Many thanks for the good turnout at Black Spout Wood, and the favourable comments after the event. I’m glad you enjoyed the day. When Interlopers asked if they could use the event for their club championships the nerves began jangling, as this is only my second event as organiser/planner. But they were willing to accept the event as they found it, knowing that they would have problems with the quiz, which I had fun setting, so that you could spend as long as possible in what is a nice area of deciduous woodland.
As the day approached, I had a sleepless night wondering if I had covered everything. As it turned out the only glitch was a mistake in the control descriptions which only became obvious on the day, sorry, controls 10, 11 and 12 were wrongly described, (as 11, 12 and 13). I don’t think it had too big an impact on the event as the controls were in the right places on the master maps.
On the Saturday afternoon it was heavy rain as I put out half the controls, it was not looking good for the Sunday. Sunday morning was lovely and as the sky lightened, putting out the controls was accompanied by seeing roe deer and red squirrels having breakfast.
Thank you goes to Moira for manning the registration and Liz for helping reduce the queue. Special thanks goes to the members of Interlopers who went out and collected the controls after the finish, it was much appreciated.
I think we all enjoyed our lunch in the Atholl Palace Hotel, especially as we had a nice view over Black Spout Wood. In the evening I counted up the scores and had great fun reading some of the (wrong) quiz answers, which I really have to share with you. Names withheld to protect the innocent!
The various people who could be found on a bench in Perth High Street included Desperate Dan and Oor Wullie, a Big Issue seller, McGonnigal, an Indian squaw and two old men. The original was in a tent and is now in a modern building by the Tummel was a scout camp, not when I was in the scouts. According to one person the oldest living thing in Tayside, at 5000 years, is a deer. The artist in the roundhouse is Jack Vetriani and Ally Bain sat beneath the fiddle tree at Dunkeld. OK, I had the answers, but it gave me a laugh.
Finally, thanks go to Jill Stewart, at Bells Blair Athol Distillery, for the use of their car park. It solved the problem of where to put around 30 cars close to Black Spout Wood, and Karen Aycan, at the Atholl Palace Hotel, for fitting us in when the hotel was closed for their staff Christmas party.
David Williamson
Here are the questions and answers for the Christmas Score quiz:
Back to Christmas Score Results