Today we collected our rental car – a suitably British MG in basic black.  In the late afternoon we headed south on the A1, to Durham, or more precisely Gilesgate, just east of the cathedral city.  It all went well until it came to the fine navigation.  Who knew there were two Church Lanes in Durham. We headed for the first one, but decided it was the wrong one.  So we tried the second one.  Several dead ends and many roundabouts later, we decided it was definitely the wrong one.  So back to the first one – which was of course the right one.

The Northern Navigators orienteering club were meeting at St Giles Church – just your average 900 year old grade 1 listed building. A sign on the wall told us there were Commonwealth War Graves here; 9 servicemen killed in World War 1 are buried in the churchyard here, including a Dodd (probably a distant relative).

The event was a 45 minute Score; all controls were 10 points each, late penalty 10 points per minute.  Very familiar to us.  They used SI for start and finish to record time, but we had to carry a pen and write answers to questions (eg lamp post number; how many dragon tails are there; that sort of thing. Sadly I didn’t go to the dragon tails control).  I did a loop in the centre of the map where the navigating looked the most interesting – and it was.  This required careful map reading, focus, and attention to detail.  All in short supply when jet lagged and brain dead – but an excellent practice run (walk) for the sprints to come in a few weeks.  It was all great fun, and I managed to lose 20 points for being late, but I didn’t care.  It was nice to be orienteering in England again. Note: Captain Kumamon elected to stay on guard duty in the apartment. He prefers celestial navigation.