before the road crossing, S after the road crossing.

Facilities

First aid provided by White Star Medical. If you wish to declare a medical condition or other vulnerability you may leave a note at Enquiries in a sealed envelope and retrieve it afterwards. The envelope will not be opened unless you trigger our Missing Runner Procedure or Casualty Procedure.

Toilets

Catering - Tom's burger van

Equipment - Compass Point - Click and Collect is also available

The Event Centre will be in a marquee adjacent to the Finish:

- Enquiries including key drop

- GPS vest issue, vest and unit return

- Space for those not coming by car to leave kit

- Trophy return

- Download

- Screens showing GPS tracking from about 10 minutes before the final start time

- Prizegiving

- Area for socialising ... you are encouraged to bring your own seat along after you have run

Photos will be taken by Robert Lines. If you do not wish your photo to be taken, in accordance with the new British Orienteering Policy you may fill in a Right to Object form and leave it at Enquiries.

Results

Interim results will be published direct to the club website every few minutes during the event. There will be a QR code on your splits printout. There will be no printed results (apart from your own splits) or WiFi available. The results will include:

• standard SI Timing results for those who have finished
• interim live results showing times at radio controls
• GPS tracking of selected athletes on courses 1 and 2

Full results will be published to the same location and to Routegadget; we aim to do so on the day of the event.

Prizegiving

We plan for prizegiving around 21:30. We hope that as many as possible of you stay for it. There is space in the marquee for socialising and eating Tom's food - please bring your own chair.

Current titleholders: if you haven't already done so, please return your trophies on the day or make arrangements with the Organiser for their return.

New champions: unless you object, we will forward the email address you used on SI Entries to the organisers of next year's British Nights Championships so that they can manage trophy return.

Dogs

Sorry, but no dogs are allowed in either the car park field or the woods

Complaints

If you have any issues regarding the competition or results they should be raised with the Organiser. Section 13 of the Rules of Foot Orienteering will be followed. A Jury has been appointed to deal with any protests:

Neville Baker  TVOC

Trevor Hoey  FVO

Keith Tonkin  BL

Officials

Cancellation

If we have to cancel the event, a notice will be placed at the top of this page and all entrants notified by email and/or text. Please check before travelling, especially if weather warnings are issued.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to all at Savills and Portman Estates involved in arranging our use of the area, especially the farmer, Tia Thwaite.

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The small print

This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 83894.

Orienteering is a great sport for youngsters. If you bring children, please help us to keep to our safeguarding policy and British Orienteering’s photography policy.

Your personal data is used for results and insurance, see our privacy policy.