Summer Camp August 2007

Summer Camp 2007 was held at Lydney Deer Park campsite, 19th - 27th August. 20 Scouts, 2 Young Leaders and 10 adults enjoyed one of the few weeks of good weather during the Summer, and took part in a wide range of activities, including rifle shooting, archery, hiking, caving, high ropes, waterslide, masterchef, sports, campfire, swimming and pioneering.

Here are some of the camp reports written by the Scouts during the camp.

Day 1 - Sunday

We left the Scout hut at nine o'clock sharp and had at least a three hour journey. We then arrived at the campsite, but the trailer got stuck in the mud so we all had to pull it out using a long rope. It didn't take long for everyone to realise there was so much deer turd around the campsite, also a lot of deer. Because the truck also got stuck, we had to carry everything out of the truck to the site. We then put up all the tents. In our patrol, someone let go of the pole which sent the whole tent crashing down! We had to take the centre pole out 5 times to move the groundsheet. After everything had been set up the very nice leaders cooked us dinner: gammon, peas and pineapple. One of the leaders then organised a game where you had to put the disks in the right order. Then we went to bed. (Panthers)

Day 2 - Monday

Today Eagles were the duty patrol. Our patrol was up early and got changed quickly - we were the first ones to the flag. For breakfast we had cereal and bacon, eggs, beans and potato wedges. After breakfast, we made our washing up bowl stand and dresser, washing line, wet pit and also a hand and face washer stand. The best one was our dresser which held lots of cups and plates. For lunch we had salad, rolls and meat. It was nice and most people went up for seconds. Soon after lunch we had a quick inspection in which we didn't fail. After the inspection we did camp skills where I did the trangias and my group made delicious hot chocolate. We then went to watch another group who were building a rope bridge across the river. Today we didn't have time for archery or rifle shooting which was a bit disappointing, but dinner was lovely. We had mince bolognaise and pasta shells. After dinner we had a wide game where there were two sides and we had to raise a flag. The first team to raise the flag won, but you had to collect pieces of the flag and to get them you had to exchange an enemy life. After the wide game we had supper and had a lovely piece of cake. When we got to bed I fell straight asleep. (Falcons)

Day 3 - Tuesday

We got up at a rubbish time of 8:00. First of all we had breakfast. Then we had inspection, we did ok. After inspection, we did some sports. We played bucket cricket first, then we played football, and we won! For lunch we had wraps which tasted pretty good. Then we we went swimming and everyone was getting annoyed because we were taking up the whole pool. Afterwards one of my friends bought a cup of soup, but the leaders wouldn't let him take it in the car, so he had to drink it really fast, so he burnt all his mouth. When we got back, we cooked dinner. It was nice. After dinner, we played a wide game. The other team won! After the wide game, we had tuck and supper before we went to bed. In bed we talked and tried to decide what to make for Masterchef. Then I read a magazine. (Bulldogs)

Day 4 - Wednesday

First was the caves. We went through very little gaps that one of the leaders could only just get through. It was funny. But we all made it back all in one piece I think. One of my friends was very scared. When we talked about the dead people he shouted "I'm not hearing you lalala". In the high ropes we went on the leap of faith, crate stacking and the wobbly pole. My first one was the wobbly pole. I only got half way but it was fun. Then it was the leap. I was really scared but it was fun. We only had it twice then we moved on to the crate stacking. We only got one go but it was really fun. For dinner we had beef curry that was really nice. Then we had tuck, then it was bed time. (Falcons)

Day 5 - Thursday

On Thursday, we started a 14 mile hike from our campsite. We started off with a gorgeous egg and bacon sandwich which was great. We left at 11:00 and walked up to the top of the hill where the minibus took us to the beginning of the hike. We started and were going for 5 minutes until we went the wrong way. We continued for an hour or so having breaks every 15 minutes, eating chocolate, using the GPS, map and compass. We stopped for lunch near a lake next to a waterfall. For lunch was a ham sandwich and a jam sandwich and cheese and onion packet of crisps followed by a banana freshly picked in St Lucia, as well as Cadbury's chomp. Next juicy bit of gossip was when our group was barking at a border collie who couldn't be controlled. We walked on for another 30 minutes where we had an ice cream. I personally had a rowntrees fruit pastilles ice lolly as well as three other people in my group, but one person decided to have a twister. Our last and final stop was in the pub where the leaders bought us a round of drinks. Fifteen minutes later we were at the campsite and had creamy pasta and finally went to bed. (Bulldogs)

Day 6 - Friday

On Friday I woke up in a hike tent with my friends - at first I thought it was my bedroom. For breakfast we had cereal bars and jam sandwiches - not the best meal ever but it was good enough. We set off hiking with another group on Friday, which was great because one of my friends and I kept talking which really passed the time. The hike was 9km long and at the end we played Lord of the Rings. I was Gandalf the Grey and at the end of the game, after I had died, we met Shadowfax, my horse. Also, when we met the minibus, a woman had a go at us for going down a farm road. After the hike, we came back to the campsite and immediately had lunch, which was just sandwiches. After that we played games and did archery and Eagles had to clean the toilets. We were the only group that got to do archery but we didn't get to play the game. We also had bangers and mash in the evening. (Bulldogs)

Day 7 - Saturday

On Saturday morning we got woken up by one of the leaders and he told us we had 5 minutes until we had to get up. Then he blew the whistle and our PL ran out in his pyjamas. It was funny. Then we got changed ready for activities. First of all we did archery. It wasn't the first time I had done it but it was still hard. Our PL was very good but none of us popped a balloon. We also played football. It was tiring and the sun was beating down on our backs and people were fainting left, right and somewhere in the middle. Then the PL went off shopping and we were worried he would get the wrong stuff so the APL was begging to go instead, but the leaders wouldn't let him. Then we played volleyball and it wasn't fun because of the fact that no-one wanted to play. Then we did some more sports like frisbee throwing, welly throwing and push and sit ups. After that, the PL returned and he had the ingredients for Masterchef. Luckily he got the right stuff. We had a good time and it was nice. Later that night we had a camp fire, it was fun. (Eagles)

Day 8 - Sunday

We woke up and got dressed. We then cooked a disgusting breakfast of omelettes and spagetti hoops. Once we had finished washing up and stuff, we started to strike camp. We took off the fly sheet from the patrol tent, and took down the mess tents. When that was all finished, we did backwoods cooking and had chocolate bananas, potatos and kebabs. After that we went in the river and on the waterslide. Unfortunately my flipflop got stuck in 1 foot of skanky mud, never to be found again. For dinner we had cheeseburgers from the leaders, it was nice. Then we got tuck and I was rather fat and bought half the tuck shop. I was viciously attacked by the troop because there were no flumps left. We then sat around the campfire and talked about the best things, the worst things, the best meal and the worst meal. When everyone had done that the Patrol Leaders and APLs had to stay behind. We had to talk about our experiences as APLs and PLs. (Panthers)

Day 9 - Monday

Normally, there is nothing interesting to say about the last day of camp - we pack everything up, drive home, and hopefully look forward to next year. This year was a little different: as we were leaving the site, the minibus broke down. After trying a few things, it was clear we were going to be stuck for a while - there was a problem with the immobiliser, and nothing we could do was going to persuade it to let us start the engine. To cut a long story short, the RAC eventually admitted at about 8:30 that evening that they couldn't get us home, and so put us up in a local hotel - 2 leaders and 13 Scouts. A group of parents decided to drive out from Hertfordshire to pick us up - they reached us just before midnight. We eventually got back at around 2am the following morning - twelve hours after we had originally set off!

(Camp Leader)