DVO AGM 28 October 2026
Yesterday at our AGM in Matlock we thanked Jane for her 3 years of hard work as Chair. She said she’d had a lot of fun, and would never have imagined when Judith helped her do a Yellow course on Bottom Moor in 2011 that she’d end up Chair of the Club (you have been warned)! Going forward, Jane is taking on the role of Safety Liaison, a new mandatory post hat all clubs must fill. Have you seen Jane’s ongoing series on safety? If not, you can catch up here:
We welcomed our new Chair, John Duckworth. For anyone who doesn’t know John, he’s M60 Sprint World Champion and also M60 British Night Champion following victories in Poland and Hertfordshire’s Egypt Woods. It’s great to have such a good navigator at the helm!
Helen Chiswell stepped down after 4 years as Treasurer and her replacement is Sarah Duckworth, who qualified as an accountant a few years ago, lives in Manchester but runs for DVO. When asked if it was the first time we’d had a working accountant as Treasurer, it didn’t take long for our founder member John Hurley to recall that this was actually the case with our first Treasurer in 1969, Malcolm Taylor.
Thank you Nicky for ordering pizza to start the meeting. I meant to get a photo, but it didn’t hang around for long. Nor did I get a photo of myself channeling Graham Norton and interviewing John on topics ranging from bullet trains, mountain marathons and the 5-way Interland match next February. John is England Team Manager for this event, which will take place in Luxembourg, but with the running in Belgian forests due to strict conservation regulations.
British Schools Score Championships
DVO hosted a successful British Schools Score Championships in Shipley Park on a very rainy 10th October, planned by Jane and organised by Nicky. 120 children took part, from schools all over the UK. The running was largely dry, but the heavens opened for the prize giving and still the kids grinned!
Ben and Imogen won their classes, as did Lucy from SYO (but DVO talent in her genes). There’ll be a linear championships at Heaton Park in Manchester on November 15th – good luck to the DVO entrants!
More photos of the day in the British Schools Orienteering Association Gallery.
DVO Championships 2026, 7th November 
This year our Club Champs will take place at Grin Low near Buxton, an exiting area that’s been newly mapped. It’s a fun race, as start times are arranged so that everyone is predicted to finish at noon, but there are 3 courses, so be careful who you follow! We have over 50 people already entered, but there’s still a few days left if you want to take part. An email from David Vincent on October 6th gives details of how to enter, and event details are here.
Afterwards there’s a picnic and awards presentation at St Anne’s Community Centre, Hardwick Square West in Buxton.
Veterans Home Internationals, 19 September at Cowms Rocks
Congratulations to new DVO member Kate Brett (W60) for being selected to represent England in the VHIs. Kate was 3rd English runner on Green, 7th overall and 8 mins down on BOK’s Jackie Hallett. Kate also competed in the Relays at Hagg Side on the Sunday. Quoting SYO’s Facebook report:
East Midlands Urban League
Thanks to Murray White for listing the number of DVOers high up in the EMUL 2026 final standings:
WJ – Imogen Satherley 2nd
MO – Austin Rolland 5th
WO – Jessica Williams 4th
MV – Rob Williams 2nd, Andrew Selby 5th
WV – Sally Calland 2nd, Emily Williams 4th
MSV – Matt White 2nd, Murray White 4th
WSV – Sal Chaffey 2nd
MUV – David Vincent 5th
WUV – Val Johnson 1st, Kim Buxton 2nd
MHV – John Hopper 3rd, Doug Dickinson 5th
WHV – Ruth Ellis 3rd
There are 8 counting races each year, and your result is taken from your best 4 performances. The last race took place in Sleaford on October 11th when the sun was still shining. Three new urban areas came into play: DVO’s Swadlicote plus Wellingborough and Hinckley. The prize-giving will be on January 2nd at our event at Dronfield East.
East Midlands terrain League
This has 5 remaining events and the standings so far are here. Be sure to enter the DVO event at Linacre (near Chesterfield) on November 22nd! Prize giving is again at the first event of the following year, which will be
DVO says goodbye to Rachel
Drum Hill access and new map
We had staged small events there in the past, but had been stopped from using the area for 20 years or so due to safeguarding concerns. To cut a long story short, our mapper Richard Parkin remapped the area in the summer, and a group of us had an enjoyable day at Rampage on October 4th. We ran a 20 minute Score course with full SI for 8 groups of youngsters throughout the day. I was worried that we’d need a tie breaker if several groups got all 15 controls, but only one group did! Chris Millard however, got them all in 12 mins running in jeans! The Rampage Team supplied us with hot drinks and cakes, and I rediscovered my passion for Cup-a-Soup, not having had one since 2010.
Electric car issues
When I wrote about Springtime in Shropshire, I meant to add a salutary note about e-vehicles and the ancillary (12 volt) battery. This powers the interior lights etc. when the vehicle isn’t moving. At events we can be in and out of our cars a lot, and the boot might be left open while we change our shoes, all of which drains the 12 volt battery – as Nicky found to her dismay at Brown Clee Hill in April. Who should come to the rescue but John Cooke with his jump-start kit!
Very easy to use and costing around £50, it did the job. Phones etc can also be charged from it. I had call to use it (twice) in June after running Scouts and Cubs sessions at Hall Leys Park aided by Judith. After this, we bought our own, and coming into the winter and dark nights, I need to remember where the Boost button is. (What happens on the Wednesday Night Run stays on the Wednesday Night Run.)
Miscellany!
Judith Holt wins the ingenious publicity award for her activity at Tansley Carnival & Scarecrow Trail in July, where she ran a Maze with full SI punching.
