County Night Hike March 2010
A terrific but cold evening greeted 42 Scout teams from across Greater London South West to the annual County Night Hike around Box Hill, five of which were from 3rd Hampton Hill. Our teams were:
Clones – Eddy F and Rosie J leading Ella, Annie, Lily and James H
Talons 1 – Rhiannon and Will H leading Becky, Joss, Lewis and Henry
Talons 2 – Ben M and James R leading Matt, Josh, Tom and Jack M
Talons 3 – Ruth and Will W leading Lucy, Owain, Isac and Monish
Claws – Chris and Jamie leading Jack S, Jonathon, George W and George M
Paul F, Simon, John, Sarah, Paul C and Dave M were manning base 5 and were really pleased as the evening wore on to see all five of our teams successfully to and through our base, with Ruth’s team being the only ones all night to score a maximum 25 on our mega-bagatelle.
After just a few hours of snatched sleep, the results were announced. Of the 42 teams that started, only 30 completed the course including all five of our teams which is a great advert for 3HH’s orienteering abilities:
Eddy leading a young mixed team turned in with 15th place, walk time 4 hours 363 points
Ruth walk time 3:07 hours 424 points and Rhiannon’s teams walk time 3:10 hours 424 points tied at 11th place
Chris (first time leader with a young team) came in a brilliant 6th, walk time 2:51 hours 457 points
Ben M led his team to an immense 5th, walk time 2:57 hours 458 points
Although we had high hopes this year this is still an excellent result and just shows that however good an navigator you are, you still need luck with the base activities.
(So only one question remains….. With Paul, Paul, John and Sarah returning to base and falling into bed at 2am, what had happened to Simon and Dave? Well Simon had been mobile all evening sweeping up lost teams and was last seen leaving our base as tail-end-Charlie behind the last team walking. Well when they got to the last base, our map and compass expert trusted the base residents and walked off in the direction indicated. Suffice to say Simon and Dave finally turned in at 3.15am after an unintended tour of the countryside around Box Hill much to the amusement of the county team. I have to say to his credit that he did own up straight away this morning which was just as well as the organisers gave away his otherwise secret excursion immediately upon seeing us this morning! Just a little advice Simon, use your compass and always take a bearing!)
Well done to all the teams and thanks to our adult leaders who enjoyed another foot stamping evening in the cold. Next year…….