Peckforton Troop
SUMMER CAMP 2009 PDF Print E-mail
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Tuesday, 25 August 2009 00:00

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Towards the end of our Summer Camp by the Black Mountains in 2008 we decided that it would be a good idea to venture north again. This would be our first trip north (apart from Norway) in many years. The PL's agreed so we booked Hawkhirst Adventure Camp for July 2009.

26 scouts and 10 leaders travelled in two minibuses, a Landrover, a hire van and a car. We also took the canoe trailer and a freight trailer. The Explorers were camping at the same site as us in the same week but tehy travelled separately. The journey north was uneventful but showery. We had to set up camp on a rather soggy site during quite heavy showers, interspersed by midge attacks! Our camp site was great, good views of the lake and the hills beyond, nearby forest to forage for wood and a nearby toilet and shower block!

On Sunday we kicked off with Scouts Own and training bases. Older scouts went kayaking in the afternoon while others set up camp and started Camp Challenge - a series of individual challenges from scout skills to annoying leaders by telling them jokes!

The next couple of days were devoted to kayaking and an incident hike where Liam's group got a bit lost .... We had wide games in the evening which were good fun among the trees and soft ground. Not sure the risk assessment fully covered branches which stick out at eye level though. Meanwhile nine of the scouts were doing the BCU One Star and Two Star canoeing courses and all passed.

On Wednesday we tried our hand at crate stacking. Basically a team of four has to build a twin tower of bread crates up to 20 high while one person stands on them and is belayed off a high up horizontal pole. Jonny from Explorers had managed 20 high on the previous day so we just had to beat that! It wasn't long before Harry managed 21 although we had to bend the instructor's arm up her back in order to go one over the limit!

On Wednesday evening 11 scouts set off on an overnight expedition. They paddled a dragon boat to the opposite shore while Hawkhirst staff towed another boat loaded with hiking gear and tents behind their inflatable speedboat. They camped overnight and then hiked around Kielder Water back to the site the next day.

Meanwhile the rest of the troop went on a hike in the local hills on Thursday. Muzza had prepared the route and all started off fine until we hit the part that he had been unable to reconnoitre. We had to endure three miles of exteremely tough going, hidden streams that you disappeared up to your thighs in, heather that came up to your waist, long grass, bogs, marshes, quick-sand, arid deserts, snowy wastes and whirlpools. OK forget the last four but it took us over two hours to do three miles! Anyway everyone managed it with great aplomb, and it was with greater aplomb that Muzza took the ERIC (named after Eric Hulbert who could find all sorts of places to park minibuses) award from Brum (who had held the award for several years after another minibus incident).

Food throughout the week was excellent, thanks to Mowgli and Dips. Thursday evening was our annual special meal evening when the patrols choose their menu and all went well.

On Friday we had the chance to go sailing and all the scouts did. Most chose to try out Toppers, small single crew dinghies. I've never seen so many upside down boats in my life! The scouts either loved it or hated it - there seemed no in between. I chose to join Ark in the Wayfarer and stay dry. A few scouts also chose this option and it was excellent fun too. Ark was determined to stay dry until a squall blew up and he had to assist Naomi, the instructor, in rescuing the upside down boats strewn across Kielder Water. It was at this point that Naomi fell in love, we think it was Ark's Colin Firth like wet shirt that did it.

Friday night was our Big Camp Fire Night and we invited the Explorers to join us. We also invited around 1,258,496,321 midges to the Camp Fire. Well somebody must have done.

On Saturday we returned to midge-free Tarporley in bright sunshine all the way.

Brum

Camp Statistics:

First Aid incidents: One - Rikki (a leader) cut his thumb with a knife

No. of rain showers: 212

Average no. of midge bites per scout: 24

Rikki's snore decibel level: 96 (just less than a 747)

Estimation whist winner: Brum (who else?) (Editor's comment - Guess who wrote this!!)

Best map reader: Liam

Best newcomer sailor: Jordan

Best Patrol: Kestrels

Lowest temperature at night: 3C

Highest temperature at night: 3C
 
SUMMER CAMP 2008 PDF Print E-mail
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Monday, 25 August 2008 00:00

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This year we camped at Tregoyd, near Three Cocks, at the west side of the Black Mountains. We had an isolated field next to a stream. We cooked on wood, dammed the stream, climbed Lord Hereford's Knob (as you do), kayaked in and on the River Wye, climbed Pen-y-Fan (Brecon Beacons), went pony trekking, had seriously dangerous wide games (risk assessments notwithstanding), had three camp fires and went swimming at the local baths to clean up. The PL's, accompanied by Ben, went off on a two day hike walking Offa's Dyke and on the second day, after a ten mile stroll, caught the bus from Crickhowell to Brecon to meet us at the swimming baths.
The weather was 9/10 throughout and we packed up in dry conditions, amazing for summer of 2008! Overall verdict of this camp - excellent!
 
NORWAY 2007 - THE UNOFFICIAL REPORT PDF Print E-mail
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Saturday, 25 August 2007 00:00
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Following successful trips abroad to the Benelux countries in 2001 and the Netherlands in 2004 the PLC (patrol leaders' council) agreed that a repeat of our 1995 expedition to Norway would be a good idea.
Brum set about dusting down the 1995 expedition details and contacted all the previous contacts from 1995 to find only one was still involved in Scouting twelve years later. Numerous letters and e-mails to various Scouting organisations in Norway yielded no response. It took the efforts of Ark's son, Alex, who had a friend with a sister in Norway and Brum's wife, who has a cousin involved in Scouting in Reading, to eventually provide the contacts Brum desperately needed. It appears that Scouting in Norway is dwindling and so getting in touch with folk is now very tricky.
Brum also encountered lots of problems booking the ferry crossings as timing did not work out ideally initially. Fortunately DFDS revised their sailing plans based on 1st Tarporley's constructive criticism!
27 scouts and 15 leaders / helpers travelled in our two minibuses, two cars and an Adeva hire van for food, tents and travel bags. We also took a large trailer for hard-store gear and our canoe trailer with 14 kayaks.
We arrived in good time at Newcastle and went to a local beach to play games. A local girl taught several of the scouts how to do back-flips from the steep dunes and some other locals stole a scout's shoe!
We crossed the North Sea on the Queen of Scandinavia from North Shields to Stavanger in 21 hours arriving at 2030hrs. We were met by Stig. The scouts were disappointed that he was not wearing a helmet and learning Italian while driving. Anyway we are indebted to Stig for his help.
Our first "camp" was at Bryne Scout HQ in comparative luxury. We visited Preikestolen, a sheer outcrop with a 600m vertical drop into the Lysefjorden! Words cannot do the views justice. If you have never been, then start planning to go now as it is a life affirming experience! Brum thinks it's the Norwegian equivalent of the Grand Canyon.
Back at Bryne Scout HQ we got stuck (well our feet did, leaving carrot coloured footprints over Bryne Scout HQ floor) into a tummy upset that we brought from the UK. In all 13 scouts and leaders succumbed to 24 hours of misery, only enlivened by Mowgli's resilient, robust and practical approach to dealing with the potential problem of minibus vomit - drive the Adeva van! Credit to the scouts involved as all managed (just) to exit the minibus before depositing their breakfast on the Norwegian tarmac and a few passing cars.
Our second camp was by the side of Vestre Grimmevan Lake near Lillesand. It was a tight camp site but cosy. We were able to get the kayaks out and enjoy the glorious views while canoeing. We saw moose, beavers, otters and ospreys. Just kidding! The noise our lot made, the local critters immediately made a bee-line for Sweden! We celebrated our second camp in Lillesand with Åse by holding a barbecue to which Lillesand Scouts (all girls!) and a party of German Scout leaders were invited. We enrolled Åse into our Troop as she has been such a help in forming our plans in 1995 and 2007. She is now officially 1st Tarporley Speideren Assistant Leader!
The PL's were scheduled to camp on an island overnight but failed to overcome the complexity of some rather old ridge tents they were given and paddled back to base rather disappointed. Most of the troop embarked on an afternoon hike in the local bush and were the only English signatories in a visitor's book held at the highest point in the locality. The APL's spent an enjoyable afternoon canoeing on the lake in windy but bright conditions.
Brum, his sons and Jaws visited Cissel and Alf in Lillesand for an evening meal. Cissel and Alf's son Asle joined us from Oslo. It was good to see them again and chat over old times - like when Asle played for the Cubs football team in Tarporley! Sadly we also chatted about numerous friends in common, now no longer with us.
We spent two days travelling through the heart of Norway via the beautiful Sedestal valley, stopping overnight in Haukeligrend which specialises in icy cold showers followed by an overnight frost! We saw plenty of snow but were unable to stop and roll in it due to extensive roadworks at 3000ft elevation and traffic convoys in operation! We did stop at the Latte Foss waterfall where two torrential waterfalls (water, not coffee) meet side by side. We also travelled through the Hardanger Fiord area, dramatic even though cloaked in a low cloud.
Our last camp site was on the island of Meland near Bergen. It had rained for most of July before we arrived which was why Brum got the minibus up to its axle in mud - as you do! A local farmer pulled us out with his tractor. The local scouts had arranged to transport our gear by boats, which involved one small boat tugging two others - 2 x 4km trips required! We nearly lost our tents when the third boat overtook the other two! Meanwhile Brum and other stalwart leaders and scouts were erecting our tents in miserable, dark, windy, wet conditions, squelching in the mud. Brum was really impressed by the fortitude shown by all concerned - when the going gets tough the tough get going. Never more true. Anyway we managed to get a brew going just as the other leaders turned up from their boating manoeuvres.
The scouts enjoyed a day visit to Bergen and a trip up the funicular to see the panoramic sights of Bergen and to visit the wonderfully clean toilets at the top and all for 10 Krone between a whole troop! That works out at approximately 3p per person per deposit, marvellous value! Subsequent reports in local papers of sewerage problems in Bergen were grossly exaggerated in Brum's opinion.
On 1st August at 0800hrs (0900hrs Norway time) we should have celebrated 100 years of Scouting but with a lowering sky and shivering scouts Brum decided that packing up camp was more important and we efficiently trans-located to a local school. And what a school! The sports hall looked like something out of an Ideal Homes Exhibition, all pine and shine. The swimming bath was excellent too. This was just what the scouts needed while local temperatures were the same on 1st August 2007 at 1200hrs as they were on more than one day in January 2007! We like to take the good weather with us!
In the evening we celebrated 100 years of Scouting with a barbecue with the local Scouts, followed by Gillian's visually challenged but excellent tasting cakes! Our sincere thanks go to Gillian who organised our three very memorable days stay in Frekhaug near Bergen.
We packed up and caught the ferry back to North Shields with a subdued troop catching up on sleep on the ferry. A quick visit to Kentucky Fried Chicken at the motorway services on the way home revived spirits and we got back to Tarporley five minutes late!
Acknowledgements:
In Norway, "Tack" goes to:
  • Stig
  • Åse
  • Gillian
Leaders / Helpers:
  • Rikki - excellent catering at budget prices; tinned hamburgers a speciality, not
  • Ark - catering support, minibus preparation and Gillian organiser
  • Muzza - First Aid (tick remover supremo) and SatNav man
  • Mowgli - anti-puke-man and undisputed winner of loading Adeva van competition
  • Jaws - how to shower in fifteen, easy to learn stages
  • Kaa - keeping scouts on straight and narrow, but failed with Midge
  • Laurel - video man
  • Wontola - canoeing man
  • Rob - kept them brews coming, five a side winning team captain
  • Midge - joint winner of longest and most tousled hair award, outright winner of hang-over competition
  • Jonny - easy winner of most tired looking award
  • Adam - won mini Mowgli award
  • Hamish - won mini Muzza award
  • Ed - joint winner of longest and most tousled hair award, and won everything else
  • Brum - uneasy winner of how to cope with diarrhoea in the bush award
PL's:
  1. Adam - won best patrol at camp award for 2007
  2. Aidan - excellent performance at the muddy camp-site in difficult conditions
  3. Ben - excellent leadership skills demonstrated
  4. Ollie - maintained sense of humour throughout camp (only person who did)
  5. Mike - quietly and admirably got on with the noisiest, most lively patrol!
Not at camp:
  1. Dave S - minibus preparation
  2. Penny (Akela) - home contact
  3. Tarporley Garage - excellent service
  4. Adeva Van Hire - good rates
  5. Mrs Brum (Judith) - probably the best wife in the world
 
NETHERLANDS 2004 PDF Print E-mail
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Wednesday, 25 August 2004 00:00
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Following successful trips abroad to Norway in 1995 and the Benelux countries in 2001 we (the Patrol Leaders Council) decided that we would visit the Netherlands again in 2004. We agreed on black sweatshirts with an orange motif as additional wear when travelling etc. but the sweatshirt procurement manager managed to get us navy blue sweatshirts with an orange motif. Disappointed scouts were cheered up by the fact that the pin prick sized "holes" within the fleur-de-lys were in fact black.
24 scouts and 11 leaders travelled in our two minibuses and an Adeva hire van. We also took a leader's Ford Galaxy. We stopped off at the excellent Thorrington camp site near Colchester on the first night. We crossed the North Sea on the super fast catamaran ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland. It took only four hours to make the crossing.
Trying to keep four vehicles in convoy on a Bank Holiday weekend proved very difficult. The lead bus always seemed to manage to break away from the others and arrive at the camp site first, with hours to spare. For some reason it became known as the "Smug Bus" but to this day I do not know why.
Our first camp was near Zandvoort; the camp site was called Naaldenvelt. The site is on sandy ground among pine and deciduous trees. When we arrived it was bedlam as it was a Bank Holiday weekend in Holland. We visited the beach, visited Zandvoort town centre, hired bikes for a cycle tour of the local national park and held an excellent wide game in the large site grounds.
Our second camp was at Bieslandse Bos near Delft. We visited the ancient town of Delft, spent an afternoon constructing rafts from drums and pioneering poles, and spent another afternoon sailing our rafts on a nearby lake. We got a few strange looks from passers by when we transported our rafts on the minibus roof rack! The camp fire circle was excellent and we enjoyed a camp fire with fine sketches by all patrols.
The trip was over all too soon when we had to pack up and return on the same route home, via Thorrington.
Some facts:
  • We charged £250 per scout and were able to return £60 to each scout as our costs proved lower than budget.
  • The Sea Cat is a fast option and cheaper than an overnight crossing from Hull to Zeebrugge, but is a lot less fun.
  • The scouts were extremely well behaved throughout and got on well with each other.
  • Hiring bikes is good fun but avoid the one Vinnie had as the chain keeps coming off.
  • Stick to July for camping as the weather at Whit week is too unpredictable and too cold at night for my liking.
Brum (Peckforton Scout Leader)
Last Updated on Thursday, 25 November 2010 17:11
 
About Peckforton Troop PDF Print E-mail
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Thursday, 25 March 2004 00:00
1ST Tarporley (Peckforton) Scout Troop - named after a local castle this is currently the only scout troop in the group. The patrols are named Hawks, Kestrels, Stags, Wolves and Panthers. Names feature largely in this troop as we have a tradition of trying to make the names appropriate to the patrol in some way when scouts join the troop for the first time. For instance:
  1. If you put all Thomases into Hawks patrol then you can ask, "Is Tom a Hawk?" Tomahawk, get it? Oh never mind.
  2. We keep putting scouts of the same first name in the same patrol. We can muster patrols with up to four same names in. This ensures that nearly the whole patrol stops what it is doing when we shout, "JOSHUA!"
  3. We never put brothers in the same patrol for obvious reasons, but we do have a fine record of having lots of brothers in the troop. In 1987 we had more brothers (16) currently in the troop than non-brothers (14). Is this a record?
We also have a silly leaders' names theme, without really trying, e.g. Brum, Muzza, Jaws, Kaa, Laurel. None of your Skips and Rikki in this troop (although we do have a Mowgli)!
Brum is the leader, fine upstanding pillar of society that he is. Muzza is a wide upstanding pillar of society, addicted to SatNav. Mowgli, also addicted to SatNav, is also an assistant cub scout leader and fills in his spare time with running a football team or two. Jaws is a bit of a snappy character, likes to chew things over. Kaa can be a bit of a snake in the grass. Laurel is a hardy character. Ark was our GSL and, apart from a penchant for smacking his big toe with 7lb hammers and severing water mains with pick axes, is still a loyal server of the troop. Rikki stoically helps on camps - despite his sensible scout name - and runs web sites - probably owing to his spidery writing.
Our achievements are:
  • Maintaining the patrol system through thick and thin.
  • Traditional camps, cooking on wood (our pots and pans tend to catch fire though; we ought to try cooking on aluminium and steel a bit more often).
  • Going camping abroad every few years.
  • Painting the Forth Road Bridge every few years. (So you are reading this.)
  • Acting daft. Not sure if acting is the right word.
Our failures are:
  • Managing to spend nearly two weeks abroad without speaking a word of the local language. Well, who can speak Norwegian or Dutch?
  • Not admitting to be perfect