{"id":13504,"date":"2013-05-27T10:00:56","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T09:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=13504"},"modified":"2013-05-27T11:18:43","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T10:18:43","slug":"scout-camp-near-devils-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2013\/05\/scout-camp-near-devils-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Scout Camp near Devil’s Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Group<\/a>

Group Photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Phew, we survived – and as far as I know the Scouts enjoyed themselves too.<\/p>\n

We have all just got back from a Scout camp that Anna and I organised. Since becoming Scout Leaders we have been on a couple of camps but this was the first one that we had organised and run on our own so the pressure was on. The initial plan had been for us to run the camp but that our Group Scout Leader would be there too to see how it went and offer back-up should we have any problems. She has\u00a0organised\u00a0plenty of camps in the past so should know what she was doing.<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks we had been busy planning activities, sorting out permission forms, planning menu’s and shopping lists, checking equipment, booking camp sites etc etc etc. All of that is\u00a0fairly\u00a0straight forward. It takes a lot of time and effort but was nothing we couldn’t work out on our own – We have after all been camping ourselves before, it’s just a little more involved when taking a group of 10-14 year olds along with you!<\/p>\n

What we didn’t know and needed help with were any Scout specific rules. We told our Group Scout Leader what our plans were and asked who we needed to inform about the camp and if there were any restrictions on where we could camp etc. We were told that all was OK and when we\u00a0specifically\u00a0asked if we needed to tell the District Commissioner were told that we didn’t. It wasn’t until a week before the camp that we found out ourselves about thing such as the ‘Form NAN’ that we were supposed to have completed and the fact that we were (as we had thought)\u00a0supposed to have told the District Commissioner about the event. We also found out that our Group Scout Leader was now not coming on the camp with us as she had booked something else that clashed with it!<\/p>\n

This of course threw a spanner in the works. Now there would only be two leaders (Anna and I) on the camp which\u00a0isn’t really enough and none of us had a Scouts ‘Nights Away Permit’ – It is a requirement that at least one adult on a camp has such a permit. The running of this camp was supposed to be a way of proving to the powers-that-be within Scouting that we were capable of such things so that we could get the nights away permit for future events. Thankfully, after some frantic phone calls it was agreed that we could still run the camp. After a bit of quizzing and an assessment from the District Commissioner I was granted a Nights Away Permit and it was arranged that the District Commissioner would come out to see the camp to make sure we were OK and to check up on how we were running things. Phew, we weren’t going to have to cancel at the last minute. We still needed an extra adult though.<\/p>\n

We e-mailed around all of the helpers and parents to find people with the relevant CRB checks who could help out, but finding\u00a0people at such late notice wasn’t easy. We did manage to get one parent to help out by staying overnight on Saturday – Thanks Leasa! So that was it, the camp was almost upon us. We, and what turned out to be 10 Scouts were ready to go. We also had Morgan with us so had 11 children in total – a number we\u00a0wouldn’t forget as we spent all weekend counting heads to make sure we still had them all!<\/p>\n

\"Campsite\"<\/a>

Campsite<\/p><\/div>\n

We had drafted in Dave and Sarah our neighbours to tow the trailer to the camp site as we\u00a0don’t have a tow bar and after a hectic few days set off on Friday afternoon towards Devil’s Bridge. We were staying at Erwbarfe Camp Site<\/a>, a site that I knew about having built their website but we had never stayed there. We did pop up to do a site\u00a0inspection\u00a0as part of the planning and all looked perfect, and that’s the way we found it on arrival. We had our own little field just off to the side of the rest of the site. It had a gentle slope to help with drainage but was perfectly flat for the erection of tents. There was a water tap in the field which made life really easy and plenty of room. The toilet and shower block was just down the track a little and we had a second field that the Scouts could play football, rounders and generally run around in. The campsite have quite a few Duke of Edinburgh groups stay here so there were various notices pinned to\u00a0fence\u00a0posts pertaining to kit lists and such like which made it feel more ‘Scouty’ too.<\/p>\n

We had arrived before the Scouts were due so that we could take stock of our surroundings and get the\u00a0kitchen\u00a0tent set up. One of the Explorers Tomas had come with us to help and Dave and Sarah stayed to help as well. It didn’t take too long despite the howling wind and occasional driving rain storm for us to get the kitchen tent and the shelter up and then the Scouts started to arrive so it was time to get our tent up and help them with theirs. A few of the parents stayed to lend a hand here and there as well and before long – just as the rain and wind stopped – we had everything up and ready to go.<\/p>\n

\"Kitchen<\/a>

Kitchen Calmness<\/p><\/div>\n

The kitchen tent and shelter were at one end of the field and the various stoves, water bottles, pots, pans and utensils were all in place. We had our tent near the field entrance and not too far from the kitchen tent. The trailer was being used as a larder and store and the Scouts had their tents at the top of the field in a little group near to the chicken run. It was actually quite nice that Anna and I were here running it on our own as we were able to set things up just the way we wanted them and do things our way.<\/p>\n

The Scouts were quite excited too. The wind and rain had now eased, but as it started to get dark it also got very cold. We had Hot Dogs and Hot Chocolate for supper and sat around chatting and playing cards and discussing various camp rules. Then, before we knew it it was bedtime – Would we get any sleep? The answer to that was an emphatic no! Most of the Scouts did go off to bed and go to sleep well, but the occupants of one tent were up giggling and playing and keeping us awake until about 3am. It then got light at 4am so the birds and sheep started up with their morning routine and by 5:30am some of the Scouts that had slept were up and started playing football!<\/p>\n

We probably should have got out of our tent at 1am and told the noisy Scouts to go to sleep but it was cold out there and very cosy in our sleeping bags. The temperature had dropped below freezing and there was ice covering the tents so we stayed where we were and kept thinking and hoping that they would drift off to sleep soon. We did have to get up at 5:30am though to tell the others to stop playing football and thought we’d better get up and start with the morning chores anyway. The Scouts that were up moaned about the others keeping them awake so we all decided to change the rota a little and wake them up at 7am so that they could be the ones to cook breakfast. That’s exactly what we did and therefore we had several grumpy Scouts helping us in the kitchen with sausage sandwiches, cereals and drinks for breakfast.<\/p>\n

The plan for the day was a nice long walk –\u00a0something that the Scouts were both looking forward to and dreading in equal measures after the coast walk<\/a> we’d taken them on the previous week. After breakfast was cleared away we made them tidy their tents and had a tent inspection and then prepared things so that they could make packed lunches to take with them on the hike. The usual fare here, ham, chicken and cheese sandwiches, salad, fruit, crisps and chocolate biscuits. A few of the Scouts didn’t have\u00a0rucksacks\u00a0with them so there was a bit of re-organising\u00a0and\u00a0sharing\u00a0of resources going on but we were soon ready to go. Every one\u00a0and been fed and watered, the tents had passed the inspection, rucksacks were packed with\u00a0lunches\u00a0 waterproofs, first aid kits etc. and we were ready to go half an hour earlier than planned.<\/p>\n

The route we were taking\u00a0wasn’t difficult but I hadn’t walked it recently so didn’t know exactly how far it was or how long it would take –\u00a0especially\u00a0seeing as I didn’t really know how fast the Scouts would travel over such ground. I’d guessed that it would be somewhere in the region of 5-6 miles with the option of a slightly longer route if we wanted and had planned for it to take up to 5 hours with plenty of stops. It was nice and varied for them with\u00a0interesting bridge crossings over\u00a0Parsons Bridge, high above the River Rheidol, some steep climbs and some nice hill top walking over Bryn Bras with amazing views. We went on towards Ponterwyd before returning over the top of Bryn Bras and back down into the Rheidol Valley.<\/p>\n\n\t\t