Organiser

I have spent a lot of time in Hafod over the last 7 months and have come to know its quiet corners and dramatic landscapes. I have never seen it sunny and hot so we were very lucky indeed to get such a good day. I hope you all enjoyed the tough terrain and did not go home with too many scrapes and bumps. 

We had a serious setback with only 6 days to go when the tenant farmer withdrew permission to use the large parking field by the river Ystwyth. Plan B had to swing into operation and Mike Kay and I spent a great deal of time working out bus flows on the narrow Cwmystwyth roads. I would have loved to see how it all worked out in the end but with parking on 3km of forest roads in Hafod alone and competitors wilting in the heat I was not able to leave the assembly area until all buses were safely back at base.

Some of the highlights of the day were

  • seeing the first large group of competitors who had walked down from the Church car park
  • watching the first juniors finish
  • the goodwill of the Hafod residents who even had cars parked on their lawns
  • 166  youngsters enjoying the steep  Middle Hill string course
  • finding that the Hafod fountain had lots of uses in hot weather
  • the assembly field at midday, with O traders and food outlets very busy
  • a perfectly clean and undamaged field after everyone had left at 7pm
  • a magnificent swim off Aberystwyth beach when I finally got back

SWOC is a small club and could not have organised Day 3 without help from a large number of other clubs. We are very grateful for the help from individuals of SBOC, ERYRI, WCH, SROC, NGOC, TVOC, EPOC and BAOC. 

Many thanks for the tremendous help given by our own members (and my long suffering family) and for the patience of our planner Pete Ribbans and controller Roger Stein who had to answer all my nagging questions when arrangements had to be changed at short notice. My thanks also go to the staff of the Forestry Commission and the Hafod Trust who helped with so many important tasks to ensure that the event was a success.

Jill Manning (SWOC)