200 lycra, parka and sweatband clad orienteering enthusiasts from all over England spread out across Westover, sometimes at breakneck speed, in mad quest for small orange and white markers indicating the key points on their makeshift racetrack created as it was from amidst the historic backdrop of Bridgwater. The Quantock Orienteerers were in town.

But not just the Quantock ones, enthusiasts from everywhere. One lady, casually eating a fruit and yogurt compot from a tupperware container, said she’d travelled down from Berkshire. Another from London said it was her first time here and she was pleasantly surprised and would come again.

It wasn’t so easy to pin the rest down as they scurried around the town like manic  tracksuited pacmen seemingly pulled hither and thither by the magnetic nodal points that beguiled them so.

There were of course several options. The disorientated fanatics headed off competitively to the far flung corners of the town on expertly planned and knowledgeably challenging points. The more casual first timers bimbled off gently on the ‘tourist’ option – armed with specialist maps -sponsored by the Town Council.

This was the option that Westover ward councillors took.

To get a feel for the route – click on the gallery below to follow Councillor Kath on her quest for Westover’s hidden gems.