Summer Camp 2006
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This year as most of our youngsters within the group are new to Scouting we decided to hold a local camp. By local we didn't mean around West Cornwall but at Nine Ashes, Bodmin, the Headquarters of Scouting in Cornwall.
Nine Ashes is part of the Pencarrow Estate and the Cornwall County Scouts lease some 3 acres of fields and have the use of another 20 acres of woodland for activities. There are several buildings on site including a wardens office/store room, a shower/toilet block, Trefusis Hut which is used for Pack Holidays and anyone who wants to stay indoors, the main building which is used by County for training and meetings plus various sheds for gear. If the site gets busy then another field below Nine Ashes is also used. There is also a chapel in the woods, a campfire circle and adventure area.
After we juggled everyone's holiday dates we ended with the week of Saturday to Saturday 5-12th August. Skip put out some notices and everyone paid a deposit which was sent off as the camping fee. We used a couple of our weekly meetings to work out the camp program, menu and kit lists. As there was only 9 of us camping it was decided to use Leaders cars for transport as there wasn't enough of us to fill a minibus and the cost of hiring one would be too much to share between 9. Skip was quoted £459 for the week with unlimited milage. This would add another £50 each towards the cost of the camp. We decided on an off-site program, with only the first 2 days doing on-site activities.
We left our HQ on the 5th at 11:30am and drove to the site via Wadebridge thinking that we could avoid some of the summer traffic going that way instead of travelling strait up the A30. Wrong! We ended up as a small convoy as part of a big traffic jam. We were stuck in roughly 4 miles of it for over an hour. What was a 1 hour journey took us nearly 3 hours to complete. There was some horse show on near Wadebridge. We didn't see any horse boxes but we saw plenty of traffic! Mind you it gave us time to have a good look at the scenery of North Cornwall instead of it rushing by.
We arrived on site at 2:15pm, sorted out our camping area and started unloading our personal kit from parents cars. Skip persuaded the Warden to let us camp near the entrance so we wouldn't have far to walk, plus if it was going to rain heavily during the week that part of the field stays drier than the rest. Mike (Cheesy or Gnasher to his friends), who was the other Leader camping with us arrived with a trailer full of tents and camping gear.
After unloading the trailer we first put up the mess tent (in between trying to eat a pasty) filling it with our cooking gear, plus some tables and benches which we hired from the site. After the mess tent was up, Skip and a cub left to go shopping whilst the rest of us put up our dome tents. We tried putting up a patrol tent but a piece was missing so we abandoned that plan and put dome tents instead. By the time we had done this Skip returned with a car full of goodies. We unloaded the car putting everything into the on-site trolleys and wheeled it to the mess tent. Cheesy and Skip then put up their tents (the nearest ones in the picture. Skip was furthest away from us because when he's asleep he snores like someone cutting wood. By the time everything is set out we have explored the site working out where we will hold an outdoor sleepover. We have tea (spag bog) at 8pm. Everyone goes to bed at 11pm as we have to be up early the next day as we are going to have a trading game.
During the night a thick fog has descended and everything is damp. We get up early (some of us haven't slept as we have been talking all night) and have cereals and a full English breakfast. By this time the sun has burnt off the fog and so Skip gets the trading game ready. He hands out our starting points and gives a list of tasks to complete, each of which will earn us points. We start at 10am and carry on to 3pm only stopping for lunch. We buy things such as mugs and complete tasks such as painting the Scout Symbol on them. Some of the tasks are making a pancake on a camping stove, whittling a tent peg from a stick, making a kite, writing down 10 safety rules for a camp, making a wooden spoon puppet, painting the mug, scavenger hunt, map quiz, etc, etc. There are 21 tasks in all but no-one completes them all. At the end we hand in the points we have gained and they are totalled up. Our scores go from 125 up to 380. The more we did the more we earned. Skip had bought some prizes for us and each of us in turn from first to last had the pick of the prizes. Things like a diablo, poker cards and chips, juggling balls, moneybox, mug, pen set, etc.
We then had a play around then had tea. After tea we spent a evening making plastic model aircraft. After that the older ones went in the woods with some plastic sheeting and made a bivvy 10ft up in a tree. They used a tree house which had netting around the sides so they couldn't fall out. During the night and part of the following morning it drizzles a bit until 8am but it is warm rain and so doesn't worry us.
After another full English breakfast we make a packed lunch and Skip opens the bank to dole out some spending money. We are going letter boxing on Bodmin Moor but first we go shopping at Trago Mills which is on the way. After some retail therapy we travel on to the Minions. We have our lunch then go for a hike on the moor via a small display which tells us about the Minions and Cheesewring. We try our hand looking for letterboxes and find one. A letterbox is a rubber stamp placed on the moor in watertight plastic boxes. they are hidden and people give out clues and you have search for them. Lookers carry pieces of card and inkpads and when they find one they make a copy for their records. There are over 35,000 letterboxes on the moors in the SW. After spending 3hrs climbing we make our way back to Bodmin. We go to the Dragon Leisure Centre for a relaxing swim. We spend roughly 1½hrs in the pool. On the way back we buy our tea from a local chippy. We go to bed early as we are going to the zoo the following day.
The
following
day
Skip
gets
us
up
at
6am
as
we
are
going
to
Piagnton
Zoo
and
have
to
leave
early
to
avoid
the
traffic
jams.
The
bank
is
opened
to
get
out
some
spending
money.
Breakfast
is
bacon
sandwiches
and
cereal
bars.
We
leave
at
8:15am,
cross
the
Tamar
at
9am
and
arrive
at
the
zoo
at
10:05.
5mins
after
opening
time
and
no
traffic
jams.
We
can't
believe
our
luck.
To
save
money
we
buy
a
family
ticket
plus
single
tickets.
One
of
our
girl
scouts
is
now
"Mum"
to
3
of
us!
We
all
troop
into
the
zoo
and
set
off
with
instructions
to
meet
together
for
lunch.
We
scatter
in
different
directions
with
the
promise
to
meet
Skip
and
Gnasher
at
the
correct
time.
Lunch
time
comes
and
would
you
believe
it
everyone
is
on
time.
After
lunch
everyone
scatters
again
to
view
the
animals
or
go
on
the
train
there.
At
4:30pm
we
all
meet
together
again
and
leave
the
zoo.
On
the
way
out
we
go
through
the
shop
and
2nd
Hayle
leave
with
3
didgeridoos!
Only
£10
each,
a
bargain!
When we got back to the site at 8pm and Skip cooked a BBQ to his usual standard and burnt everything. Five of our oldest scouts decided that they were going to sleep outdoors in the middle of the campsite underneath and between tarpaulin sheets. A basic bivvy. It rained during the night and they got soaked cos they never woke up! We had got up too early to go to the zoo and they slept like logs. They claim that they stayed out till 6am. When the rest of us started getting up at 7am they were all in one tent playing go fish. We reckon as soon as the rest of us went to sleep they crept back indoors and only pretended to stay out all night.
Wednesday
starts
off
a
bit
drizzly
with
a
bit
of
wind
blowing
from
the
North.
We
have
breakfast
and
get
our
kit
ready
as
everyone
is
going
to
cook
lunch
on
top
of
Rough
Tor
(the
2nd
highest
point
in
Cornwall)
using
camping
stoves.
We
drive
to
the
moor
arriving
fairly
late
as
we
got
stuck
in
traffic
near
Camelford.
One
car
missed
the
turning
and
had
to
retrace
their
steps.
Once
we
were
altogether
we get
our
kit
and
start
up
the
Tor.
Skip
and
Gnasher
stay
with
the
cars.
They
reckon
if
we
can
cook
on
top
of
the
Tor
we
can
cook
anywhere.
We
start
walking
but
take
a
wrong
turning
and
instead
of
going
towards
the
top
we
go
sidewards
up
the
hill.
We
find
a
large
stone
with
a
hollow
and
decide
that
is
as
far
as
we
are
going.
Food
is
cooked
and
eaten
and
then
we
pack
up
and
walk
back
to
the
cars.
After we get back to the cars we have a drive around and park at Cowdry Reservoir for a look-see of the dam. We cross over and back then drive back to Wadebridge. By now it is mid-afternoon and we go to the cinema in Wadebridge and watch "Stormbreaker". Within 15minutes of it starting Skip fell asleep and kept snoring all the way through! After the film we went back to the site and had a "Ploughman's Salad" for tea. We played some wide games in the woods, had a cup of cocoa and went to bed at 11pm.
The
next
day,
Thursday
we
were
up
early
as
we
had
to
be
a
Bodmin
Railway
Station
to
pick
up
push
bikes
as
we
were
going
to
ride
the
length
of
the
Camel
Trail
to
Padstow
and
back.
We
hired
our
bikes
off
Bodmin
Cycle
Hire
and
set
off
down
the
trail.
Skip
drove
on
to
Wadebridge
as
he
was
like
an
emergency
checkpoint.
Everyone
made
it
to
Wadebridge
but
two
dropped
out
there.
The
rest
went
on
to
Padstow
where
they
had
a
pasty
and
drink
then
cycled
back
to
Bodmin.
During
this
time
the
other
two
had
cycled
back
towards
Bodmin.
They
got
on
the
train
at
the
steam
train
station
and
rode
back
to
Bodmin!
When we got back to the site we had a BBQ cooked by the scouts and it was not burnt like Skip's offering. We then played games, had supper and went to bed at 12pm.
Friday
we
got
early
as
we
were
going
to
have
a
busy
day.
We
had
yet
another
full
English,
made
a
packed
lunch
and
made
our
way
to
Bodmin
Jail.
We
had
a
run
around
there
looking
at
the
cells,
etc.
After
that
visit
we
went
into
Bodmin
and
visited
the
Shire
Hall,
where
we
watched
a
performance
of
the
"Trial
of
Matthew
Weeks"
who
was
supposed
to
have
murdered
Charlotte
Dymond
on
Bodmin
Moor
in
the
1800's.
We
were
the
jury
and
after
hearing
the
evidence
we
had
a
to
vote
on
his
guilt.
There
were
other
people
in
the
audience
there
and
most
people
voted
"Not
Guilty".
When
we
compared
notes
afterwards
we
were
split
roughly
50-50.
We
had
a
look
at
the
holding
cells.
Afterwards
we
visited
the
town
museum
and
took
part
in
a
quiz
where
the
answers
were
on
display.
We
came
home
for
tea
then
afterwards
went
to
the
Dragon
Centre
where
we
spent
1½hr
splashing
around.
Skip
says
it
was
to
get
everyone
clean
before
we
go
home
the
following
day.
We
have
a
meeting
and
vote
that
evening
before
supper
and
decide
that
next
year
we
want
to
go
for
a
weeks
camp
at
Tolmers
in
Hertfordshire
if
Skip
can
sort
it
out.
Saturday
is
our
last
day
and
luckily
it
is
fine
so
the
tents
can
be
put
away
dry.
We
sort
our
stuff
out
and
put
it
out
of
the
way
on
the
veranda
of
Trefusus's
Hut.
We
start
packing
up
and
when
our
Parents
arrive
at
11am
they
help
to
finish
packing
up
the
trailer.
We
have
a
sort
out
of
the
un-eaten
food
and
each
of
us
takes
home
some
goodies
such
as
some
tins
of
beans,
pot
noodles,
cereal
bars,
etc.
We
leave
at
roughly
11:30am
tired
but
but
happy.
See you all next year at Tolmers!!!!
Click on the link below to go into the gallery of the camp. If anyone else has pictures we will post them as we get them.
