1st Chipping Sodbury Scout Group

This year's summer camp took place in Grosmont on the Welsh Border.  We left the scout hut on the morning of 28th May and had a good run to the campsite which was pretty uneventful apart from the lorry having to find an alternate route due to a weak bridge and it being so windy on the Severn Bridge we nearly lost two canoes off the roof of Stu’s car!

The wind stayed with us all the way to Grosmont and made putting the marquee up a bit of a challenge, there were a few moments where I had visions of it taking off with several Scouts and leaders in tow but we got it up without too many problems in the end and just in time to enjoy one of Wales’ best exports........ rain! Luckily it was only a short shower and the weather stayed nice enough for the rest of the day which meant the rest of the tents went up with ease.

After each of the three patrols had erected their patrol tents and dining shelter they set to work collecting fire wood, digging fire pits and setting up their sites for the week. Each patrol were given the ingredients for sausage casserole and were told to build a fire and cook for themselves and two leaders. The result was a meal I’ll never forget involving raw whole vegetables, raw unpeeled potatoes, a suspiciously low amount of sausages and all stirred together and served by the hands (yup with his hands in the pot!) of a very grubby scout! A taste (literally) of things to come.

The next morning I was surprised when I awoke without the feelings of dysentery I was sure would follow the meal the night before but all was fine. After breakfast we gave each patrol some barrels, staves and rope and they set about building rafts. It took some time for the patrols to decide on a design and build it and a few of us leaders got a bit bored and decided to build a raft too. Unfortunately there weren't any staves or barrels left so we had to make do with an old fibreglass sailing mast and a couple of broken canoes. In the afternoon the patrols took their rafts to the river to race them and in true scout rafting tradition they disintegrated pretty much as soon as they hit the water, the leaders' raft however floated beautifully and stayed in one piece. The explorers built a hourglass-shaped watch tower from pioneering poles and a cargo net which was about 4 metres high and two of the explorers decided they were going to sleep up there that night.

On Monday morning we awoke to the sound of heavy rain on the tents and I was amazed and impressed to find the two explorers up the watch tower were still up there and had been all night even though it had been raining heavily all night! In true scouting style we didn't let the bad weather put a stop to the plans we had so everyone suited up in wet weather gear and we went for a hike up to the top of The Skirrid. By the time we got to the top the rain had all but stopped so we ate lunch then made our way back down to the minibuses and back to camp. I've heard rumours of a certain leader getting a whole minibus singing along to YMCA on the way back but I cannot confirm if these rumours are true as I was in the other (cooler) minibus.  In the afternoon we had camp Olympics where the scouts competed individually and as patrols at events including; wellie wanging, caber tossing, tug of war and minibus pulling.

From Tuesday morning onwards the weather was really nice and it was actually pretty hot most days. On Tuesday and Wednesday the scouts rotated in groups around canoeing, rifle shooting, archery and pioneering. I helped run the canoeing and even though the water level was quite low we still managed to have some good sessions and everyone got to shoot one of the small rapids on the river.

On Thursday we all went rock climbing at Symonds Yat Rock in the Forrest of Dean. It is a great location for climbing on real rock faces as it has plenty of different climbs of varying difficulty. It was a great day out and everyone had a go. When we got back to camp the patrols continued building their pioneering projects and by the end of the day we had in various stages of completion; a scramble net, a zip wire and a rope bridge.

The last day of summer camp was finally upon us and it was time to start preparing for when the Cubs and Beavers would arrive for group camp. The Scouts set about finishing the pioneering projects and put up some patrol tents for the cubs to sleep in whilst some of the leaders built the climbing tower. It was decided that we needed a different route for the Cubs raft race the next day as the river was getting lower. The problem was there was a fallen tree blocking the river so I went with the Explorers and a few other leaders to have a go at clearing it. After a few hours work with saws and a little help from a chain saw we managed to clear the tree and ended up with more wood than even the most pyromaniac scout would be able to burn in the few days we had left. On the last evening of summer camp Nick cooked fish and chips and that was the first time all week Id eaten properly cooked potato!

I hope all the Scouts enjoyed the camp, I know I did and I’m pretty sure the other leaders did too. I'd like to thank all the leaders for their help and support (especially Nick and Chris for the late night bacon sandwiches) and the scouts for being so well behaved, I also hope the Scouts have learned how to cook potatoes and will remember for next camp! Please?

This was my first summer camp with 1st Chipping Sodbury and even though I’ve been on many summer camps with many different groups this one rates as one of the best.
Dave Woolsey