Summer Camp 2008
Camp Blog
The 10th’s Summer Camp this year will take place at the end
of August on land near Brecon in south
During the week we will be keeping a blog of our activities, which is below. We will try to keep the blog up to date as often as possible but if we don’t then please forgive us – we will be very busy enjoying ourselves as well!
Wednesday 27th August
Where has time gone??!! It’s Wednesday already and
it’s almost time to think about packing up and going home. Time flies
when you’re at
The Scouts had a lazy morning on site, with a full inspection and then some games on site. After lunch we started our survival exercise, which was slightly modified due to the weather. Despite the rain we still managed to prepare the rabbits, pigeons, ducks and chickens and get them cooked on fires in the woods. We also cooked hard boiled eggs, jacket potatoes and bananas which were lovely. The Scouts were disappointed that they weren’t allowed to build bivouacs and stay out overnight but the weather was definitely against us on that one.
Yesterday and today the Scouts have done two thirds of the activities that are laid on. The first is a hike in the hills, the second a trip to Big Pit and then caving, and the third group were air rifle shooting and then off to Llangorse rope centre for their aerial adventure course. All of these seem to go down well, and the stories of jumping in the water at the end of the caving are particularly worth asking about! The last of the activities are being done tomorrow, and then it would seem that camp is almost over once again.
Today the Explorers were on site. After getting wet and cold for the last three days they asked not to run the assault course, which is a bit of a surprise as they normally enjoy it. Having said that I can’t imagine it would have been enjoyable today as it was still quite damp and breezy. Instead they spent most of the day doing some clay pigeon shooting which went down very well. They also helped with some chores around the camp site, including clearing up the assault course, drying tents from their expedition and helping with the formal meal. This is the only time during camp that we all sit down together, in uniform, and have a proper meal together. It’s an interesting evening, and the culmination on an afternoon’s hard work for the leaders that cook the meal. This year we tried oven roasted pork with veg followed by an interesting concoction of apple and burnt custard. The pork was definitely a hit but we’re looking for a replacement pudding for 2009.
The weather seems to be on the turn and I’m still
hopeful that we might get some of the canvas down dry enough to be packed away
when we get back to
See you all on Saturday at 6pm.
Sunday 24th August
When we announced that we were camping in Brecon this summer, everybody told me that it would rain all week. Well, I can prove them all wrong. It hadn’t rained all week so far, we’ve had a few brighter spells and I’m sure that the sun even put in an appearance for a few hours yesterday and again this afternoon!
Yesterday we travelled to camp and other than a short hold-up on the M4 we got here with no problems. The Scouts made short work of setting up their areas and collecting wood for their fires. Unfortunately as we’ve had to change field the woods are a bit of a trek away so today we took everybody over in one go and made a super wood pile for everyone.
Today the Scouts had the delights of their first inspection, which despite a shower during breakfast still came out pretty well and all of the patrols made a good attempt. Inspection is an art in itself and never right on the first day! After a ploughman’s lunch we all rushed off to the woods to collect armfuls of fuel for the cooking fires. The Scouts aren’t overly keen on hard work so sometimes the leaders need to get involved to encourage them to do things. Later on this afternoon we ran the assault course – a shorter version than normal but just as wet and muddy as we normally make it. It was good to see the teams work together and some of the Scouts were particularly good at helping the younger members over the more difficult obstacles. During the afternoon we’ve also been roasting a lamb, which has taken about 7 hours to cook over the central camp fire. We ate the meat this evening, and after such a long slow cook the meat was lovely and tender.
The plan for tomorrow is a bit changeable at the moment as we’re waiting to see what the weather is like. If it’s dry then we’re doing our survival exercise, complete with preparing rabbits, ducks and chickens, building shelters and staying overnight in them. If it’s wet then we’ll stillbe preparing the animals but we’ll have to think of something else to do in the evening. One of the leaders has suggested a disco – I know that at least one of the Scouts has packed their best party shirt!!!
Thursday 21st August
Well, we’ve arrived! That is, the advanced party of leaders are now in situ at camp and the central tents are up. The site is a bit soggy after 3 weeks of near continuous rain but it’s drying out very quickly for us. We had more rain last night but since mid-morning today it’s been dry with long sunny spells which has given us a fantastic view of the hills all around us. The forecast for the rest of camp is still good, although we’ll have to make sure that the Scouts and Explorers pitch their tents properly as we’re due rain on Saturday night.
The leaders are now relaxing after a hard day at work pitching tents and digging pits. We’re celebrating James’ birthday which always falls at camp so the music is on, the party lights are going and the nibbles are laid out for later. Oh, and there’s a pint or two of beer somewhere ready to be drunk…
It wouldn’t be right of me not to mention the eventful trip that I had to camp last night and the embarrassment this morning. All land rover related! I was driving to camp last night and all the lights on the land rover went out. I’m sure you’ll appreciate my slightly scared reaction as you’re hurtling along at speed in a black land rover, in the rain, on an unlit road, with no lights. After waiting for the nice man from the AA to join me we worked out that the main light switch on the dashboard had given up. He fashioned together a fix to get me to camp and thanks to Paddocks’ next day service the part will be delivered tomorrow. When I got to camp last night I was feeling lazy and instead of parking at the farm house I pulled in to the verge on the track, only to feel the land rover slide sideways in to a drainage ditch. After having to be towed out this morning (to great amusement of the other leaders) the land rover is now well and truly in the dog house. Hopefully it’ll behave for the rest of camp.
Monday 18th August
Things are looking up! The weather forecasters have come through on their promise and it looks like the summer weather is about to return just in time for camp. The next 7 days looks to start a bit wet which means that the leaders will get wet setting up. After that it’s pretty much dry right through until the end of camp. I’m not saying that it’s going to be glorious all week but it looks to be much better than we’ve had so far this month!
Thursday 14th August
Well, camp is almost upon us! This must be the first time
that I’ve run summer camp and I’ve not been running around like the
proverbial fly trying to get the last minute bits and pieces sorted out.
It’s partly to do with the fact that I’m watching TV in a hotel in
the east end of
Camp will be another big one, with 26 Scouts, 16 Explorers and 11 adults to look after them. We’ll be making the best of the Brecon facilities, with activities such as caving, climbing, hill walking and swimming taking place away from camp. On site we will be running shooting, archery, survival skills, an assault course and the annual volleyball competition. Many exciting things will happen, but I predict one thing – I won’t win the volleyball.
Saturday 19th July
The
Summer Camp this year will take place at a camp site that is new to the 10th, and in an area that we haven’t used for summer camp. We’ve been to Brecon for many years for weekend camps, mainly staying indoors during the winter. This year we will be outdoors and it will be summer, and I’m working on booking the good weather!
The camp site is owned by some friends of ours so we will get the advantages of a few creature comforts that we’ve not had in the past. Things like a tap and a disposal point for the toilets are on the list of highlights. These might seem like basic necessities to you but at summer camp we’re used to travelling off site to collect water and digging a hole to empty the toilets.
The site also offers us a large woodland for building shelters and a second field for activities such as shooting, archery and games. We are close to the Brecon Beacons for walks and a climbing centre that we use regularly.
A few photos for you:
Last Updated: Saturday 19th July
2008