3rd Hampton Hill Scout Group

Without a single puncture in sight, 22 of 3HH’s Scouts and a large number of supporting adult leaders embarked on a frosty weekend’s adventurous expedition to Cobham.

It was a cracking couple of days ride and everyone did brilliantly.

The expedition was an incredible culmination of all the work we had done this term in partnership with “The Turning Hub” mobile bike club. 3HH’s Scouts are now well drilled in fixing punctures, adjusting gears / brakes, defensive riding techniques and riding around tricky slalom courses on dark rainy evenings! It’s hoped that one day they may even see fit to actually clean their bikes

All of the Scouts should be proud of nailing the 47km ride: 23km on the first day’s route with a further 24km on the second day. It’s definitely the furthest that many had ever cycled before. To top the weekend off we also tried out the new caving experience at Walton Firs. With nearly everyone having a go at clambering / crouching / kneeling / belly crawling around the inside of the tunnel complex, complete with dinosaurs and stalactites, it was declared it to be utterly fantastic.

Thanks to all the adult team that made this excellent weekend so very successful. And in particular, a huge thank you to Jonathan, Melissa and the rest of the star team at “The Turning Hub” who gave up so much of their time over many weeks to help 3HH’s Scouts achieve their cyclists activity badge.

If you’d like to see more of our cycling adventures please just click on the photo.

Although it was organised as a bit of an experimental format camp for us (just like BP’s original), 3HH’s Scouts more than rose to the occasion. This 30km round trip expedition was intended to give the Scouts a little more added adventure, try their hand at Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) style lightweight hiking and to generally mix things up a bit. And what a complete success!

We’ll add more photos when we have 2 minutes to gather ourselves, but as a quick snippet of what we got up to please click on the photo below…

(more…)

We’re aiming to run an event to earn our Expedition Challenge badge and maybe a few others as well. The dates for the camp are Saturday 24 – Monday 26 October 2009 which falls at the beginning of the October half term.

(more…)

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Sessions start again on Tuesday 29th January 2008.

The focus of this term will be training and preparation for both practise and real expeditions in the Spring and Summer.

An introductionary walk was held for the new Bronze and Silver groups to give them a taste of what it is like to navigate with a map, carry some kit on your back and make a meal when they arrived back at the hall.

The expedition started from Wimbledon Station, across Wimbledon Common, through Richmond Park and then back to Hampton Hill. The Silver team also put in an extra loop around the the Petersham and Ham water meadows.

Overall the Bronze team covered about 14 kms with the Silvers managing 17 kms. It was an excellent event and really helped to make much of what has been discussed in the ‘classroom’ a little more real.

You can click on the photo above to see more of the album.

Oh and if anyone does find the lost compass, we’ve love to get it back again!

Sat 1st Dec 2007. 1 Day Practice Hike. Starting in Wimbledon and finishing at 3HH HQ.

Expedition 2008 Dates:

Sat 29th and Sun 30th March 2008

Sat 3rd – Mon 5th May 2008

Sat 5th – Mon 7th July 2008 (this date is subject to change. Please check with Sue before finalising plans)