On the 27th of July we travelled to the Brecon Beacons. We did many activities whilst we were there including climbing, walking and pony trekking. However, my favourite was definitely the canoeing expedition. I shared a canoe with Mae and Rachel. We canoed 11k downstream to our overnight camp. We made our bivouacs which consisted of a canoe and a sheet to stop us getting wet. These were held up by the paddles. We were sleeping in a sheep field so it didn’t smell very nice! We cooked our dinner on trangias, played spoons, went for a jog with Joe and then went to bed. The next day we canoed further down the river.
Rebecca

On the 27th of July we said goodbye to our parents and with our trailer already packed with the camp essentials, we embarked on our trip to the Brecon Beacons. We were all very excited for the various activities we were going to do. The time was passed with many card games and a heavy sweet consumption until eventually we arrived at Plas Dolygaer, an activity centre accessed by a bridge across the Pontsticill reservoir. Once we arrived, we were briefed on safety and put into our rooms. Whilst we were unpacking, we saw a white steam clouding our windows and heard the ‘choo choo’ of a train. This was because Plas Dolygaer was built alongside the Brecon Mountain Railway and this was one of the 3 trains that went past each day. After we decided which beds were ours, and had a good meal of paella, we all slept with dreams of tomorrow’s activities.

We all met at breakfast buzzing with excitement, today was climbing day. I was in the second group to go climbing and in the morning we went on a short walk to take in the beauty of the surrounding area and it was stunning. After a sandwich, our group headed out to climbing. We walked along a bridge and up a steep hill before we arrive at the quarry where we were climbing. There were 3 routes for us to climb. I got to the top of all 3 but everyone had a good go at the walls. Everyone was exhausted when we returned but it didn’t last long at the news that our canoe expedition started tomorrow. We were going to paddle down the river Wye and sleep outdoors in a field somewhere over the border to England. We all went to bed in high anticipation.

The mood in the morning was brilliant and only slightly dampened by the news that there was no toilet in the field we were sleeping. We sat twiddling our thumbs until the time came for us to leave. We packed only the minimum because we had to fit all our stuff into the canoes. When we arrived we were split up into 2 groups of 5 and 1 group of 3 each with a leader. We set off in our separate canoes over relaxing straights and shallow rapids. We saw kingfishers and herons and great landscapes. It was magnificent. After a very relaxing afternoon, we arrived at the farm and cooked pasta, made our beds out of canoes and paddles and (some of us) took a trowel behind a tree and did what we had to.

The next morning we packed up and carried on to where our journey was going to end. It was just as brilliant as the trip there was. After we cleaned and carried the heavy canoes up to the car park, we said goodbye to the helpful instructors who rushed to get back in time to take the other group on the same trip while we went back to the centre, very tired. The rest of the day was very calm and in the evening we did the route plan for tomorrows walk around the Talybont reservoir. I was particularly excited because the next day was my birthday and I found it hard to fall asleep.

In the morning I was a bit tired but I can imagine the other group didn’t have a great night in the farmer’s field. I was met in the morning by lots of cards from the scouts and my family and it was lovely. But I didn’t have much time to enjoy them because we were soon packed and rushed off to the Talybont reservoir where we were going to spend the day walking. Each group went a different way around the reservoir but both ways were littered with stunning views, several ways to narrowly avoid getting lost and even a grass snake, in my case. When we met for lunch, both groups had stories to tell and we ended the day with lots of memories made, and birthday cake eaten!

With the other group returned from the canoe expedition that we enjoyed a few days earlier, we had a lot to be excited about with pony trekking and a shopping trip to look forward too. I was in the first group to go pony trekking so we met with the friendly staff and had our horses picked out of the many different shapes and sizes. My horse was called Misty, who was a bit mischievous and took every available opportunity to eat leaves of the bushes but it was a laugh and a great new experience for those who had never done it, me included. After seeing the other group leave we went to Brecon to look around and buy some souvenirs. It great to look around and see what there was and we spent the rest of the day cherishing our experiences, and hard earned merchandise.

Today was our last full day in Wales and there were mixed emotions about tomorrows return trip but we all new today was going to be great. Our group was going to walk along the Brecon Mountain Railway and catch a train back to Plas Dolygaer and the others were adventuring off to the Brecon Beacons infamous three peaks. We all set off on our walks and were not disappointed in terms of excitement but it seems the OS maps stopped working on that day and we found ourselves on the wrong paths a fair few times but after some brilliant map reading, and a small bit of running, we made it just in time and were rewarded with a well earned steam train ride all the way back to Plas Dolygaer, or a mile away from it at most.

Today was the trip home and we had all of us had an incredible week and didn’t want to leave but we were excited about being home again. With all our belongings packed we set off and drove all the way back to Letchworth remembering what a great time we’d had and looking forward to what’s in store next year.

I want to say a big thank you to all the leaders who took us on this camp and everyone who raised money towards it. I enjoyed it so much and I look forward to next year.

Tristan
We’ve arrived back after an amazing week at Plas Dolygaer, a scout site in the Brecon Beacons. During the week we’ve all been climbing, pony trekking, hillwalking and played cutthroat games of spoons. We also went on a two day canoe expedition on the River Wye and bivvied overnight on the riverbank under canoes and tarps. Thanks to the canoe and climbing instructors from School Camp and the riding instructors from Cantref for ensuring everyone had an excellent time.

The photos have been uploaded on the Albums page link.