Posts Tagged ‘Camps’

This weekend some of the Scouts are on camp.
So far today, the Scouts have done their knife and axe and had a paddle in the stream.
As usual it’s raining and the Scouts are standing round poking the fire!
After lunch they will be making shelters to sleep in tonight.

Posted from the campsite!

The Scouts have recently completed a backpacking trip. They set out and hiked to their campsite, a farmer’s field, and then hiked back the following day.

This means that all who attended have now earned their Expedition Challenge badge!

More photos in the Gallery.

At this year’s Family Camp, I managed to video a few of the activities.

In the video you can see the camp site in the rain (just for a change), the Beavers and Cubs making their pirate equipment, the BBQ and finally the full camp fire.

The video lasts about 40 minutes and does take a moment or two to load when you click play, so please be patient!

There is a shorter version on YouTube – click here

On the weekend of 28th – 30th May the Group held its second Family Camp (our first was for our Centenary in 2008). This time we stayed at Barnswood Scout Camp, which is near to Rudyard Lake.

Everyone arrived on the Friday evening (the majority of families having put their tents up the previous nights) and we soon started the weekend’s programme. First was a walk around the campsite as many people had never visited Barnswood before. This was followed by one of Paul’s special wide games! After this chaos subsided, it was time for supper and bed – where did the evening go?

Explaining the Wide Game

Saturday morning brought the rain! After cooking breakfast for 105 people (the most we’ve ever had on a camp!), we split into two groups. The Scouts and their parents lit fires and did some pioneering, while the Beavers, Cubs and their parents went down to Rudyard to go on the Lake on Bell Boats. To say it rained a lot would be an understatement and we got wetter from the rain than the lake!

Bell Boating

After lunch the Scouts went on the lake and the Beavers and Cubs got themselves painted with pirate faces and learned how to make secret messages, how compasses work and made their own telescopes.

Creating Secret Messages

By this time the rain had stopped and we prepared the BBQ. The BBQ was a huge success and we must have cooked well over 150 burgers and sausages!

Men BBQing (Rachael supervising obviously)!

Then it was time for part 2 of the wide game, a general knowledge quiz with questions for both adults and children (can you name the Titanic’s sister ships and do you know which country Dora the Explorer comes from?) and of course a campfire. The camp fire saw fine performances from a group of the Beavers and one of the Scouts did a solo turn. The rain even held off for most of it and just came on at the end. Then time for supper and bed.

The Campfire

Sunday began a bit more leisurely and after breakfast and flag break we held a Scouts Own and then invested one of the Beavers.

Beaver Investiture

Then it was a few quick games and activities, then packing and tidying, lunch, more packing and tidying, the close of the camp and home!

More photos are in the gallery.

Most people I work with thought that going to camp in January was a mad idea, especially in the middle of the coldest winter for years, but just under thirty Scouts and Leaders arrived at the snow covered campsite on the Friday night. This was the largest number of Scouts on a Troop camp for years. Some slept in the Hut at Beaudesert and some had the luxury of a tent. The Hut had not been used for a while and was unheated which meant that everything inside was very cold and that took 24 hours to warm up.

At the start of the Camp we invested 4 Cubs into the Troop. Following this we got changed to suit the weather conditions and got set to play a wide game in the snow. Supper was served to warm everyone up ready for bed a little later than planned, but we slept in on Saturday morning. Breakfast was therefore late, but was necessary before our walk in the Woodland surrounding the Camp.

We got back in time for dinner and straight after we were out in the snow again to try some Initiative Exercises which are hard enough for the Scouts in summer, but in freezing conditions they were very hard, however the weather did not dampen the Scouts spirits and they did well completing most of them. The Troop then went and collected fire wood for the Campfire, which was followed by a Campfire sing-song led by one of the Young Leaders. After Tea we held a camp Awards Ceremony (with used jars and tins from tea as the awards) and then played 15-pin bowling which most of us were not very good at. It was then supper time again to warm us all up before bed. We all slept much better on the Saturday night and after a huge breakfast, the packing up of kit started and the Camp shop opened. We were then told we could use some sledges this kept the Scouts amused long enough for us to prepare dinner and after a quick clean up of the buildings it was time to leave.

For our newest Leader at the Troop, this was her first camp and we are all really proud of her for making this tough snowy weekend the first of many more to come.

More pictures are in the Gallery.

The Beavers arrived at 10.30am on the Saturday morning and luckily they had no problems getting there. All the Beavers were shown their bunks for the weekend and were given a chance, along with their parents to have a look around the building.

After a quick tour of the site and a juice break, it was right down to the first activity. This was a tracking signs walk organised by the Explorers around the site and despite the rain it was a fun walk. Once we got back it was time for dinner.

Next up, it was time to try some fire lighting. This was going to be difficult with all of the wet wood and the wind. But as true scouts we managed to get two out of three fires going and were able to cook our vegetable kebabs to perfection. By this time the sun was shining and the Beavers enjoyed having eating their food cooked on the open fires. After a quick tidy up it was back to the building for the next activity…

…Placemat making, lots of colouring and stickers, to make pictures showing what they had done at camp. The next part the Beavers were all really excited about, the trip to the shop, lots of sweets, chocolate and souvenirs to choose from.

Once the shopping was done, it was time to pitch some tents and once that was done they had some free time on the field.

Tea time, Spaghetti Bolognese followed by cake and custard. After tea it was time for a wide game, in the dark. The beavers loved going out in the dark with their torches looking for hidden CD’s. The fireworks were next and they were beautiful and the camp fire that the Beavers had all been practicing for was brilliant. We were joined by the Cubs from Porthill, Berryhill and Stafford, when it was over the Beavers were ready for Supper and then bed.

Sunday morning was a rush to get the Beavers up and washed, ready to have their full cooked breakfasts. After Breakfast it was time to get Uniforms on and to pack up all the Kit before the presentation of all of the badges and the prizes for the winning team from the wide game.

The rest of the photos are in the Gallery.