Pathfinder Weekend
Our largest camp for sometime… 15 Scouts headed up to Lees Wood for a walking weekend. When I arrived, the site was already buzzing with Scouts from all over the District pitching tents on the difficult soil of Lees Wood, but all in very good spirits. Shortly the tents were up and the Scouts were being scouts. Hot dogs were cooked and with hot chocolate the evening passed quickly (for the leaders, the 17th Harrow had cooked a really nice stew!)
It was a slightly cold night, but Saturday morning came quick enough and the Scouts cooked their breakfasts. Each camp patrol had decided their own menus for the weekend and had gone shopping for it, making this quite interesting to watch as they endeavoured to cook for themselves, with the leaders just offering guidance rather than taking over.
After breakfast – and washing up – the Scouts made their lunches and prepared to leave. Ash’s group of older Scouts were walking from the campsite to Chalfont & Latimer, Ivor’s group were walking from Heronsgate to Lees Wood and David’s group were walking the reverse of Ash’s route – Chalfont & Latimer to Lees Wood. Alan (the driver for the day) walked with David until we met up with Ash then walked back to the bus.
The walk was quite pleasant and interesting. In David’s group, James “Dragons breath” Zoel manage to trip over his shoelaces (twice!) quite early on in the walk; this gave him quite a sore, grazed knee to deal with. As David’s group was walking along the Chess Valley Walk they heard a loud splashing sound – a small herd of longhorn cows were running alongside them along the River! David and Ash’s group met up and decided it was a suitable occasion for lunch. After lunch, we carried on with a short pause at Sarratt for a Coke and a comfort break.
Ivor’s group took a little longer to return to site – their navigation had led them to walk a large circle early on rather than following the route!
Once all were back on site, the evening meal was cooked. Later James “Dragon Breath” Zoel demonstrated his ability to keep a fire going; Oskar entertained us with imitations of many of Doctor Who’s cyber enemies; and Jamie demonstrated what happens if you put too much pine leaves on an open fire (slow burn, then whoomf!)
Sunday morning was at a much slower pace. The Scouts cooked their breakfasts, washed up and the leaders took the vehicles up to Phasels Wood. Today we would walk as a single group with 3 map readers to confirm directions, turns etc. Unfortunately the previous day’s efforts had depleted any energy and map reading skills – and as Leaders we found ourselves walking quite slowly (average speed of 2km/h!) and waiting near footpath junctions as the Scouts wandered off in the wrong direction. Luckily the weather was really nice for the time of year, so it wasn’t too bad. At Phasels we got in the bus and car and headed back.
On return to Lees Wood we found that Bruce had already dropped the Scouts tents for them, so there wasn’t much else to do (the other Troops had also long gone, so it was just the leaders tents to sort out. We loaded the Scout trailer (I loaded my bicycle trailer!) and we all headed for home.
It had been a weekend of two long, challenging hikes but the scouts had completed it. It had been a walk with a purpose – all those attended had planned the menu and the walks; they had then successfully shopped and cooked and completed the routes without any major hitches. It was an achievement that they should be proud of.
The Cycle weekend – As you Like It!!
We all met at the 8th/12th church and loaded the 8 Scout bicycles into the trailer and put two Leader’s bikes onto the roof (the third bike was already in Bruce’s car). Kit was loaded in, mobile phones handed over and we all set off.
This had been a challenge for Alan to organise; he’d had to move the date of the weekend, then find a new suitable cycling location and then a new Youth Hostel – but he’d managed it and we were heading to Alveston, just outside Stratford-upon-Avon.
We were given three dorm rooms – the boys were given 2B and not 2B (if you pardon the pun as it was actually 2A). The centre also had a large school party from Scotland staying overnight. We all settled down reasonably quickly, ready for the next morning.
Saturday’s breakfast was supplied by the Hostel, so once dispatched we could make our lunches and head off. We had hoped to cycle through a park, but the route was blocked by a very complex footpath gate, with quite high walls to stop the deer from jumping over – too high to lift the bicycles over. However, we could see the deer in the distance. The route itself was very picturesque as we cycled through very sleepy hamlets… Larkrise to Candleford could be easily filmed in these locations.
We had lunch by a village hall – all very peaceful. We had made good time in the morning, but we knew that some of the hills had posed a challenge for the younger scouts so we set off ready for the afternoon’s cycle. In the afternoon, we found a bridleway that was very muddy… nobody got away without getting mud on them, or their bikes.
We finished the cycle about 4pm – and surprisingly no punctures or bicycle repair problems! This gave the Scouts a couple of hours free before we started on making dinner. After dinner, the boys plotted the Sunday route and we asked them for ideas for the next term’s programme. We then let them make their own use for the evening… although the lack of sleep Friday night and a long day’s cycle had clearly worn most of them out.
Sunday was a shorter cycle. Before we could pack the minibus properly, we found that Anand’s bike had suffered a puncture. Because he had smaller wheels we didn’t have any spare inner tubes, so we had to hurriedly effect a repair (luckily it lasted the day) Soon we were ready to leave, and drove to the start of the cycle route – an old railway line that had been converted to a cycle route. This was a pleasant start to the day. We cycled past more open areas, and up and down one or two hills. We stopped to allow the scouts to catch up… Devash unfortunately forgot to break until it was too late and fell off – luckily, a big patch of nettles cushioned his landing! His arm (being bare) was thoroughly covered in nettle rash and it took several dock leaves to settle the itching!
The rest of the route was similar to Saturday – a few hills, but with some lovely views and past very sleepy hamlets. We finally got back to the bus and drove home. It had been a good weekend, and the boys had cycled well – with 27 miles on the Saturday and about 14 on the Sunday they’d certainly explored some of Stratford!
My thanks to Anand, Calum, Devash, Jamie, Matthew, Oskar, Rory and Sam for joining Alan, Bruce and myself on the cycle weekend.
Pictures will be found on www.magpieshchest.co.uk when I upload them (need to review them first) – including a small movie review of the cycle!
Design an Olympic 50p piece!
NOTE: THIS SITE IS NOT LINKED TO THE BBC BLUE PETER COMPETITION IN ANYWAY. THE BONUS POINTS LISTED BELOW APPLY ONLY TO SCOUTS IN THE 8th/12th HARROW AND 19th HARROW SCOUT TROOPS.
TO ENTER THE BLUE PETER COMPETITION, FOLLOW THE LINK. ENTRIES POSTED HERE WILL NOT BE PASSED ONTO BLUE PETER.
(image from BBC / CBBC / Blue Peter website)
This should be a really fun challenge! The TV programme Blue Peter has set a challenge – design the Tails side of a 50p piece to celebrate the Olympics coming to London in 2012. This will be the first time that such a competition has been run, so the successful winner could see their coin pressed into circulation!
The deadline for the competition is the 2nd March. All rules, information etc can be found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/central/getinvolved/index_competitions.shtml
BUT… FOR TWO LEFT WELLIES BONUS PATROL POINTS:
Even if you don’t enter the Blue Peter competition, if you can present your design to Ivor or David before the 2nd March, you will gain valuable Bonus points for your Patrol – which may lead to your Patrol getting the trip to MacDonalds!
Thinking caps on!
The Weekly challenge – week starting 12 January
As last weeks challenge was quite easy (bringing a pencil) – this weeks is more challenging for you.
At the end of your scarf, you must tie the friendship or Cross knot. It’s useful to know this simple knot as it means that when we go to camp and you lose your woggle, you wont lose your scarf also.
For those who find this knot difficult, below is a picture of how to tie it – and instructions can be found at: http://whatknot.tripod.com/knots/10knot.htm
Good luck!
Tidying up and finding things
Over the Christmas break I decided to go through the many books on the shelf and found a few puzzle books. What I may do (and I’ll check with Ivor) is that I may include additional bonus Patrol points for solving the online challenges as well!
Here’s a starter – for fun, no points:
Can you move from RED to BLUE by adding, removing or changing one letter at a time (*each time making a proper word)? How many steps does it take you?
