Scouts – The Big Beach Clean Up

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We started of at the scout hut on Saturday morning, loaded up the mini bus for our weekend adventure, once all packed and ready we were on our way. On route we were treated to the tree top adventure at go ape in thetford. It was fun climbing through the trees, at the end of the course there was a zip wire to glide down.When we were finished at go ape we were on our way travelling to Norfolk. When we arrived at our destination the tents were set up by everyone. After a long drive we all enjoyed some chips for supper.The next day we were driven to the beach ready to start our big clean up, as we were collecting the litter we saw seals swimming in the sea. 4 big bags of litter were collected, we could not believe how much litter there was on the beach.I feel happy knowing that I have taken part in something good for the environment, and will continue to do my best in the future to cut down on waste, re-use, and recycle where possible.Thank you to all the scout leaders for giving us this opportunity.
Ryan 

Photos are on the website link

My amazing scout camp

By Dylan

I had only spent two weeks with the 8th Letchworth scout group before I went on my first camp with them. We were going to the Norfolk coast stopping at Thetford forest to do Go Ape and have lunch. It was a nice day with a slight breeze as I got on the minibus with nine other scouts, one being my friend Ciara from school.

It was a pleasant journey to Thetford forest and we arrived at around quarter past twelve. When we got there we found a suitable spot to eat lunch. We ate our lunch then some of the scouts went off and played table tennis.  Then, we were set to go and be apes…

For those who have never heard of Go Ape it’s a sort of  obstacle course but set about twenty metres up in the trees. Ciara and I set off up a winding staircase which led to a bridge which kept jutting off in different directions. We also had to make our way across: a net on its side, some swinging x-shaped platforms, a really wobbly bridge, some boat- shaped swingy things and much more but of course we were strapped on with a harness. Last was the zip-wire where we didn’t have a seat, our harnesses held us up. I took a deep breath and vaulted off the platform into infinity and beyond! I remember the soaring feeling while I was up there and then I skidded to a halt on a bark platform next to Ciara. I definitely enjoyed that.

It was a slightly more eventful journey after that as the scouts started out in a better mood and about half way we all started to get bored. Eventually, we turned round a corner and found ourselves in the car park for the place we were staying at which happened to be a girl-guiding centre. We drove into our field to find Jay (one of our leaders) already there! We got into pairs and pitched our tents.

It was a very nice place and included: a decent sized area for football, a trampoline, a bit of play equipment and a huge wooded area. We discussed what we were going to do and decided on hide-and- seek -it. I remember playing in there for a long time, running around with Will, Ciara, Ryan, George, Connor, Shaun, Nathan, Harrison and Cameron.

After lots of fun, the leaders called us over to the minibus and announced that we were going into Cromer for chips. That was definitely my favourite bit of the holiday. We were sitting around telling jokes and just mucking around. After what seemed like hours, the food arrived. I had ordered chips and onion rings seeing as I’m vegetarian. We ate our chips still chatting happily until it was about half past eight or nineish. When we got back, it was very starry and Ciara even spotted Orion’s belt. We hung around for a bit drinking hot chocolate and watching wild bats zoom around (they came very near us.) Finally, we went to bed.                   

The next day, we arose to a morning a bit chillier than yesterday but it was still sunny and not too cold for our beach clean-up. Gradually, the scouts woke up ( George and Connor having a wet tent problem) and we made breakfast. After that, we made lunch, took down our tents and jumped on the minibus. We had a nice journey to the seaside.

When we got there, a man kitted us out with all of our beach cleaning equipment and a drink (mine being fruit shoot.) We started out on the car park and then went down to the beach. It was a nice day so we cleaned for about an hour and a half. Next, we had lunch followed by ice cream. Ciara and I went in the sea for a paddle. After lots of playing we jumped into the minibus and zoomed home. I think everyone enjoyed that.        

Scouts Northumberland 2019 Camp Diary

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Day 1-  4/8/19

We got no the minibus at 7.30 and travelled for 2 hours then stopped at the services for a tea break for about 20mins. We travelled north for two and a half hours then stopped for lunch, then one more hour in the minibus and we arrived at around 3pm. We then made tomorrows lunch. We are now playing games while we watch the thunder storm.

Written by Sean and Ollie

Coasteering on the Northumberland Coast

Day 2-  5/8/19

We went canoeing in the morning and played games like Simon Says and Water Polo. Most of us got very wet and then we got our wetsuits on and drove to the sea for Coasteering. It was really fun and we got to jump off the rock pools into the sea, and sometimes we would swim through the different caves there were. It was really good and when we got back we had dinner and then played Water Pong in the evening.

Written by Will and James

Day 3-  6/8/19

The day of Phish and Crab. In the morning we had breakfast we had breakfast and then we route planned our trek. When it came to lunch we ate our food whilst playing cards, including Crap Trumps and Uno. Soon after we drove off into the distance on a Unicorn… Joke, we were boring and used a minibus. We then went crabbing, Ben caught the biggest crab. We carried on rock pooling until it was time to go fishing. Aimee, Kieron, Ben, Will and Alisha got onto the boat, one of the fishermen looked like Jake Paul with spots. We then went fishing. One the way back the boat was rocking in the big waves. The other group then went fishing while we had fish and chips.

Written by Alisha and Ben

Day 4-  7/8/19

At around 9.30 we left, didn’t leave completely, just to go hiking. This is how our group went hiking.

  • Walking throught heather.
  • Walking up steep hills and rock covered hills.
  • Everyone was eating my Squidets.
  • Having a shower at the ice cream van.
  • Ben falling a total of 43 times.
  • Will rolling down the hill multiple times.
  • Will and Ben sliding down the hills on their bums.
  • Aimee face planted.
  • Walking through rivers and streams.
  • Getting back 2 hours late.

Written by Alisha

This is how the younger groups hike went

  • We crossed a bridge over a river.
  • Then we walked up a steep hill.
  • We went to the forest and met Joe and Jay.
  • Then we had lunch.
  • We ended up getting lost.
  • Also it began to rain and all of us got drenched.
  • Then we went home

Written by Cameron and Rory

Day 5-  8/8/19

Shopping and Rock climbing. At around 9.45 in the morning we left to go shopping at a town called Alnwick. We started at Morrisons near the town centre and walked around in pairs. The town centre has a market that was open and a lot of local shops. But there were barely any souvenir shops. At about 11.30 we went to the rock climbing, we split into our walking groups and went climbing while the other group went abseiling. In abseiling we were about 20 meters up and there was a massive drop at the bottom (that part was quite tricky). In climbing we had to go up about 15 meters and there was a lot of hard to reach hand and foot holds making it very difficult, even more so for Will since he is small for a dwarf.

Written by Kieron and Cameron Mc

Day 6-  9/8/19

In the morning we did some route planning for tomorrows walk. This time Cameron joined the older group due to the fact his legs were fully functional. The Stand Up paddling boarding we had planned for the day was cancelled so we went to the beach. There we would be Coasteering and body boarding instead. But the sea was too rough and the tide to high to do either, so we drove to Newcastle and played some crazy golf. Mike beat Zeke (allegedly) and Mike and Joe came joint first. Alisha came last with a total of 114 points. Then we got home and had dinner. The End.

Written by Will

Day 7-  10/8/19

With an early start everyone got their bags prepped for a half day of hillwalking. For a change it was raining on arrival, but of course this did not stop us. Halfway through our walk Jay and me were to discover we had missed our first turning and ended up miles of course. In the process of finding our way back Sean and me decided to complete our swimming badge falling in a river. Everyone made their way through 3 Fords while in the process of our journey back to the minibus. The outcome of this walk was to never let Zeke map read ever again.

Written by Mae.

More photos from the trip available on the link on the photos page

Scout Trip to Coetmor Mill, Snowdonia

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Friday

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We arrived at the scout hut at 8:50 am (too early) and waited for everyone to arrive at the minibus so we could set off to Wales. Once everyone arrived we said goodbye to all of our parents and set off. The trip wasn’t that interesting but we stopped off at the services so we could have our lunch. We also saw our district leader Chris who would later join us. Once we set back off from the services we were instantly stuck in traffic. We didn’t get out of it for one hour. We finally managed to get into Wales (we could tell by not having any radio signal). We were travelling for what seemed like ages when we turned off to Coetmor Mill (Where we were staying). We unloaded all of the equipment off the trailer and settled in. Continue reading →

Scouts Orienteering in Wendover Woods

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On a chilly March Saturday we headed over to Wendover Woods for the day. We invested our two newest members and then set off on the orienteering course. Wendover Woods has a permanent orienteering course in place which is run by the Forestry Commission. The scouts split into two patrols for the day and split the map in half so they could cover as much as possible. It was cold and muddy but they kept moving and warm. There were a couple of hiccups where the paths had been closed off while they are building new tracks but the patrols negotiated these and managed a tally of 11 out of the 17 markers during the day which was fantastic and required some skilled navigation.

Scouts – Winter Camp @ Gilwell, January 2018

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Winter Camp was great! It was full of good experiences which were fun and helpful. Three of 8th Letchworth went and we were joined with two other groups – 2nd Baldock and 5th Letchworth which made it better because we got to meet new people from around the District.
When we first got there we set up our tents and then wandered around to get to know the place. The rest of the weekend was packed with exciting activities like: Freefall, Giant Swing, Bungee Jumping, Quadbiking, Segways, Horse Riding, White Water Rafting, Kayaking/Canoeing, Jacobs Ladder, Games, Air Bag and many more.
What made the camp great was that there were those many activities available for us to do when we wanted so we could pick and choose.
We were very well fed and looked after by the leaders of the three groups who were all upbeat and kind to us. Plus the food was delicious! This camp also enhanced our skills of being independent and many other things.
I most definitely would want to do it again and when I do I will try out some new activities which I didn’t have time to do as there were so many! I would like to say thank you to everyone who made it overall an amazing experience! they include organizers and leaders. I will be back!
Ginny

Slytherin triumph @ Quidditch Tournament

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Scouts took part in a Quidditch tournament on the last Thursday evening of this term. Two teams, Hufflepuff and Slytherin, competed to win the coveted honour of Champion Quidditch team 2017
All three matches played were extremely close. The Beaters on both teams did a good job preventing the Chasers from scoring too many goals, and after two games it was one win apiece. In the deciding third game scores were level on 20 each when the Golden Snitch was released. In the final moments, just as Hufflepuff’s Seeker went to grab the Golden Snitch she came off her broomstick and Slytherin’s Seeker zoomed in and snatched the victory.
The evening was finished off in style with a BBQ.
The scouts have been getting fit and learning Quidditch as part of their Skills Challenge this term. Photos of all the action are on the Photos link.

Scouts Expedition Challenge & Backwoods Camp

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This weekend we started to get our Expedition Badge. To do this we had to plan our route to our Backwoods Camp at Harmergreen Wood Campsite. We also had to plan our way back to 8th Letchworth Scout Hut.
We started at Letchworth Garden City train station and we got on the train to Stevenage. At this point we changed over train to Hertford. We got off the train and decided which way we were going to go.
Our walk started very uphill. Every ten minutes we stopped to check our maps. After a while we ventured into the woods. We were walking in the woods for about an hour and a half and then we came to open fields.
Every once in a while we stopped to change the person holding and looking at the map. We entered into Harmergreen but misplaced the campsite and spent a bit more time looking for it.
Eventually we got to the campsite and soon went to bed.
Next morning we had cereal and bacon sandwiches for breakfast. Later we made shelters which we would be sleeping in that night. We made them with tarpaulin and rope and a tree. We made them in pairs. Then after that we had lunch. We had hot dogs from the dutch oven with a side of crisps and soup.
After lunch we made fires and cooked cookies on the best fire. Then some people went over to the axing place and did a lot of axing. Peter and Zeke made a hammock which we all had fun swinging on.
We woke up early on a beautiful Sunday morning. Me and my shelter mate (Eva) got our clothes and changed in the bathroom. We then walked back to the shelter and packed our stuff away making sure that our rubbish was packed away. After, we packed our shelter away.
After that we sat by the fire. For breakfast we had bacon sandwiches. When we had finished most of us played manhunt. After about an hour of playing manhunt we headed back to the campsite. We collected everything and set off.
As soon as we set off we had to find our way back out of the forest which was a lot easier than finding our way to our camp.
We walked past the bog – fond memories, and started walking through the fields. We eventually got to Welwyn North and had a refreshing drink while waiting for our train
We finally got on the train and started seeing sights we are familiar with. We then got off the train and had to do more walking back to the scout hut. We eventually made it back and went home.
Report written by
Eva, Ryan, Mary, Ben, Millie, Will, Abbie, Aimee, Alisha, Kieron and Ginny

Cubs & Scouts on Norton Common

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We were invited to help the Friends of Norton Common with their conservation work within Norton Common, after a brief health and safety talk on using the tools we set to work.  We started by sawing some tree stumps down to ground, then we went on to help by cutting down scrub, they had a bonfire going to burn all the scrub. All the work being done is to clear the dead trees and plants and allow the remaining trees to grow better, also to make space to plant new trees, they had already planted some oak trees. Some of the cut tree trunks are used to make homes for wildlife and creepy crawlies. The conservation work is done this time of year as when it gets to spring all the birds and wildlife start nesting. It was really good being outdoors and seeing how much of a difference the hard work makes. 

Ryan

Photos have been uploaded and are on the link on the photos page

Scouts Green Beret 2016

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20161119_080936aOn Friday the 18th of November 2016, our team arrived at our part of the campsite. Claire & Lesley had very kindly put up our tents and the mess tent so that we could unpack straight away. After we had unpacked and ‘settled in’, we talked to some other people from different groups that we knew. After an hour or so of talking to other groups we went back into our mess tent to discuss what was happening the next Continue reading →

Scouts Cyclist Badge

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20161008_093624aOver the last couple of weeks we’ve been learning bike maintenance and cycled along NCN Route 51 to Priory Park in Bedford. We had a great, trouble free day out (apart from Zeke’s puncture and Stan’s chain both of which were sorted and didn’t stop us), we had lunch by Priory Lake and invested our newest scout and had a look at Willington Lock as we went by on the way back to Sandy. Photos are on the link on the Photos page.