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From Cannon Hill Park – to Witton Lakes – to Handsworth Park – to Pype Hayes – to Rectory Park – every day the sun shone and the people came. Thanks for coming, and special thanks to Catherine, Andy, John, Ruth, Bob, John and Dave for helping. It went well but we know a few things now that’ll make it even better next time. 
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In case you’re wondering about the wisdom of putting on a seemingly random and potentially exhausting series of events, some planning has gone in to the enterprise. First of all, the week chosen is Love Parks Week. Secondly, the Parks Department are putting on tours of Witton Lakes and Rectory Park on Tuesday and Friday. Thirdly, Wednesday is Birmingham’s Be Active day. Fourthly, Cannon Hill Park is the venue for this year’s Community Games. Fifthly, the schools are breaking up and parents and children are looking for things to do. Sixthly, it’s the week before the Scottish. Seventhly, it’s an opportunity to advertise the club nights that are starting in Sutton in September – which is one reason why the events are more on the north side of the city. (The other being it’s where I live!)
Next Thursday the venue for stage 4 of the Birmingham Parks O-Ringen is Pype Hayes, whose main claim to fame these days is that the park hosts Birmingham’s November-5th bonfire every year. The orienteering map on the COBOC website was drawn in 1988, and the park is almost unrecognisable! Well, there’s still the hall, the pond and the car park…
A clue to what’s gone on can be found on the council’s website, where it says “The park is also the site of the ward’s millennium woodland.” Suffice to say, there are a lot more trees in the park today than there were in 1988. Also, they’ve recently been spending Lottery money building new footpaths to create a link between Castle Vale and Sutton.
The event on the old map will be a good excuse to practise your compass work…
Update: To give you a sporting chance, we’ve decided to use the 2004 map. We’re too kind…
The details are now online for next week’s Park O afternoons. This morning I was at Friday’s venue: Rectory Park in Sutton. About time! I’ve never been there before and I’m running an event there next Friday…
The good news is that it’s a lovely little area, perhaps my current favourite among the five places we’re running round during the week. The map is one of John Mansfield’s, who did a lot of work for SOLOS and then COBOC back in the 90′s. It’s a nice map and not a lot has changed – there’s a funky new footpath between the car parks, and none of the sports pitches are marked on the ground any more – it’s just a shame that whoever overprinted it with the Permanent Orienteering Course couldn’t centre the circles properly.
I wonder when the last orienteering took place in Rectory Park? The ghostly permanent-course posts certainly have been out of use for some time: some of them are missing, some have their numbers removed and some were completely overgrown with ivy. I had a nice time looking for them and you will too.
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