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News Archive |
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Docklands Water Activities Camp – 22nd-24th June 2007 51 people attended the camp at the Docklands Scout Project situated in the West India Dock at the base of Canary Wharf and opposite the London Dome. During the weekend, we all stayed onboard the Lord Amory which is a specially fitted out ex-pilot cutter ship.
The activities during the weekend included sailing, Canadian canoeing, rowing boat races and powerboat training. Also during the weekend, some of the older members of the troop and explorers passed their British Canoe Union 2 star award (Well Done to all who passed!)
Everyone had a good time on the water and were able to improve their boating skills. We are hoping to do a similar camp again in a couple of years. |
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Summer Camp 2007 — Drum Hill, Derbyshire
This year’s Summer Camp was held at Drum Hill Camp site situated just north of Derby.
We arrived at midday on Saturday after a relatively easy journey and, after a quick lunch we began setting up the camp whilst the weather was still reasonable (not raining).
We were lucky as we managed to get most of the tents erected before the drizzle started!
Sunday got off to a good start, with a full cooked English breakfast. We then split into our activity groups and began the day’s activities, which started with Abseiling, Archery and the low ropes. Some people even managed to abseil down the wall upside down!! I am still not sure if this was intentional or not?!
The afternoon’s activities consisted of rifle shooting, bouldering and orienteering. The bouldering proved to be a lot harder than it looked, with only a handful of people completing the course (including leaders). Most people fell off after the first wall. Again, we were lucky with the weather as it stayed dry all day until the evening, when it started to drizzle.
Thankfully the rain stopped by Monday morning. We then set about cutting up a tree that had fallen down, and splitting it up with axes. Once we had finished we had enough fire wood to last the whole week. The rest of the morning was spent building a swing boat pioneering project.
Then, in the afternoon we all headed off to Waterworld. This is a huge water park full of waterslides and shoots. Everyone got a good soaking.
After the usual cooked breakfast, Tuesday saw the start of the survival challenge day. The Scouts in their duty patrols had to carry out various tasks from face painting to fire lighting. The patrols were awarded money (Derbyshire Dimes) depending upon how well they performed these tasks. With the money they earned throughout the day the patrols had to purchase their food and equipment to survive the day, including equipment to build their bivouacs that they had to sleep in over night.
Scott and Mark ran the shop and they could sell ice to the Eskimos; they even persuaded Laura’s Patrol to part with their hard earned money to buy knifes and forks when they were told they were having soup for dinner!!!!
The day was a good laugh and the patrols proved to be very successful, all earning enough money to buy the deluxe dinner option. The day concluded with all the patrols cooking their own dinners on open fires and then sleeping overnight in their bivouacs.
Wednesday was a busy day. We set off to Matlock Bath where we had a day full of caving, climbing on the Black Rock and a treasure hunt round Matlock.
The caving was great, what started off as a gentle walk through some caves ended up with us crawling through tiny gaps and holes on our bellies. This was easier for some than others – no names.
The climbing too started off quite easy with us learning some basic climbing techniques which included climbing without using our hands. Some of us where better than others (isn’t that right Ellie!!!). We ended the climbing session with a huge abseil off the top of the rock.
The weather by now was really nice although a bit breezy.
Thursday morning saw the Scouts go swimming at a local pool whilst the Explorers went off Go-karting. Sam McDonald proved to be a speed demon on the karts, whilst Jordan thought it was “Driving Miss Daisy”.
In the afternoon we had our traditional Scout v Leaders rounders match. The Leaders won (as usual). Hopefully the Scouts will practise their catching skills for next year so we can have a closer match. Also, hopefully the Leaders won’t cheat so much (as if!!). No matter what the score was, we all had a laugh and the weather was fantastic sunshine.
We had an early start on Friday with us all heading off for a day out at Alton Towers. The weather again was glorious sunshine, and lovely and hot, perfect for the day out. Once at Alton Towers, the fun really began. We had a full day riding all the rollercoasters and watching the attractions.
When we returned to camp, where it was time for our evening banquet and presentations. The “Best Patrol” was awarded to Scott Spilsbury’s patrol. The “Most Improved Scout” went to Ruth “Struth” Beeley and the coveted “Kipper of the Week” was awarded to Laura Geraghty for her buying skills during the Survival Day. Congratulations to them all.
It just leaves me to say thank you to everyone who helped run the camp and thank you to everyone who attended.
Phil Scout Leader
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