Adrian Barnes 1951 - 2020

​We are very sorry to report the death at 69 of Life Member and Coach Adrian Barnes.  Adrian never scaled the heights as a runner (I'm not sure he ever got out of the Slow Pack) but he was a world class orienteer.

He joined the club in 1975 and was soon encouraging youngsters to try the sport.  For a moderate runner to reach international standard he had to be a good navigator, and he was able to pass on his knowledge and experience to young runners - something realised by the authorities as he was appointed coach to the British Junior team.

Adrian was also very active in coaching youngsters within our club and was taking training groups onto the roads of Morpeth until late in 2019, before switching to assisting with the indoor group in the Chantry Shed.  He continued to compete at a high level both nationally and abroad as a Veteran and travelled to an event in Porto as recently as early last year.

He was also a prolific organiser of orienteering events in the north east, including the National Championships, which resulted in various Morpeth Harriers carrying out official tasks in remote parts of the Northumberland countryside.  Technically he was one of the leading orienteering course planners and mappers - an essential requirement for competitions.

In recent years he played a big part in organising an annual orienteering event for schoolchildren in the grounds of Wallington Hall - a promotion now ended due to the short-sightedness of the National Trust, rather like our Harrier League event.  Adrian also could always be relied on to play his part in organising other club events - track and field league fixtures, road races or cross country meetings.

He was a star in his own branch of sport, a reliable organiser, an encourager of young people and a thoroughly nice man.  We owe a lot to him and we will miss him.  We pass on our sympathies to Anna, and to the rest of his family who all live away from the area.