3rd Hampton Hill Scouts do the Peak District, Gradbach Summer 2010
..and that’s Gradbatch not Gradback for the unitiated! Well as advised this was always going to be a different camp, however finding out belatedly that we were camped in one of the wettest places in England was mildly disappointing although it didn’t stop any of the activities; I suppose the family of ducks lodging with us for the week should have given us a clue!
So what did we do? Well the photos tell the story, however:
• We built bridges across the river (otherwise known as the milk fridge) and whilst one wasn’t as safe as we’d like so was taken back down again, the other one lasted all week (despite a few broken spars courtesy of some of the leadership team).
• We went to Alton Towers for the day and whilst it rained all day back at site, we only had a few light showers and an excellent day. We came away with tired Scouts, two giant bananas and a fish! A troop poll later that day voted ‘Air’ as the best ride despite the attractions of Nemesis, 13, Oblivion and Rita.
• It rained
• We made ovens out of cardboard and foil to cook pizzas and one of them didn’t catch fire!
• It drizzled
• We went rock climbing and bouldering on The Roaches, a recognised climbing area just down the road from the site set in beautiful Peak District scenery.
• There was some precipitation
• We went fishing at Danebridge Trout Farm, caught our own fish, beat their brains out, had them gutted and took them home to cook on the fire. Well done to Ben M for being the only Scout to cook his using the wet paper method, all the rest using foil. Mega-fresh Rainbow Trout is an absolute treat for the taste-buds.
• We had a mini patrol Olympics with the winners earning extra pennies for their patrol meal
• We went on a day hike round Castleton (and only one of the patrols went a little off route) with a visit to Speedwell Cavern involving an underground boat ride to see the cavern.
• We took down our tents Friday with the aim of sleeping in shelters for our last night and then suffered torrential rain from 4pm that soaked everything in sight, including the dinners the Scouts were trying to cook and resulted in a final adventure sleeping in the onsite converted barn and an indoor campfire.
• We played wide games or silly games every evening
• We had an utterly fantastic time
My thanks again to my brilliant leadership team of Sara, Clare, Rich, John H, John W, Andy, Paul B, Paul C, Charles, Pete, Simon, Darrell and Mark, especially on the Friday night when they stripped, tidied and cleaned site until midnight whilst we bedded the Scouts down in the Barn. I’ll leave the final words to the Scouts themselves…
Vicky B – “Fun, fun, fun! I loved Summer Camp. Fishing, climbing, speed cavern, hiking and Alton Towers. Despite the sometimes wet weather we had a week that words cannot describe! Thank you to all the Leaders and helpers for making it happen.”
Chris B – “Just wanted to say gr8 camp, rainy but gr8, loved doing the climbing on real rock! and it was funny to threaten them with a skillet or a billy as a joke to get them moving! Every 1 found it funny and the climber actually went faster! lol.
-VERY clean camp site as well i think it was 1 of the cleanest which inspired me to take more showers in fact I had 3-4! That’s a record for me on camp!
Loved the ducks even tho they got in the way (I think you know what I mean 
…
-The cave was really good. It was funny cos on the way back I started chanting Charlie while rocking the boat (i wasn’t chanting Charles’s name, it is from Charlie and the unicorn (check it out on youtube)) and every scout on the boat joined in cos they knew what I was chanting about (don’t tell Charles tho).”
“Thank you for a fabulous camp. Alex really enjoyed the week and came home shining with energy and enthusiasm. The trout fishing and eating is the top story of the week. Amazing considering Alton Towers was also in the mix!”
James H – “my words about camp are that it was amazing as we had never been that far away before and was interesting to do real climbing and fishing for our own dinner. I would happily go again (the journey was a bit too long but still). Also I would also recommended if you go to the peak district you should go scrambling 1. it is great exercise and 2. it is great fun”