Course Building

A Case Study – Cumwhinton Horse Trials, Cumbria, North of England

Water complexes Crocodile Lake – Fence 10
Situated at the lowest point of the cross-country course this fence featured carved boats for elements a, and d, and a 12' crocodile, menacingly placed in the centre of the pond. With a down hill run into the complex to a drop in to the water, competitors required good control and balance before taking approximately 7 strides on a turn, and exiting up a step followed by 1 stride to the second boat.  At 42m x 25m the construction of this water complex required over 500 tonnes of graded stone, a butyl liner with geotextile covers, 14m of revetting and sympathetic landscaping.

Approximate building time: 12 days over 2 months, one year in advance of the event date.

Landscaping projects 4X4 - Fence 4
At some venues there are few natural features to provide the basis of a challenging fence at the right point on the course.  It is therefore necessary to change the landform and make an obstacle, on or around which, a portable or fixed a fence can be built to provide the necessary challenge.  The 4X4 Fence illustrated above was designed to display Landrover vehicles, and required over 300 tonnes of waste soil from a nearby housing development, this was then shaped into two mounds of differing sizes, and covered with top soil and sown with a hard wearing grass seed mixture.  On the top of these mounds were placed a series of hanging logs to make a testing first combination as early as fence 4 but a fence sympathetically sited on the edge of the field and off a straight line from fence 3.

Structures The Gazebo – Fence 9
Designed as a feature fence at the centre of the course, this fence incorporated 3 portable park seats.  The Novice chair was sited inside the gazebo and the gazebo itself located off a right turn, with a small drop on landing and with a left turn down hill to the water complex. 

The construction of this fence included an impressive cedar shingle roof and the fence was dressed using honeysuckle climbers, planters filled with bergonias, and young cypress trees, and Scots Pine tops.

Approximate building time: 5.5 days for the gazebo plus 3 days for the park seats.

Resources
Wherever possible we source all our timber from local suppliers and are particularly pleased to be associated with John Richardson, Timber Merchants of Penrith. The timber used to make the vast majority of our fences is graded to EN519 STANDARD C16 TO C24 and these timbers are kiln dried and treated with Tanalith E wood preservative. On occasion wet timber (greater than 20% moisture content) is acquired but this is usually stored and allowed to dry naturally before installation into a course.

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a Bampton Hall, Bampton, Penrith, Cumbria. CA10 2RQ