Trip reports
BIRDRACE
Saturday, 10 January 2009
The format was to divide into teams and whilst staying within the Wigan boundary, to identify as many birds as possible within a specified time. The three team leaders were Neil Martin, Allan Rimmer and Jimmy Meadows. Jimmy and Allan were considered to have a distinct advantage with a depth of local knowledge.
The teams visited a range of local sites including Pennington, Wigan Flashes, Haigh, Gidlow Cemetry, Whitley Reservoir, Worthington Lakes, The River Douglas and Bradley.
The finishing line was the Boars Head at Standish, which unknown to all team leaders had road works outside, and with time penalties available for late arrival, resulted in the last team arriving with 15 seconds to spare.
As the teams gathered to enjoy a hot drink and cakes, the marking began. To make the event a little different each bird had been awarded a number of points between 1 and 7. Coupled with this were bonus points for only travelling a short distance. The aim of this was to provide an equal playing field for all teams. A case of tactics could defeat sheer volume.
The winning score was 126 points with 58 birds (although they did travel the most - 28 miles).
By Neil Martin
Library Photograph: Drake teal