Eight Explorer scouts, led by three leaders in two parties went walking in the Breamish Valley between Hartside and Ingram, walking just over 10 miles from Hartside to the top of Brough Law and back. Although walking separately in ‘Terrain One’ (for safety reasons), the two groups did walk together for the start and end of the hike, and meet up for lunch and on top of Brough law which meant that everyone had a chance to meet and share stories of the day.

There were plenty of chances to enjoy the outdoors and see some wildlife, including plenty of birds and rabbits, a couple of deer and even an intact birds nest with eggs that we were lucky to come across by taking the ‘dead reckoning’ straight line route rather that following the track.

Some members of the party were extremely brave and overcame a morbid fear of cattle – which was just as well considering that a herd of them were standing astride the track we were walking along.

The views from Brough Law were fantastic and well worth the hike, which was made considerably more challenging for those Explorer Scouts (and Leaders) who chose to take their expedition rucksacks. Although sleeping bags, roll mats, stoves and gas weren’t needed for the day hike, it was useful practice for the coming expeditions.

The groups were very lucky with the weather. Despite a mainly overcast sky there wasn’t a drop of rain felt all day and the sun even made of couple of very brief appearances during the afternoon.

You can see a full selection of photographs in the Explorer Scout Picture Gallery, and watch an amusing video taking during lunch below.

From a planning perspective it was encouraging to see that everyone was able to manage a good ‘expedition pace’ during the day and it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. Well done to everybody who took part in what was a factastic day out.

 

 
This is all part of the planning for Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions, the practice for which is in early June and with the actual assessed expedition being in September.

Andrew (a member of Blaydon District’s Phoenix Explorer Scout Unit) and Rachael (a member of the Elvet Explorer Scout Unit in Durham City District) were both a great help – from preparing and helping with craft sessions, running bug hunt trails, building fires to helping tidy up amongst other things. They gave up their time despite being busy with school work and revision to help make the weekend a great success and it was very much appreciated.

Rachael and Andrew are members of the Blaydon District Young Leaders Unit, who help to lead Beaver Scout, Cub Scout and Scout sections in the District. Their volunteering is part of their Chief Scout’s and Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards.

After a five-minute discussion a game was agreed, and when asked “What are the rules?” the answers was “… There are none!“. After a few minutes to understand the objectives of the game  (“to be the last to be pulled out of the circle…“  ??), and to set a few safety rules, here’s the resulting carnage (flash video below)…

As the Leaders said at the time “We’d never have thought of that in a million years…”, but everyone seemed to enjoy it!

They had great fun exploring, taking texture rubbings, finding woodland creatures carved into trees and logs, finding different leaves and also collecting as many fir cones as they could in a minute. It was also an opportunity to invest one of our new Beaver Scouts.

One or two teams manage to get some water on the floor of the headquarters and one team struggled with instructions and had a very thin custard mix (until it was thickened using cornflakes).
Well done to the winning team of Peter and Stef who were first to complete the challenge, which was designed to show how expedition cooking should be relatively simple and quick.
Those taking part in a Duke of Edinburgh expedition’s later in the year will have a chance to put their new skills to the test!

The weather was typical for the time of year (April showers) but that didn’t dampen anybody’s spirits with 7 Explorer scouts and 3 leaders taking part. Unfortunately, Leader David was unable to attend camp having broken his arm the previous weekend while a bike ride with his Scout troop! A big thanks to leaders Ruth, Malcolm and Helen for running the weekend.

The party arrived at the camping barn around 7:30 PM on the Friday evening and quickly settled in. The barn, at East Applegate farm just west of Richmond, was described as ”rustic” and it was a good compromise between camping and youth hostelling and provided a great base for the weekend.

On the Friday evening Explorer Scouts prepared a route for Saturday’s hike, took part in the quizzes and chilled out playing games before lights out.

Following a cooked breakfast on the Saturday, everybody prepared for the day hike. It was a relatively easy lowland hike and gave everybody the opportunity to practice their navigation skills.

The day was a mixture of sunshine and showers and upon returning to the barn in the late afternoon, everyone sat outside for the spring sunshine before slowly drifting inside to clean up and help cook dinner.

Saturday evening saw everybody take part in a song writing challenge, penning new word to old tunes and then singing them to the rest of the group. As with the rest of the weekend the camping barn provide a good atmosphere for people to mix, have a laugh and joke and just relax.

After breakfast on the Sunday, preparing packed lunches and tidying the barn everybody headed to the town of Richmond for the “Richmond Challenge”. This was a cross between a treasure hunt and an escape and evasion game (a mix between Monopoly Run and Operation Sanctuary!)

Two teams were given a list of clues (including plenty of picture clues) which required them to find their way around Richmond to find answers. If teams were caught by leaders (were tagged, or had their picture taken) they lost points.

Both teams were caught twice and by lunchtime it was a very close competition but by the end of the afternoon the team of Andrew, Richard, James and Daniel were just about the winners.

Everybody appears to have had a good weekend despite the showers and everyone is now looking forward to the next camp.

Explorer Scouts Lucy, Jess and Stef were members of the cast and earned either their Performing Arts Activity Badge as new members of the cast or their Activity Plus Badge (Performing Arts) for those who’ve been in the show for a few years and who have improved their level of skill by the singing solos/duets or dancing. Peter, who was also a member of the cast has recently joined Phoenix ESU as their latest recruit. Also in the cast was Rebecca, who has been in the show for many years and who is an Assistant Cub Scout Leader with 1st Winlaton Scout Group.

There was also a considerable amount of help behind the scenes as well.

Explorer Scouts Andrew and Brandon received their Creative Arts Activity Badges for their role in helping to build and paint the scenery and also for helping with the ‘get-in’ and ‘get-out’ at the theatre (helping set the theatre up for the show and stripping it out afterwards), as well as joining the stage crew as ‘curtain runners’ (opening and closing the front of house curtains during the show).

Leaders David and Ruth were also involved in building scenery and as members of stage crew during show week, Leader Sarah was operating one of the spotlights during the shows and leader Helen was very heavily involved in making costumes for the show. Explorer Scout parent Dennis was also a great contribution both in terms of helping build scenery and as a member of the stage crew during the week of the show.

The show itself was attended by the 1st Winlaton Scout Troop on the opening Tuesay night and was widely acknowledged as one of the best Newcastle Gang Shows for many years.

Members of the District will have another chance to take part in Gang Show (either on stage or behind-the-scenes) later in the year when the Derwentside Gang Show takes place in November.

Blaydon District Family Camp is open to all members of Blaydon District along with their friends and family. Cubs, Scouts and Explorers are able to camp with their group however, Beavers must camp with their parents. All the information you need to know about this years camp can be found in the document at the bottom of this article.

For those who don’t know what you get up to at Family Camp, you can find out by taking a look in our image gallery from last year. There’s also a video which you can watch from Family Camp a few years ago.

Family Camp Letter 2012 (108.7 KiB)