Cycle Weekend – 8-10 April 2011 Tuesday, Apr 12 2011

We met at the 8th/12th Church on Friday. The group consisted of: Ash, Alan, Bruce, Dave, David, Sam, Anand, Matthew, Daniel, Oskar, Benedict, Tommy, James, Ahkmed, Fraser, Alec and Charlie. The journey down was surprisingly smooth with no holdups at all. We arrived at 1st Fordingbridge Scout headquarters and settled down for the evening.
Saturday morning came quickly enough, with Scouts in typical form – “no fighting. Not before breakfast”, being Ash’s comment! We had breakfast and got the bicycles ready and set off. We cycled through Fordingbridge and out into the New Forest Park. We confidently set off downhill along a gravel track and soon we reached a stream. Some of the Scouts attempted to cross the stream directly – a couple managed to cycle all the way through! Once on the other side, Alan realised that we had been following the wrong track… so we cycled back across the stream and back up the hill! Although the cycle tracks were of good standard, there was a lot of holes that caught some of the scouts out – by the end of the day we’d nearly run out of plasters in our First Aid kit! Being at the back of the group I didn’t see many of the spills – just the Scout lying on the ground. I did manage to see Daniel’s impressive spill – he was cycling downhill and his front wheel hit a pothole. He went over the handlebars and landed face down, the bicycle flipped over and landed square on his back. It looked horrific – but Daniel quickly stood up shouting “I’m alright!” and after a quick check we were also surprised that there were no cuts or scrapes either! The day itself was a lovely hot sunny one – so we did spend a while by the streams and open spaces enjoying the views and the distractions.

Back at the headquarters, we mended the two punctures that we had suffered and then Alan and David took eight Scouts off geocaching (there were two caches in the town). Back at the headquarters the Scouts settled down quickly – it had been a long day.

After breakfast on Sunday we set off again – this time to cycle through Verwood Forest. The weather was again hot and dry – and several of us found the going a little harder having spent so many hours yesterday in the saddle in the sun. Fortunately, no Scout added to the injury list today – but about 2/3 of the way into the cycle we found a very boggy path to work our way along. It was too sticky to cycle in – and as we walked the bikes along the wheels sunk down up to the axles. For a couple of Scouts this make things very difficult to navigate – and for one he had to sink his hands into the mud – up to his elbows – to retrieve his shoes that had come off!

Back at the Headquarters we quickly cleared up and set for home. Again I was surprised at the traffic flow – no hold-ups or problems and we were quickly back at Harrow.

The (very small selection of) pictures below reflect the weekend’s cycling:

Cycle Weekend April 2011, a set on Flickr.

A better slideshow of these images can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/frog101/sets/72157626357872783/show/

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Pathfinder Weekend report Monday, Oct 18 2010

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frog101/sets/72157625189608810/

Ivor and David met the first group at the Church, before driving round to the 19^th and picking up the last Scouts and all the camping equipment.   We then drove up to Lees Wood with just about enough light to get the tents up.

With a little struggling by the Scouts – and leaders wondering why the tents weren’t reaching the ground all the way round – the site was prepared.  The other members of the District (Vince estimated that there was about 60 present at the weekend) were setting up the tents, or exploring the site – or having a go on the Radio (this was also a weekend for Jamboree on the Internet – JOTI – and Jamboree over the air – JOTA).  It was nice to meet up with the boys that we had taken to Kandersteg, Switzerland as part of the District Contingent – and really pleasing that we could remember their names too!

Once our site was ready, we drove to Sainsbury’s so that the Scouts could buy the food for their menus.  This was quickly sorted and we returned to base.  Surprisingly for a first night, we settled down quite quickly and early.

Saturday morning was cold but pleasant – the boys cooked their breakfasts, made their lunches and we were ready to go quite early.  David drove the groups to their drop points; Ash and Alan were dropped at Coleshill (SU948953) and Ivor and Nandesh at Black Park (TQ005832) with a final destination of the Aquadrome at Rickmansworth (TQ056937).  Once dropped, David then drove between the two groups making sure all was OK.

The leaders walking with the groups hung back about 30 metres so the Scouts had to do all the work!

Fortunately, all was running to time and Alan and Ash’s group got to the Aquadrome for about 3:45pm; Ivor and Nandesh was about 30 minutes later.

Arriving back on site, the Scouts cooked their evening meals and washed up; they then listened in as contact was made with Scouts from aboard (Anand managed to make contact with a number of groups, including a group from Malta!)

 

Sunday morning quickly came round; the boys had to be pushed a little to make their breakfasts and cook all they had bought, but breakfast was sorted and with lunches packed both groups were dropped at the Aquadrome ready to walk back to Lees Wood.  Ash and Alan would use some of the Ebury Way before heading North to Croxley Green; Ivor and Nandesh headed through Rickmansworth to pick up the Chess Valley Walk.

Ash and Alan’s group had no problems on their walk and all went to plan.  Ivor however had a small challenge as for a short while the Scouts managed to evade them! Fortunately they were re-united and after a very brief lunch were able to walk onto site – although they still managed to take an unusual route to get to the base.

Back on site, the tents were dropped and the trailer was packed.  Because we were the only ones with a full programme on Sunday when we arrived back on site we were the only Scouts still there; it was a little surreal being the only Scouts on a huge field.  We drove back to the Cabin and after the tents had been hung to dry we let the Scouts go home.

 

It had been an interesting weekend, allowing the Scouts to demonstrate their map reading skills.  My thanks go to:

Ivor, Alan, Ash, Nandesh as Leaders

Anand, Aaron, Alec, Charlie, Frazer, James R., James Z., Nathan, Oskar and Steven

 

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Eurohike Flash Fuse II – a short review Monday, Aug 23 2010

I decided that I really wanted a small 2-man tent that I could put up quickly so that I could focus more time on helping my Scout Troop put up their tents – a traditional problem for a Scout Leader (if it takes too long, your own kit will get wet in the rain)

I had a Khyam tent in the past where everything was connected; I wondered if the newer “pop up” tents would be any better.  Fortunately, I noted that Millets had a sale on, so I was able to purchase the Eurohike Flash Fuse II at half price.

I managed to buy this in time before I went off to Switzerland for 10 days with the Scouts; over that time I think I experienced all four seasons of weather… and a lot of rain; so I believe that this tent has been properly tested now!

(The tent in it’s unpegged state!)

So let’s start with what it is.  A double skinned pop up tent.  It has a single entrance and two side pockets.  How it comes in the bag is the first challenge – like all pop-up tents these are flat, disc shaped bags about 3 feet across; this is not a tent for the backpacker (unless they want to look like they’re carrying a massive, bulky satellite dish.

Once on site, the tent is removed from the bag and after slipping an elastic strap off the material, the tent pops up into shape (and if you’re not ready, it is easy to go “oh!” and drop it!).  You can then put in the 4 pegs to hold the groundsheet, four corner guys to pull the material out and four guys for the (bright yellow) guy lines.  And you’re done.  It took me well under 30 seconds to have the tent up and nailed down.

The first thing that I noted with this tent over all my previous tents (including Khyam) is that there is NO AWNING.  If you’re camping in good weather this won’t pose a problem, but in the rain the shape of the tent means that the first two feet into the tent is exposed to rain coming straight down.  I found I needed to make use of an umbrella to act as an awning as I got into and out of the tent.  This lack of awning also meant I had to be creative in putting my boots away – there is a little gap outside of the inner, but it isn’t huge.

Inside the tent there is space – but I would suggest that this is for two people who travel light – there really isn’t space for a heck of a lot of luggage (but then given the shape I feel it more likely that anyone using this would have a car to transport the tent anyway).  As a one-person tent, there is enough space to put a decent rucksack down one side.

The shape of the tent also offers another item for consideration.  If you have moved from inflatable mattress to a camp bed, be ready that you will be touching the tent at either end as it slopes to the top.  Not a huge impact, but one to be aware of – and the only place you can put the bed will be down the centre of the tent.

Over the ten days, we experienced a lot of rain – and I’m pleased to report that with the exception of the water coming in through the door, water only really came into the tent during the heaviest of down pours.  I would like to test the tent during a warm, dry camp, so I can properly report whether the tent suffers from condensation – all I can say at this point is that my kit remained dry throughout the week, which can only be a good thing.

Dropping the tent is a little more complex as you will need to fold and tuck – but once you’ve done it a couple of times it becomes much easier.

So as an overall review, I would say that this a great small tent for those who require something that can be put up quickly and easily.  It is a superb introduction to the first time / festival camper, as it means that they can be confident that the tent will be adequate for their purposes.  Even allowing for its size, this is not a tent for the backpacker, or those travelling using panniers on a bicycle, but perhaps more for those people who are on a car touring holiday or where transporting camping equipment is not an issue.

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Back to the Floor – Patrol camp – 21-23 May Monday, May 31 2010

As a Troop we decided to run a weekend camp that would focus on our training Mnemonic of PATROL  – Problem (what do we need to do), Assess (how are we going to do it), Tasks (what are the tasks to complete the problem), Responsibilities (which person is doing which task), “Off You Go” (do the jobs) and Lead (make sure all the tasks are being done by the people allocated).

(Small aside: PATROL was something that Ivor and David developed a few years ago to help teach PLs!)

We decided to make the weekend a bit of a competition – and to add to the fun, David was to be one PL and Ivor the other – helping the Patrols prepare dinners and get the tents up.  Ivor’s Patrol name was “Visu” (I think – from a pair of shoes) and David’s was “GunDogs” (a derivation of the Gannets and Bulldogs that made up the patrol).  GunDogs had a site near the Rabbit Run and well away from the main site which had the other patrol and the leaders area.  This also meant that the Scouts couldn’t see how the others were doing.

Saturday morning was spent putting up any remaining tentage (the GunDogs’ dining shelter was strung up between two trees and was neatly surrounded by Bluebells!), gadget building and inspections.  Saturday afternoon was a short hike – with points being deducted if the Patrol asked for help or checked with a leader that they were going in the right direction.  GunDogs made certain that we weren’t going to be asked anything by running off and keeping a lead between the leaders.  They were going so well… but missed the last footpath sign!

The Scouts had a 3-course competition meal to cook in the evening.  We drove to Chalfont St. Peter to get the necessary produce before we all came back to site.. and the patrols were busy making their meals ready.  From a slight miscalculation by the GunDog Patrol (sorry boys!) David lost a few points for his patrol – but this was redeemed from the washing up and site tidy later.

Saturday evening we had a great informal campfire, telling tales, stories and jokes.  Nathan related the tale of the Ancient Mariner – and so was to be known as “The Albatross” for the rest of the camp!

Sunday was a more relaxed day – although the Scouts were (unusually) up very early on the Sunday to get their breakfast! We had a go on the Cyclo-cross, then moved to the High Ropes.  Although very scared of heights (ok, not the height, the distance to fall to the ground!) I invested Charlie at one of the highest points on the High Ropes course (Charlie, of course, was very relaxed and calm).  I’ve never made the Scout Sign whilst my knuckles turned white as I gripped the safety line before!

Then it was time to strike camp… but the beautiful hot weather really sapped the strength of the Scouts, so the leaders had to work hard to encourage the Scouts to get the trailer packed.

At the end of the camp the scores were read out; it had been a close camp – but in the end the winners were the GunDogs (yay team!)

For the Leaders though, going “back to the floor” was a challenge.  It’s a long time since I was told where I’d gone wrong, or could have done better (but I told them to do that job properly…) and I remembered how hard it was to be a Patrol Leader – learning about Scouting whilst trying to learn how to manage other Scouts.  But it was fun though.

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Fire & Ice @ Tolmers 15-17 January Monday, Jan 18 2010

I think a better description for this weekend would have been “Mud and water”! the snow that had fallen in the previous week was on full melt and the ground was already very waterlogged before the scouts had arrived on site; it was obvious that this was going to be an issue (and also a tidy reminder that I had forgotten to pack my wellies for the weekend!). It was still very cold though – so it was going to really test the campers.

On arrival Friday night, we helped our 8 Scouts put up their hike tents and then they at least had a base to start off from.  Although our Troop was only eight, we also had Scouts from the 17th, 27th and Roxeth – so there were about 60 people in the District contingent.  Whilst the scouts explored, the leaders attended the briefing and then stayed on in the warm.

Saturday morning came round and everyone got up.  Breakfast was expertly produced by Tony and ??? with the Scouts being fed first before the leaders.  Then it was 10am and the Scouts all disappeared off to go on the rides and activities, leaving the leaders to help wash up, then wander round the site.  Unlike the Gilwell Winter Camp, Tolmers acknowledged that the leaders would want to play too – so let us have a go also!  This was great and I enjoyed playing on the dodgems and the Super Waltzer – after working out how to get the spin working really well with Nandesh, Vishan joined me… his comment afterwards was “I don’t feel well – we went so fast!”  Praise indeed!
During the afternoon, a wood pile was built up and the fire pit bailed out ready… later in the evening the fire was lit, so after dinner everyone could stand round and swap stories – it was a lovely relaxed evening.  Once again, Tony came up trumps – after an excellent pasta dinner he then served a really warming curry for the leaders!

Sunday morning was a little slower for everyone, but the scouts got up, and headed off for their activities.  This allowed the leaders to start packing up their stuff, dropping tents and getting ready to go home.  With the mud sloshing everywhere, the decision was taken to leave the District White up for the week, but some of the tents were hosed down to get the mud off!

Once all the kit had been packed into the trailer, we drove back to the Cabin and unloaded the tents so they could dry off.  As I got home, I could feel the mud on my trouser legs start to harden and crack off… I decided that I would not look at washing any of my kit until next weekend!
My thanks to Ivor for organising our Troop, and to the 17th and the District for doing the catering for myself and the Scouts – making it a very relaxed, enjoyable weekend.

POST CAMP DEBRIEF UPDATE:

I have now added the two “mind maps” that the Scouts drew up to identify what was good and what was not so good about the camp.  As well as that, they noted the following things that they learned:

• Pack more clothes
• Pack less clothes
• never play in water – bring wellies
• bring loads of carrier bags for wet stuff
• drive the bumper cars better
• bring more socks
• put the tent up better
• don’t bring a suitcase for kit
• don’t leave clothes in the porch
• don’t pitch the tent with the opening uphill
• consider using gaiters
• wear a hat and gloves
• use the waterproof jacket to keep the warmth in

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2010 Fundraising Calendar Tuesday, Dec 1 2009

As part of the fundraising for Kandersteg, we have produced a calendar for the coming year.  Each calendar will cost £5 and the money will primarily go towards the cost of the expedition.

The Scouts selling the calendars will receive some of the money – which will reduce their contribution to the expedition. 

Those Scouts not going to Kandersteg will also benefit from this fundraising – we have a camp in January and a small amount of their sales will offset their contribution to the Fire and Ice camp.

If you are interesting in purchasing a calendar (or even more than one!) forms have been passed out to Scouts – but please contact frog@magpieschest.co.uk for an order form if you have not received one.

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The Million Pound Note Tuesday, May 12 2009

As camping season is almost fully underway, as are school trips and events, I thought it was time to write this particular blog entry.

For those who can remember, there was a film made in 1954 starring Gregory Peck called the Million Pound Note. The basic premis is that two American millionaires give a penniless man a loan, in the form of a single banknote made out to £1million. The film itself then follows his trials and tribulations as he tries to spend this money… but of course, no-one will accept the note (obviously, it’s a lot of money and no-one has that sort of change). There is further twists when it is thought that the note is lost (by this time, Gregory Peck – or rather, his character – has built up an amount of credit on the promise of this note).

 So what’s the link between this and Scouting? Okay, here’s a challenge for you. Go into a sweet shop, armed with a £10 note and try to buy 1 Mars Bar and 1 can of coca cola. Feel uncomfortable? See the problem?

But wait – there’s more to this exercise. On another day, armed only with a £10 note in your pocket – no wallet, no credit cards, no spare change – go to work, go to lunch, go to the gym and possibly go shopping. How many times did you check to see that you still had the £10 note in your pocket? What happened when you checked the wrong pocket?

As a plea to parents, please, if you are giving your children pocket money for camps, whether it is going into the camp bank or straight to the child, make sure it’s in small enough amounts that they can buy the things they want to buy – mainly sweets, drinks and possibly comics.

Don’t just give them a single note – at a recent camp I had a distraught Scout come to me as he had lost the £5 note his parents had given him… it was Friday evening so he had nothing at all for the weekend (fortunately, I had a few pound coins I could give him so it wasn’t a total washout for the weekend).

Unless, of course, you want them to buy you a present that cost £7… so that they had change for sweets and drinks….

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February Camp – or “I’m a Scout at Winter Camp, Get me Out of Here” Wednesday, Feb 11 2009

Whilst I consider myself a seasoned camper, this was another one of those excellent moments when you find yourself learning all over again.  With the heavy snows the week before, I was wondering what sort of weekend we were going to have – if at all.  However, the decision was made to go ahead.

Friday night we drove to Phasels – and the first order of the day (being a winter camp) was to get the fire going.  This would have been fine, if it wasn’t for the foot deep snow that covered everything! Luckily, after shifting a few pallets we found (relatively) dry wood and we could get  the fire going.  Also, the snow made everything much more light (even at 9pm) so putting the tents up was fairly easy!

I say easy – we started with 8 Scouts, but before the first tent was pitched two decided that winter conditions weren’t for them, so they went home (good job we were close to home!)

Saturday morning and I woke up – a little cold – but to a beautiful sight –

The Scouts had already got up and had got the main fire going – which was good news (less good was that it had taken them 2 matchboxes, half a box of firelighters and half a bag of dry kindling to do so!). Still we got an altar fire going and eventually got breakfast cooked (we also found that the temperatures had played havoc with the camping gaz, so the cookers were almost useless!).  Lunch was then next, so the potatoes were wrapped in foil and deposited in the ashes.  Unfortunately one of the Scouts had smuggled his mobile phone onto camp and we found that this had enabled another to phone home and make arrangements to leave Saturday afternoon.  In resolving this, our fourth less-than-happy camper also decided that he wanted to go home.

We had only brought enough food for breakfast and lunch – so we took a hike to the local supermarket to buy the evening meal and Sunday’s breakfast.  Surprisingly for the time of day the supermarket was heaving with people catching up on lost shopping!  Still we got away with what we wanted and returned to site.

Before we started the evening meal, the Scouts had a go on the Rolling Wall – an indoor revolving climbing wall which will challenge even the most adventurous Scout – and being only a few feet from the ground at any time means that you won’t need certification to let Scouts have a go (Phasels have put this into a room that they are also building a traversing wall, providing activities that campers can enjoy even into the evening).  On the wall we invested Luke and Alastair – another “unusual investiture” under our belts.

The evening meal was Cowboy Stew – a foil packet containing veg, meat, and stock and cooked in the embers – followed by Bananas and Chocolate.  Still a little peckish, Ivor and David then had apples, brown sugar and currants whilst the Scouts toasted marshmallows and bread.

Given the lack of sleep last night, the Scouts were quick to retire Saturday evening; by 10:30 nothing could be heard across the camp.

On Sunday morning the altar fire was quickly started and breakfast dispatched.  Being a short camp, we then struck camp (although the cold had slowed up the Scouts… well, that’s my reasoning) and soon after lunch we went home.

It was a camp like no other – we couldn’t have planned for it; and for those that lasted all the way to the end of the camp I don’t think that they will ever forget it either!

 

The other thing I tried over the camp was the use of the micro-blogging website twitter – www.twitter.com – posting regular updates on how the camp was progressing.  This enabled parents to follow the camp as we got on.  To see the blogs, go to www.twitter.com/frog_scout – but note that these are in newest post first, so you will need to scroll through to read them in the “right” order.

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Gilwell Winter camp 2009 Saturday, Jan 17 2009

It was a shame that I missed it this year – it looked like a fun camp:

http://www.scouts.org.uk/news_view.php?news_id=150

 

Hopefully we can work out how to get there next year….

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The BIG TLW Review of 2008 Wednesday, Dec 24 2008

So, what made your TOP 5 Scouting things this year?

For me, I’d say the following:
1. Completing the epic 26-week story. A mammoth achievement with some involvement from the Troop to add scope and shape to the story.
2. The trip to the fire station – and watching the water hose spin and knock over a swivel chair!
3. Fishing for Mackerel – then cooking and eating it that evening
4. District Camp – and spending the weekend dressed as a pirate
5. Creating a proper home for the Blog as “The Two Left Wellies”.

So… what’s yours?

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