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In the latter part of 1969, when orienteering was still in the early days but
growing fast, South Ribble O.C. was considered too remote to serve the interests
of its members in the Lake District. As a result of this, a Northern
Section was formed consisting of 7 members.
On the 29th June 1970, these 7 members of SROC (Northern Section) formed
Lakeland Orienteering Club, with the best wishes of SROC, and a generous
donation of £5. The chairman of the newly formed club was Mike Kelly,
with Brian Barden as Treasurer and Chris Wright as Secretary. Full
membership to the club cost £1, and this included your BOF membership too!
It would appear that the first LOC Annual General Meeting was held on 12th
January 1971, and the functions of LOC were outlined thus:
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1.
To have competitive orienteers to achieve results
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2.
Plan and organise events to Scandinavian standards
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3.
Social gathering of like-minded outdoorsmen to have fun
As there were no women in the club in these early days, most of the articles
and activities were very biased towards a men-only sport. (thank goodness
that changed!!)
The first club colours were easy to remember - black! The main object
in the early days of 'O' was to try and blend in with your surroundings - this
idea has now ceased and it seems that the more bright and obvious your club
colours, the better!
The first event staged by LOC was at Tarn Hows.
Tragedy was not long in coming to LOC, with Bryn Jones (one of the founding
seven members) dying in a snow gully in the Cairngorms on April 1st 1971.
Bryn was the Principal Lecturer in Outdoor Pursuits at Ambleside College, and he
died whilst taking a serious risk in order to prevent further injuries to one of
his students. An obituary was printed in Compass-Sport.
In July 1971, an LOC report described how the first year of the new club had
gone.
Within a year the membership had grown to about 40 (presumably some
women). Twelve events were entered in the first 6 months - LOC had won the
team prize on 6 occasions, Brian Barden had won 4 events, Mike Kelly 3 event
wins and 4 second places, and Bryn Jones had 2 victories.
Three significant events were staged during the first year, and were
'universally acclaimed and set new standards in mapping and organisation'
Regular meetings were treated as social events (no committee considered
necessary) and about 100 attended the first annual dinner dance (with
entertainment).
In short - the Club's 'Functions' were quickly, and most effectively, achieved.
Fund-raising was a major part of the sport in the early days, and on
11th January 1972, Mick McGill (one of the founder members of LOC) organised a four-event special. It started
with a 3-mile run, then a swim in Grasmere, a fell-run up Wansfell, and finally
drinking pints on beer with a table-spoon. It is not recorded how many
took part, and they raised the princely sum of £10. Even in those days, a
swim in Grasmere in January must have been worth more than that!!
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