Club History
Derwent Valley
Orienteers burst on to the orienteering scene in 1969 with a scurry
of activity that would be impossible in these more ponderous times
of accurate maps, fairness and standards. The inaugural meeting was
held in January with 5 members present. Four weeks later the club
had selected a design for their new badge and by early March the club
had held its inaugural event on Matlock Moor. 4 weeks later the club
held another event in Shining Cliff.
In 1969, preparation
for events was minimal. Permissions were obtained and a section of
the 2 1/2 inch 0S map copied with a cursory nod in the direction of
the Ordnance Survey. Someone then planned a course. Although planners
were encouraged to use features on these OS maps for control site,
this was not always practical. This led to the introduction of the
indefinite article 'a' in the description list. Any control site prefixed
'a' was not on the map, those prefixed 'the' was the one shown on
the map.
Organisation and
controlling was still in its infancy. At the club first event the
planner was spotted on his way out in to the forest to place some
of the controls as the first competitors started. Times for courses
iii these early days tended to be long - not due to course lengths
but more to do with the standard of the maps.
By 1970 the club
had 11 members attending the AGM, with a total club membership of
around 20. "A sound financial statement " for the year showed a surplus
of £2 9s 2d. DVO staged the Jan Kjellstrom relays on a bitterly cold
day in Shining
Cliff. Robin Harvey had drawn the map for us - and it was John Disley
who insisted that it was printed at 1:20,000 as this was an international
event and this was the scale used for international events.
Regular weekly
training runs on Wednesday evenings were established in the same year,
1970, meeting at Jenny Tenant's house, Blue Mountains, with training
sessions in May in preparation for the big events in June.
Since 1970, DVO
have fielded a strong women's team. In 1973 we presented the DVO Trophy
for the Open Women's event in the British Relays, and played our part
in staging the event in Clipstone Forest. We also won the new trophy,
which we have also received several times since. That summer 10 members
of DVO also competed in the Swiss 5 day event with 16 month Zoe Wilkinson
in tow. By 1974, the Buckley's welcomed us to their first DVO dinner,
a well supported event, which continued at their house for a further
15 years.
1975 brought the
British Championships to Strines with DVO heavily committed, and by
the following year our membership had climbed to 48. 1977 saw the
inauguration of the Club Championships - a closed handicap event for
the Chris Vardley Trophy which anyone favoured by the handicapper
has a good chance of winning. Chris was the DVO Secretary for 2 years
and was killed in an avalanche on Ben Nevis in the spring of 1977.
1979 was the club's
10th anniversary and a replica of the first event was held. Membership
had risen to 70 and DVO's women's team regained the DVO Relay Trophy
(yes, we presented it and won it) at Swynnerton and retained it the
following year when Roz Clayton's dazzling run also won her the William
Younger Trophy for the best individual run.
1982 found DVO
fully committed to the British Championships in Shining Cliff and
Crich, planning, organising and bridge building. There were 2,000
entries compared with 800 in Strines in 1975. Zoe Wilkinson was chalking
up victories in the W 1 0 class. With the bracken high in Shining
Cliff, Roz Clayton won the Club Championships. 1983 saw an attempt
to break the record for running the length of Offa's Dyke; we didn't.
In 1984 we made
our first innocent appearance in the CompassSport Cup - since then
we have deployed our strength in the way most likely to achieve results.
The club newsletter "Newstrack" was launched and we bought a club
tent which provided shelter for competitors and their families and
a focus for the Club at large events. 1984 also saw Roz Clayton travel
to Australia and win the Australian Championships.
In June 1985 DVO
arranged the Derbyshire Round Relay. It started at the top of Thorpe
Cloud at 7am and finished some 88 miles later at Derby Cathedral -
DVO fielded 2 teams, 40 runners! We came 2nd and last! At the 1985
AGM it was agreed to introduce the 'Club only' membership, now called
'Introductory membership' to allow people new to orienteering to receive
details of local events through Newstrack, hopefully providing a stepping
stone to 'Full' membership at a later date. A Fixtures Sub-committee
was also formed, but business meetings were no shorter.
In 1986, DVO used
Chatsworth for the first time - it poured with rain but the
Duke of Devonshire refused the shelter of an umbrella and presented
prizes to a smattering of DVO as though it was a real pleasure. Full
marks to the Duke!
1986 was also
memorable because DVO fought its way to the final of the CompassSport
Cup, and by just beating AIRE and South Yorkshire we won a handsome
trophy that goes with being TOP CLUB. We were also delighted to receive
two blue cube frame tents as prizes.
1987 saw us travel
to Witherslack to defend our trophy. This we did despite the rain
this time beating SYO, Happy Herts and Edinburgh Southern in the final.
A bit of quick negotiation changed our prize of 2 additional blue
cube tents to a larger finish tent.
1988 saw DVO again
organising a long distance footpath relay, This time it was based
around the White Cross Way using Ambergate as a base. One of the founder
members of DVO also left the area in 1988. Jenny Tennant left Derbyshire
for the south. Jenny's house on Blue Mountains was used as the base
for training runs for a number of years in the 70's. Jenny was also
planner for the Women's Relay for the World Championships when they
were held in Inverness in 1976. DVO also fielded 3 teams in the Harvester
Trophy, one of them an all women's team. Unfortunately DVO had to
hand over the Compass Sport Cup to SYO, although we again reached
the final for the fourth year in succession.
By 1989 DVO introduced
a planning competition for DVO members and also saw Eyam Moor used
for a badge event in the Autumn. While 1990 saw Chatsworth used again
for another badge event. It is believed that the string course may
well have had a record entry with around 150 participants.
1991 saw us organising
the JK in association with the rest of EMOA. Shining Cliff and Crich
Chase were used for one of the days which resulted in many complex
negotiations on bridge building, but eventually resulted in Tony Berwick's
bridge which successfully saw all the competitors across the Cromford
canal, as well as the A6, River Derwent and Matlock to Derby railway
(on more established bridges and crossings).
1992 saw about
20 members attending a French 5 day in the Landes south of Bordeaux.
You sometimes still see the yellow T-shirts with "Ne me suivez pas.
Je suis perdu". David Godfree was selected to compete in the World
Junior Champs in Finland, finishing 32d and top Brit in the Classic
race. Also in the junior area DVO's M 17 team of David, Alastair Buckley
and Ian Finlayson were 1st at the British and Scottish and 2nd at
the JK
1993 saw DVO co-host
Spring in the Peak with MDOC. A weekend's orienteering was Provided
by linking Chatsworth badge event with Crowden badge event. Both Kim
Buckley and David Godfree were selected for GB at the Junior World
Champs in Italy.
In 1994 DVO celebrated
the Silver Jubilee by holding a special dinner at the Devonshire Arms
in Beeley. A 25" anniversary event was also hold in Shining Cliff
woods using the original map. And boy was that tough, everyone who
finished deserved a medal! This year DVO provided 25% of the Junior
World Champs team bound for Poland, Kim Buckley, Alastair Buckley
and David Godfree.
1995 saw Steve
Kimberley introduce Bole Hill as a new area for the Club Champs. Kim
Buckley was selected for the British Squad for the Junior World Champs
in Denmark.
1996 saw several
members competing in a Swiss 6 day. With mark 2 of the T-shirt. Graham
Johnson, in his quest to rid himself of constant nominations for Sports
Personality of the Month exhorted the club "Do something thick in
'96". However, Graham does still maintain a habit of winning this
prestigious award. Also in February 96 we found that courses in Crich
Chase had to be replanned due to "anticipated hostilities" from the
IRA (Severn Trent concerned about the reservoir). Kim Buckley again
selected for the Junior World Championships, this tine in Rumania
(and also for the World Students Champs in Hungary).
1997 saw DVO involved
in organising the British Championships weekend. NOC's Clumber Park
was used for the individual and Chatsworth was successfully used to
stage the British Relays. Chris Godfree represented Britain at the
Junior World Championships in Belgium.
In 1999 DVO won
the lottery, or at least received a grant towards instructional videos,
books and other coaching materials. It also covered coaching fees
and computer hardware and software. DVO was also heavily involved
in the organisation of the World Champs in Scotland. Roles included
car parking, stewarding, security, drinks and team tents. It was also
possible to watch ex-DVO member Kim Buckley finish 21" in the Classic
Race.
In 2000 DVO has
continued to thrive. There has been more emphasis on ensuring that
permanent courses are available and that more coaching is available
to schools and juniors in particular.
