Grimsdyke 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony Bell, 2nd Amersham Common Website Manager.

Waking up Saturday morning was a pleasent surprise, no frozen windscreen, no snow, no rain. I put my nose out the door, it was still cold so it was on with the full suit of thermal undies.

By the time we got to Chesham I was third in a convoy lead by the 2nd Amersham Common mini bus. First rule of navigation "Do not assume that the person you are following knows the way or is even going to the same destination". The Bus turned up a dead end road never to be seen again, well not for some time.

HQ was small this year but the 73 teams reqistered quickly and went on their merry way. A few left vital paperwork behind in the rush.

My role this year was to go to the far side of the course to take photos for the website, act as a rapid response to check flags and to help the lost.

After lunch I walked back upto the Monument only to find a senior team completely lost. I must say it was extremely difficult navigating in the woods. Tracks were not obvious or even sign posted and they appeared to go in completely the wrong direction to the map. The only check you could make was to verify the direction with a hand compass. If you get lost, you should go back to the last place you know was correct and start again. As it was getting late and dark, we kept on until we hit the road missing a flag. Right in front was a sign to a golf club. What more do you need!

By the 4 o'clock finish there were quite a few teams left out on the course, the heavy going through the woods taking their toll. It was an enjoyable day without the forcasted bad weather.
Is this a first to come across Father Christmas on the Grimsdyke Hike!

The Results

Juniors (no missing flags)
1 2 3 4 5	Prestwood Amersham Common - ACDT Seer Green - A Chesham Bois Friday - D Chesham Bois Friday - C	6.04 Hours 6.10 6.20 6.22 6.31
Seniors/Open
1 2 3 4 5	Matrix ESU - Dream Team Ammersham on the Hill - Woden 1 Chesham Bois Friday - A Amersham Common - The Pyros Buckingham ESU - Not Funny Anymore	18 flags 14 11 8 10	330 254 231 226 224

Navigation Problem

Flag E10 at the bottom of the escarpment below the Memorial was an example. Some teams going East-South-East up the hill were calling in saying that they could not find the flag. It was in its correct position. The problem was faulty map reading.
The clue was "Behind a hollybush to the left of a signpost facing the field".

	When they came upto E10, there was the signpost by the road and a hollybush to the left of it facing the field but no flag.
	Look at the map and you can see where they were. At the left corner of the left diamond where the road to Little Stocks farm meets the track coming down, not in the centre of the diamond.
	Look left up the hill, just beyond the gate you can see a signpost. That's the correct one in the middle of the diamond.
	The flag was not too difficult to spot. So the moral of this is READ YOUR MAP. Do not guess or think what you see is what you should be looking at.

The Grymsdyke Hyke 2005

By Rob Lyon, James Dawson, David Blakesley

Day 1

Our adventure started early on Saturday morning. Whilst I was on my way to St John’s to be picked up by the minibus, the minibus was headed the other way towards my house to pick me up! After driving speedily down the hill, my dad and I caught the bus just before it left to go back to the hall.
When we reached HQ, near Hudnall, we checked in and went straight out on the trail. We found our first base, or where we thought the first base should be, but it wasn’t there. So, after searching for quarter of an hour through any holly bush we could see, we decided to phone up HQ and tell them we couldn’t find the base. They told us to carry on and so we proceeded down a narrow path, which eventually opened out into a large field that headed down a steep slope. After studying the map for a while, we decided that, since Mike Taylor HAD written the route, it was inevitable that we would have to climb the massive slope on the other side of the valley! So, after pumping up the music that we had skilfully brought to keep us sane, we moved off down the hill.
After another two hours or so trekking, finding all the necessary basses easily, we reached a golf course. Yet again, we could not find any sign of the base. We deposited our bags at the end of the course and headed off jogging in search of the base. After we had run the length of a couple of holes, we decided to turn back, and luckily, as we walked past a large tree, I spotted a small piece of orange in the corner of my eye. Looking under the tree, I found the flag, and we were free to move on to the next base.
When we finally finished hiking, at around a quarter to four, we set up camp at Ashridge. Then, we went to the main tent to pick up a hot dog and some soup. Then we went back to our tent and decided to cook dinner which was pasta and sauce in a bag, followed by James‘ giant supply of chocolate, which he produced from the depths of his bag. After this, we all decided to get some sleep ahead of tomorrow’s hike.

Day 2

We woke up early on Sunday ready for another day’s hiking. We knew we wouldn’t have much time as James had to be at a school play rehearsal at 1:30 so we tried to move off as early as possible. We had planned our route the night before, expecting to have to walk back to HQ, but plans were changed and we had to walk in a circle back to the overnight campsite. So after eating breakfast of dry cereal, we set off.
We had a bit more trouble navigating on the second day, especially on yet another golf course we had to cross. After we had found eight or nine bases, we decided to head back as James needed to get to his rehearsal. So after walking through the impossible navigational area of Ashridge forest, we finally reached the monument, tagged our last base and checked in to be welcomed with another hot dog and more soup. James’ parents picked him up and David and I were left to spend some time eating and thinking about the Quest, and our trip to Bulgaria.