Directions / Parking

The event is at Penn Street, which is signposted off the A404 between High Wycombe and Amersham, at SU924965, HP7 0QW.

Parking is at commercial premises at SU923956, adjacent to the Hit or Miss pub, Penn Street, HP7 0PX. No charge for parking - your entry fee includes a donation to a charity of the landowner's choice.

Parking is very limited, so you are urged to share cars with other club colleagues. We would welcome competitors selecting very early or very late start times in order to allow double use of car park spaces.

Travel by public transport is via High Wycombe or Amersham, both of which have trains from London. There is then an hourly bus service to the Penn Street turn-off on the A404, followed by a 10 minute walk.

Terrain Description

Penn Wood and Common Wood are both ancient woodlands. Penn Wood is generally flat, as are most of the Penn Estate and Common Wood but the latter does contain one steep slope. The woods are very varied with a mixture of conifer, beech and oak, and some open areas. There are many pits / depressions as a result of ancient clay and flint workings.
Last used for the Chiltern Challenge in February 2019.

The Map

1:10000 with 5m contours.
Map updated Winter 2023, using ISOM 2017-2

Start Times

Starts are available from 10:00 to 13:00. Courses will close at 15:00.

The start is approximately 400m away from Assembly.

Courses

Black 11.7km, 170m climb
Brown 10.0km, 155m climb
Short Brown 8.3km, 145m climb
Blue 6.8km, 135m climb
Short Blue 5.7km, 105m climb
Red 5.0km, 40m climb
Green 5.0km, 50m climb
Short Green 4.0km, 40m climb
Very Short Green 3.3km, 35m climb
Light Green 3.5km, 30m climb
Orange 3.2km, 25m climb
Yellow 2.0km, 10m climb

Penn Wood is pretty much flat, so courses Red, Green and below will have minimal climb. Courses Short Blue and above cross into Common Wood and Penn Estate where there is some climb - around 150m for the longest courses.

Short Blue and above courses have two timed-out marshalled road crossings (50 and 40mph speed limit respectively) on the course, and an unmarshalled road crossing (30mph) on the return from the Finish.
The RED course is particularly appropriate for runners who are new to orienteering (and can be run as pairs). It is a longer course but without the technical difficulty of the Green courses.
Newcomers are very welcome to attend this event. Please contact the organiser if you are unsure which course to enter. Families and small groups would find the Yellow and Orange courses more suitable.

How To Enter

Entries are via SiEntries, using the link at the top of the page. There will be no entry at the event.

Maps have now been ordered, so further entries are subject to map availability.

Entry Cost

Senior BoF Member £16 Non BoF Member £18
Senior on Yellow/Orange £8
Juniors £5
SiAC Hire £2

Facilities

First Aid
Portable toilets
Note that TVOC will not be providing water out on the courses or at the finish/assembly - please come with your own supplies.
No catering due to limited space, but there are two nice pubs in the village who would welcome your business.

Further Information

Dogs
Well-behaved dogs allowed on their leads in the car park. Please clean up after your dog.
TVOC’s policy is no dogs to accompany competitors on their runs.

Officials

Organiser: Alun Jones    email organiser      07967605307
Planner: Neville Baker
Controller: Helen Marsden (HH)