This year’s summer camp took place at Ferny Crofts Scout activity centre.
The week started well with weather staying very pleasant for us to set up our tents. This was after we had to wait an hour to get onto the campsite! Saturday is a busy day for new arrivals, so we sat and had our lunches whilst the congestion went down.
Tents went up at a… leisurely pace and by the time they were done everyone was ready for some food. The standard of cooking was very good throughout the week, especially considering the number of scouts who were on their first camp.
Our first rain arrived on Monday, and it really let us know it was there! By the end of Tuesday everybody had we clothes to deal with and we had to pick up and move a patrol tent after its former location was suddenly below the water level! Another patrol tent was protected by some hasty digging to create a deep soakaway area. After the tents had been dealt with, our ever-energetic (and penguin-loving) young leaders set to work in the drying tent. It was a thankless task, with 4 gas burners being used to get the inside hot and dry out kit, but over the next 24 hours they rotated wet clothes in and dry clothes out, so that everyone had dry clothes once again.
Among the activities of the week were a night hike, a cycle ride through the forest, rifle shooting, crate stacking and several others. The sun finally returned to us on our last day so that we could pack away mostly dry tents!! The journey home was uneventful and hopefully all the scouts went home happy and worn out (I know us leaders did!)