Friday

The Friday of the start of camp was no exception to the heavy showers and high winds of the last few days. Five Senior Scouts met at the Group stores to travel to Gilwell. Unfortunately, the leader towing the trailer with all the kit was delayed on his way home, so we didn't set off until late, and by the time we got to Gilwell, the other leaders were already there waiting for us.

It was at this point that the Gilwell mud struck - I got my car stuck in it. Of course, the Scouts thought this was very funny, but since the hours of daylight were fading, we abandonned it and concentrated instead on unloading the kit and pitching a couple of tents for us to sleep in.

Once the tents were up, and having rescued my car, we drove into Chingford to find some dinner - by now it was dark and we were all starving! The Scouts all opted for MacDonalds, while the leaders prefered to get some proper food from the chippy.

Saturday

After a night spent listening to the Scouts chattering and the wind howling, we got up to a pleasantly warm Spring morning. The most difficult morning task, lighting the burcos, was quickly out the way, and we managed to get through breakfast with time to spare.

With our full compliment of Scouts, the morning was spent pitching the rest of their tents, and setting out their mess tents. As nearly half the Scouts on camp had not been camping with Scouts before, having only come up from Cubs during the previous year, the PLs had plenty to do teaching them how to put up a patrol tent, right from the basics of how to put a tent in the ground. However, they coped admirably, and soon there was a nice line of Patrol tents and mess tents along the side of the field.

After lunch, it was straight into the activities. The older Scouts started off on Gilwell's impressive new climbing wall, while the younger ones learned how to light fires - a skill which would come in useful at dinner time! Then it was the younger group's turn to have a go at the climbing wall, while the older ones revised some firelighting, and knife and axe work.

After a short break it was time to light the fires for dinner, which was to be Gammon, potatoes and peas, followed by tinner fruit and cream. Most of the Scouts were sent off by their PLs to collect wood - some of them just wouldn't believe how much wood would be needed to cook dinner!

After dinner, and when all the washing up had been completed, we played rounders, which was followed by a wide game in the woods. Soon enough, it was supper time, followed by bed for the Scouts, and very soon afterwards, for the leaders too.

Sunday

We were awoken early on Sunday morning by an alarm clock, and having prised ourselves out of bed, went round to wake the Scouts - this was of course a fruitless exercise since they were all already awake. After a bleary-eyed flagbreak, the Scouts went off to light their fires for breakfast, and the leaders to ty and light the burcos.

Breakfast overran slightly, so the washing up was left as the Scouts went off to the morning's activities, rifle shooting and archery. They returned to find that some of the leaders had finished off their washing-up for them (aren't we nice?), but they still didn't escape an inspection. Happily, the standard was high and there wasn't much for them to rectify, so we let them have some lunch.

After lunch, it was time for the Patrol Challenges. Each patrol had to complete three challenges: to get as much water round a string trail in a cup as possible, while blindfolded and led by another member of the patrol; to build the tallest unguyed flagpole possible using staves, and unfurl a flag from it; and to communicate a simple message using semaphone, phonetic alphabet and tin-can phone.

In the remaining time before dinner, the Scouts had a go on the Gilwell 'bergs', or pedal karts. While the older group did that, the younger group learnt a bit more about the Patrol tents they were living in, and how to look after them. After they swapped round, we took the opportunity to discuss with the PLs how they were getting on with their patrols - fortunately they reported no major problems, although we did suggest a few leadership tips to help them out.

Dinner was chicken in sauce, pasta and sweetcorn, followed by chocolate bananas. By now the firelighting practice was begining to show and before long, the fires were lit and dinner was bubbling away nicely. Some patrols proved themselves better cooks than others (the patrol who ended up with a centimeter of crud burnt to the bottom of their billy shall remain nameless), but everyone ate well.

After dinner, we played another wide game, which involved two teams hunting for radio codes. This worked much better than the last time we tried to play it, when we hid the codes so well that none of the Scouts could find them! The final result was very close, but eventually the winning team won 5 - 3.

After all that running around, it was time for the campfire - a no less energetic activity if I have anything to do with it! Each patrol performed a sketch and led a couple of songs, interspersed with some favourites of my own. As the campfire drew to a close, supper was served, and everyone was quickly off to bed after a very full and exhausting day.

Monday

Monday morning started with breakfast, quickly follwed by inspection. Everything had to be packed up properly as this was the last meal of camp. After that was done, it was time for a game of Giant Pushball, played in patrols. The Scouts throughly enjoyed this, and we thouroughly enjoyed watching them! The pushball was followed by a short Scout's Own led by a couple of the PLs. After that, it was down to the worst part of camp: clearing up.

With a brief stop for lunch, eventually everything was taken down and packed away - there was even time for another wide game whilst the leaders finished off. Then it was all over - it only remained to thank everyone for a great camp before the final flagdown.