Bill Adams was DC of Romford District between 1971 and 1982. The Bill Adams Trophy is presented to the Scout Patrol that wins the District Orienteering competition. The trophy was contested 25 times between 1982 and 2006.
From the late 1980's through to 2004 the event took place in Epping Forest alternating the start between Chingford Plain and Staples Hill, Loughton. In 2005 the Romford Event was combined with a county event that took place on Chingford Plain and the Bill Adams Trophy was presented to the top team from Romford which happened to be the 2nd placed team from GLNE.
In 2006 the Orienteering competition was run in South Weald Country Park as the second day of the Barton Challenge event however it was also open to teams that didn't take part in the full Barton Challenge. In 2007 neither the Barton Challenge or the Orienteering took place and the Orienteering event didn't restart until 2010 when it continued in its original format as its own event now running at Eastbrookend Country Park. After a few years it was decided by the District Scout Sub that the relatively flat landscape of Eastbrookend wasn't diverse enough for a thorough navigation test, so the event was moved to Thorndon Country Park for 2014 and then South Weald for 2015. South Weald offers the mix of woodland, open manicured lawns, and scrubland. It has areas where navigation is defined by paths, others where it is defined by contours and water courses as well as open ground navigation.
In 2020 the Orienteering competition became the last district event to take place before all face-to-face Scouting paused due to the global Covid 19 pandemic. In 2021 it was skipped for that same reason with the 2022 event being this first post pandemic district event for Scouts. |