Waddecar Scout Activity Centre proved again to be a great base for this years Ardsley Scouts Group Summer camp.
23rd to 30th July 2011
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| 5 leaders, 6 Explorers, 13 Scouts and 6 cubs set off from Scout HQ on a sunny Saturday morning. |
After arriving at the campsite on the Saturday, the tents were quickly pitched and the camp took shape on a quite corner of the camp site at Waddecar. The Scouts enjoyed beefburgers and fries - camp style and had an excellent start to the week with a camp fire and a few songs from our resident minstrel.
On Sunday, we awoke to more Lancashire sunshine and after breakfast we enjoyed a morning of a traditional school sports day, which included a long list of relay type races, including egg 'n' spoon, 3 legged, obstacle and wheelbarrows. The competition was intense due to the quality of the prizes on offer;
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| Gold, Silver and Bronze - prizes galore! |
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| The 'wooden' spoons for the runners up :-( |
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| The assembled teams, ready for action... |
One of the explorers took some action shots of the activities, thank you, you know who you are :-)
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| What poise for the egg and spoon race |
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The wheels have fallen off this 'barro.
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| It's a photo finish in the skipping race |
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| Teamwork pays off in the 3 legged event |
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| You spin me round like a ...hula hoop? |
On Sunday afternoon, we soaked and splattered one another with water bottles and had a great big water bomb fight, as well as having loads of fun on the water slide. All that activity built up great appetites for the spag bol meal, which was delicious and it never had any mushrooms in, honest ;-)
By Monday, the campers had adjusted to getting up around 7.30 and preparing for the day ahead, today we took the cubs and younger scouts on a hike up to Beacon Fell, to do a spot of orienteering. The Explorers and older Scouts took to the high ground around Bleasdale for a much longer expedition.
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| Route planning, Ardsley style |
They all made it back safely, to enjoy some camp activities including fetching wood, helping with the preparation of the fire whilst many enjoyed playing swing-ball, volleyball or helping to prepare the evening meal which was lamb kebabs.
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| Ardsley Scouts invent 'Crazy' Swingball |
On Tuesday there was great excitement as the mountain bikes were delivered, after what seemed like forever, we matched riders to bikes and 29 riders set off to tackle a circuit of the quiet lanes around the area. With such a large group of different abilities it did take quite some time to get to the first checkpoint, but with some of the younger riders retiring after about 5 miles, the remaining group split into 2 groups. Again the older Scouts went with the Explorers, whilst the younger scouts and 1 very fit cub continued the adventure for about another 12 miles. After this second day of high impact activity most of the camp were tired out, but turning our hands to preparing the evening meal was all part of the day, so without further ado, a very tasty pasta dish was prepared (Chicken and Asparagus) to restore our energy levels.
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| An explorer shows a scout how cooking in this skillet is easy. |
On Wednesday, a trip to Lytham and St.Annes for a spot of shopping, followed by lunch near the sea, then onto Blackpool for an afternoon in Sandcastles Waterpark - 'the largest indoor waterpark in the country.' On the return many of the Scouts were asleep on the bus, it's great what 40 winks will do for you, if you can get the chance! Wednesday night is traditionally BBQ night on camp and this year was no exception, what a feast!
By Thursday, many had thoughts of home, but they were soon put to one side as everyone had hours of fun with rifle shooting, archery, climbing and abseiling. After a hard day having fun, all of the Scouts tucked into a great curry, with Nan bread and pappadams, plus pickle tray. As darkness fell across the land, the Explorers and the oldest Scout were whisked up to Beacon Fell to practice their orienteering skills in preparation for the APEX Challenge. Needless to say their is a bigger story behind this headline, why not ask your Scout about the
Beast of Beacon Fell? You'll fall about laughing.
The highlight of the week for most Scouts is the visit to a theme park or similar. Camelot, hosted our great day out and we watched the amazing knights!
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| An Amazing Knight? - with all that hair, how can he fight? |
Perhaps some of the rides at Camelot were just to much for some of our Scouts...
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| Ardsley Scouts, ready for take off? |
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| His hair was not this colour when we brought him... |
Even one of the leaders thought they needed to get a disguise, prizes if you can guess which animal its supposed to be;
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A. Panda
B. Killer Whale
C. Friesian Cow |
Our Explorer leader found an excellent mascot (Explorer Unit is called Ardsley Eagles), but could not find a bag big enough to bring it home in.
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| "That's a big bird" |
After a fun half hour on the dodgems, the Scouts assembled for a farewell picture;
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| End of the day at Camelot - what fun! |
After a short minibus ride home, we all enjoyed a light supper of fajitas and tortilla chips, with a singsong round the camp fire. The week went really fast, we were blessed with fantastic weather and some great kids. Everyone I spoke to really enjoyed their adventure.
Thanks to all those who helped out on this camp, those that went, and those who helped behind the scenes.
There's normally pictures from every day on camp, but we were a bit down on the numbers of leaders on this year, so apologies if there a fewer images than normal. Anyway what we have got is available at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30263703@N04/sets/72157627200681557
Coming Soon: Ardsley Scouts - Group Camp 2nd to 4th of September 2011 at Silverwood Camp Site
* Put it in the calendar now for your Scout! *
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