PICTURE GALLERY

Well, camp started with a bang this year, quite literally – somewhere down the M4, just past Swindon, when a trailer tyre burst! This added about 3 hours to our journey time and the scouts were starting to worry that they would miss the quad biking that we had booked, but we made it – just. The highlight of the incident was having the police stop the traffic on the M4 with a rolling road block to get us back on the road.

Sunday was a much quieter day on the site, a local scout groups own hut and piece of land. This had the bonus of a proper kitchen, flushing toilets and even showers (and event though a bit rough and ready much better than we normally have), although there was the disadvantage of the smell of the cess pit that grew during the week. There was also a stream through the middle of the site for the scouts to play and build dams in and we built a pioneering bridge across it that the Scouts then had the rest of the week to use, amazingly with nobody falling off.

Monday was an early rise and a full day as we went Canadian canoeing on the river Wye all day. We were dropped at a place called “Hole in the Wall” and we had 14 miles of downstream paddling back to the base at Kerne Bridge. The people we hired the boats off put the fear of God into us with their talk on the dangers of the river but it was actually a very pleasant and scenic paddle, with all the scouts doing really well. At the end the man was very pleased with us and he said that the kids had been a credit to their group.

Tuesday morning was the caving trip and some of us cycled there as it was only about three miles. The problem was it was three miles uphill, which meant we were late, which meant the lady there wasn’t too pleased ! Still, we had a great trip and crawled through some very small gaps – even Martin made it through! We also had a visit from Don and Olive and it was great to see them at a summer camp again.

Wednesday we got the Scouts and Explorers out on their hikes, while the Networks went on a day trip to Cardiff. Of course this was the day it decided to really rain so they all got a bit damp. However, when Catherine and I met the groups along their routes they all seemed in good spirits. When we arrived later at the site the scouts were staying overnight (to pay for them) it was great to see them already there, busy putting up tents. By the time we left they had got the kettle on and had acquired some milk from the site owner for a cup of tea. Later that evening we had a call from some fed up Networks who had found out that their train had been cancelled and they were stuck in Cardiff waiting for a bus replacement that didn’t get them in till after 1am - shame.

On Thursday the Scouts and Explorers were still out on their hikes in the morning and that gave the adults the chance to catch up on the paperwork and the shopping. By lunch time two groups had returned but one scout group was still out. After lunch we launched a search mission and found them about two miles out, on the right route but a bit slow. Martin and Stephen relieved them of some of their heavier kit and they were soon back. That evening we had a birthday party, as we had a total of five birthdays during the camp – Gemma P, Geraldine, Kurtis, Catherine and Daniel.

The party consisted of a number of old style party games all organised by Gemma T and ended with a limbo competition. There was also a cake that had been made and iced / decorated at camp by various people. During the wide game that night accident prone Geraldine fell over a tree stump and landed awkwardly on her arm, which was tender and had swollen up. The next morning it was off to hospital and they put it in a sling, saying there might be a hairline fracture and to get it checked out when she got home.

On Friday we did an all day bike ride. The other girls seemed jealous of the attention Geraldine was getting and during the day most of them had a mishap! We had taken a lot of bikes with us, hired a further five bikes and did a circular route through the forest. We had a minor early crash when Peter came off and hurt his knee but he was quickly up and off again after a bit of TLC. Just before lunch it was Sarah’s turn to have an accident, falling off right into a patch of stinging nettles. Then it was the lunch stop, with Lesley, Alan and Doris appearing with the food and then a game of football, during which Joseph caught Gemma P on the shin and left her with a big lump and nasty bruise. Then we were off again and soon had a much more spectacular crash when Keetha lost control on a downhill section of gravel path and bounced along using various bits of her body! Luckily this was near the end so I dashed off to get the van while Catherine and Jan administered first aid to her.

Saturday was much more sedate, with a bit of a lie in, followed by the dreaded full kit inspection and then a trip on the steam railway that had a station just yards from our campsite. We managed to get passes for two people to go on the footplate of the engine and Nowras and Martin were the lucky winners. A retail opportunity in the local town of Lydney followed (although it has to be said this was a very limited opportunity) and then back on the train and home. That night we had a camp fire with each of the three “Watches” doing two stunts and a good time was had by all.

Sunday was pack up and go day. We were very pleased to see the sun that morning, as the week had been showery and damp, but we managed to get the tents down dry. I was very pleased with how everybody worked and didn’t really have to chase anyone at all. The journey back was totally uneventful and all was packed away by about 4.30pm.

It was a great camp and we managed to pack in loads of different activities which I think the scouts really enjoyed. We used the watch system which has an adult, then older explorers and then scouts working together and this worked really well. Thanks to Lesley and Jan for sorting the catering, thanks to Catherine and Stephen S for their work as duty officers (and Catherines first aid work over the week!), to all the watch officers and watch leaders for all their work (you know who you are). Also to Richard, Alan and Doris for their help and to all the Scouts for their good behaviour, enthusiasm and the ability to make us all smile. All in all a great camp!

Mark T.