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.
