Eglinton Park
Posted on 23 Feb, 2010 by Lynne Walker | Filed under Orienteering
On the weekend of 20th & 21st February I was working with a group of Duke of Edinburgh leaders who are mainly based in North Ayrshire. I was delivering a Teaching Orienteering course, parts 1 and 2. Beforehand it was arranged that we would be inside at a community centre in Saltcoats on the Saturday morning and the Sunday afternoon. The other sessions (Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning) would be at Eglinton Park, a 15 minute drive away.
I have never been to Eglinton Park but was able to obtain the map file from the local club Ayroc. This is where I had a problem. I was sent an ‘A4 1:5000’ map but when I came to print it, the map told me it was 1:10000 and it then fitted on to the A4 sheet. The symbols were also very faint – I could hardly see the contour lines.
After a few emails I asked my computer guru (Paul) to help me and we eventually managed to thicken up the lines; I adjusted the part of the map I mainly wanted to use to A4 with a scale of 1:5000 and I was able to make progress. But, I still had doubts. What was the map scale? Then there was the ‘Eureka’ moment – although I had not run on the map I had a paper copy in my map files. Yes, the map I had been sent was a scale of 1:10000 and the bit I had selected to work on and that I had adjusted was a scale of 1:5000.
Arm-chair planning: definition – to be avoided at all costs. Reality – I had to do it as it just was not practical to visit beforehand. Fortunately the map was very good and all the selected area was well mapped. I had planned a white, yellow and orange course for the participants to do so that they could discuss and find out about the progression between the levels of technical difficulty. The area was ideal for this exercise.
As well as doing a white or yellow course and then the orange course, the participants had the experience of planning some training exercises (star exercise, score event, line course, attack points). They then had the opportunity to sample one another’s exercises and give feedback. As a group we also had a map walk on the Saturday; Sunday began with another map walk illustrating the use of handrails, distance judgement and aiming off.
It’s a great area and ideal for a course like this; the UKCC L1CCO could also take place there if there is the availability of a classroom beside the tea room? (and I never sampled the tea room as there was no time!)
One of the fascinating things was the old ruins of Eglinton Castle. It is described as a “a huge very ruined 18th-century castellated mansion” which was built by the Montgomery family and many battles have been fought in the area. The ruined walls are an intricate part of the map and control hanging in that area was ‘interesting’! There are some ‘formal gardens’ which are relatively plain consisting of a few paths and well-kept beech hedges.
Adam’s Block (the main house) there are the ruins of a food-processing factory. This factory was owned by the Wilson family and operated between 1958 and the 1980s. The house is probably going to be converted into flats and the ruins of the factory cleared. An eyesore will then be removed from the estate.
I am a level 4 orienteering coach and a qualified Assessor & Coach Educator. I have been orienteering for xx years and have coached on many foreign tours.