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The first Scatter of 2009 was capably organised by Dan Harrison and Russ Smith on 26th January. Starting and finishing at the cosy Hanging Gate pub on the edge of the Peak District gave us ready access to the Derbyshire hills and Staffordshire Moorlands with the more distant points at Hartington and near Dovedale including the classic Manifold valley with its infamous tunnel with plenty to keep both drivers and navigators busy. We were lucky to have an evening free of fog and ice, in view of the weather both before and after. All map references were spot-on although one sign might have disappeared on the night at one location! The clues were ‘well scattered’ and a variety of widely different routes were used.
An unusual feature was that the multi-point scoring locations were also multi-questions which in some cases involved a bit of walking around to locate the clues (eg at Hartington signal box car park). This seems a good idea as it is very frustrating sometimes to get to a multi-point location and be unable to find the answer to the single question – with this method you have more chances of finding at least some of the answers! Other organisers would do well to try to follow this approach provided the ‘walking about’ locations are chosen, as they were this time, to be safe and not cause any PR issues with the local inhabitants.
It was good to see some new faces taking part and enjoying themselves which bodes well for the rest of the season. Incidentally the local HRCR (Historic Rally Car Register) area group has decided to offer a special award to the best historic car crew over the KDMC Scatters later this year and in early 2010 so we may see more historics out on our Scatters in due course.
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