Scouts or Parents - E-mail your comments and/or version of events for the walking weekend to Marplescouts@yahoo.co.uk |
Friday evening :~ We met up at 6:30 at the HQ, although some goody-goody scouts came earlier! The route cards were only supposed to take half an hour to prepare. Somehow it took us two hours, still, we got the journey under way at 8:30 ish. Started off with classical music on the radio, to the scouts' disgust! With all of the signs confiscated from them in the first 5 minutes, the journey was relatively uneventful. A big-Mac meal followed superb navigation by the leaders that kept us on the right track. The journey took way too long (Probably because Pie had rented the slowest Mini-bus around!) We got to the camp-site at 11:30, whilst it was lashing down with rain. The kind camp-warden allowed us usage of the barn as he didn't want us to disturb the other campers, this proved to save a lot of kit getting wet. The scouts were scared when stories of rats and cock-roaches were told. They hopped into bed and were quickly asleep (It only took them until 3 am!!!) Meanwhile the leaders played "Pass the Pigs" (Steev's Sprecks new camp game) in their half of the barn. Eventually the lights went out. The leaders decide to set the alarm for 6 o clock, no, ten to six to ensure a parking space the next day. Saturday:~ Ten to six came and went, as did six o'clock. The alarm was reset for seven-thirty, when, the scouts were advised they had half an hour to sort themselves out. Half an hour turned into two hours once more, but we still managed to get a parking space! Tins of "All Day Breakfast" ensured energy levels were high all day!. The group split into three to follow the official Scout POR. We got to the car park and set off in five minute intervals.......READ HOW EACH GROUP GOT ON.... GROUP 1 Who got lost and caught a taxi to get home first GROUP 2 Who got lost and were picked up from a faraway hotel GROUP 3 Who turned the wrong way at the start, BUT finished the course Finally we were all safe and well and back at the campsite. We wrangled another night at the barn, as it was still raining really heavily. The scouts were glad of this, even though they said they thought it was a slum the first night. We all got to bed earlier after a hard days walking, but some persistent noise offenders were threatened with going out and putting a tent up in the rain at 1am in the morning. Soggy things were left around the room in the hope they would be dry by the next morning. They weren't. The lights went out and we all drifted off into a dream. Sunday:~ Woke up at a more leisurely time of nine o'clock, at least the leaders did. The scouts, on the other hand decided to stay in bed that little bit longer, so that they had to rush their breakfast. We packed up and left the comfort of the barn, a place we had left in better condition than it was in when we got there - in true Marple scout fashion. Set off for Bed Gelert. We were kept up to date on Ducky's progress in the Pokémon game by his cheers and screams of "Dodrio" and "Level 36, Tommy". We set off from Bed Gelert and the scouts failed to notice a "BRIDGE IS CLOSED" sign (The leaders, I might add, didn't), and so we set off along the river bank, walking about twenty minutes before the scouts realised that we couldn't, in fact, go any further along the path because the bridge was closed. Clever boys. We turned around and walked back to the start. We crossed the bridge there, and started again, this time on the right track. However, they also managed to not notice, or not take in, the sign saying "TUNNEL CLOSED" or words to that effect. We wandered again for thirty minutes down the riverside before, Shock Horror, the tunnels were closed. We had a choice. If a scout had said "Let's go to Conwy and eat ice-creams, fish and chips, and play on the arcades" we were more than happy to go. But, as it turned out, they would rather walk along some dodgy eight mile path so that they almost missed their lunch, and moan to the leaders about it. The remaining miles of the walk were spent running up the steep slopes, with the Togs' taking Gold, Silver and Bronze everytime, with Tom Ridgway an honourable fourth on a number of occasions, and in motivating the Cobden 4, who lagged behind. A sharp descent down what appeared to be a path, but surely couldn't have been took us back to Bed Gelert, via someone's back garden - though permission was granted for this right of way. Back in the mini-bus and on the way to Conwy, the scouts were entertained by the radio, though NikNak and Andy Thorpe dozed off in equally weird positions. In Conwy, we had a packet of Fish and Chips whilst being pestered by seagulls, who were also anxious for something to eat. Half an hour and an ice-cream later the mini-bus was chugging along the M56 back to Manchester. The transit van and mini-bus met for one last time at the scout hut to dump some equipment, and to collect kit ready to be picked up or dropped off. A hot bath was longed for by all, whilst it became apparent that homework was not one of the priorities on the scouts' list. Overall it was a fun weekend where the scouts learnt that an escape route and emergency contact is a necessity for walking, and that it's best to actually get some sleep on the first night. For those interested, Map-reading will now be perpetually on the Cobden programme, and next year, we'll all know where we're going. |
Camps |
The home of Scouting since 1908! |
Friday evening :~ We met up at 6:30 at the HQ, although some goody-goody scouts came earlier! The route cards were only supposed to take half an hour to prepare. Somehow it took us two hours, still, we got the journey under way at 8:30 ish. Started off with classical music on the radio, to the scouts' disgust! With all of the signs confiscated from them in the first 5 minutes, the journey was relatively uneventful. A big-Mac meal followed superb navigation by the leaders that kept us on the right track. The journey took way too long (Probably because Pie had rented the slowest Mini-bus around!) We got to the camp-site at 11:30, whilst it was lashing down with rain. The kind camp-warden allowed us usage of the barn as he didn't want us to disturb the other campers, this proved to save a lot of kit getting wet. The scouts were scared when stories of rats and cock-roaches were told. They hopped into bed and were quickly asleep (It only took them until 3 am!!!) Meanwhile the leaders played "Pass the Pigs" (Steev's Sprecks new camp game) in their half of the barn. Eventually the lights went out. The leaders decide to set the alarm for 6 o clock, no, ten to six to ensure a parking space the next day. Saturday:~ Ten to six came and went, as did six o'clock. The alarm was reset for seven-thirty, when, the scouts were advised they had half an hour to sort themselves out. Half an hour turned into two hours once more, but we still managed to get a parking space! Tins of "All Day Breakfast" ensured energy levels were high all day!. The group split into three to follow the official Scout POR. We got to the car park and set off in five minute intervals.......READ HOW EACH GROUP GOT ON.... GROUP 1 Who got lost and caught a taxi to get home first GROUP 2 Who got lost and were picked up from a faraway hotel GROUP 3 Who turned the wrong way at the start, BUT finished the course Finally we were all safe and well and back at the campsite. We wrangled another night at the barn, as it was still raining really heavily. The scouts were glad of this, even though they said they thought it was a slum the first night. We all got to bed earlier after a hard days walking, but some persistent noise offenders were threatened with going out and putting a tent up in the rain at 1am in the morning. Soggy things were left around the room in the hope they would be dry by the next morning. They weren't. The lights went out and we all drifted off into a dream. Sunday:~ Woke up at a more leisurely time of nine o'clock, at least the leaders did. The scouts, on the other hand decided to stay in bed that little bit longer, so that they had to rush their breakfast. We packed up and left the comfort of the barn, a place we had left in better condition than it was in when we got there - in true Marple scout fashion. Set off for Bed Gelert. We were kept up to date on Ducky's progress in the Pokémon game by his cheers and screams of "Dodrio" and "Level 36, Tommy". We set off from Bed Gelert and the scouts failed to notice a "BRIDGE IS CLOSED" sign (The leaders, I might add, didn't), and so we set off along the river bank, walking about twenty minutes before the scouts realised that we couldn't, in fact, go any further along the path because the bridge was closed. Clever boys. We turned around and walked back to the start. We crossed the bridge there, and started again, this time on the right track. However, they also managed to not notice, or not take in, the sign saying "TUNNEL CLOSED" or words to that effect. We wandered again for thirty minutes down the riverside before, Shock Horror, the tunnels were closed. We had a choice. If a scout had said "Let's go to Conwy and eat ice-creams, fish and chips, and play on the arcades" we were more than happy to go. But, as it turned out, they would rather walk along some dodgy eight mile path so that they almost missed their lunch, and moan to the leaders about it. The remaining miles of the walk were spent running up the steep slopes, with the Togs' taking Gold, Silver and Bronze everytime, with Tom Ridgway an honourable fourth on a number of occasions, and in motivating the Cobden 4, who lagged behind. A sharp descent down what appeared to be a path, but surely couldn't have been took us back to Bed Gelert, via someone's back garden - though permission was granted for this right of way. Back in the mini-bus and on the way to Conwy, the scouts were entertained by the radio, though NikNak and Andy Thorpe dozed off in equally weird positions. In Conwy, we had a packet of Fish and Chips whilst being pestered by seagulls, who were also anxious for something to eat. Half an hour and an ice-cream later the mini-bus was chugging along the M56 back to Manchester. The transit van and mini-bus met for one last time at the scout hut to dump some equipment, and to collect kit ready to be picked up or dropped off. A hot bath was longed for by all, whilst it became apparent that homework was not one of the priorities on the scouts' list. Overall it was a fun weekend where the scouts learnt that an escape route and emergency contact is a necessity for walking, and that it's best to actually get some sleep on the first night. For those interested, Map-reading will now be perpetually on the Cobden programme, and next year, we'll all know where we're going. |
Scouts or Parents - E-mail your comments and/or version of events for the walking weekend to Marplescouts@yahoo.co.uk |