Camping in the seat of the Giants!!

The weekend of September 14th to the 16th saw 224 Machester Cubs and Scouts head off to camp at Giants Seat Campsite in Radcliffe.

The Cubs were about to compete in our very own 224 Olympics (with some assistance from the scouts!). But that was for the Saturday! Friday saw the cubs and scouts allocated their respective countries for the weekend and, following our Opening Ceremony (complete with fireworks!!) proceed to produce their own versions of the Olympic Rings. With lots of glue and glitter a merry mess was made - but in the end 4 lots of olympic rings were presented. 

What seemed to be a highlight of the weekend with most of the Cubs was their chance to participate in a 'Wide game'. The cubs (and scouts) had to attack the base whilst a leader stood sentry with a torch. Whether it was the enjoyment of the game or the fact that they were able to crawl about in mud and undergrowth in the woods, they all wanted to play again and again.

After a noisy night - in which many sweets were 'probably' eaten - the bleary eyed cubs were woken on Saturday morning for their breakfast of champions (bacon, sausage and beans!). After a quick kit inspection the events got underway. The Cubs took part in individual events such as Long Jump, Welly Throwing, Javelin and Sprint which would all contribute to their teams overall placings. Lots of effort was exerted (by most!) and the olympic spirit was adhered to. 

 

 

After a break for lunch (fire cooked burgers - courtesy of the Scouts... well the scout leaders anyway!) the team games got underway which concluded with a Tug of War. This Tug of War also included the cubs and scouts competing against the leaders and helpers - thankfully the leaders won both bouts... just about!!

Saturday evening saw our now traditional camp fire take place in the wonderful setting of within the woods. With plenty of sketches and songs led by Akela everybody enjoyed themselves. Though I don't know which was brighter - the camp fire or Akela's sunburn!! And when the cubs went to bed - they miraculously went to sleep almost straight away! It's amazing what fresh air and exercise can do!

 

 

Sunday morning saw the final countdown to the end of this particular camp and the cubs had a short but exhilarating hike to look forward to. Involving walking in the woods and crossing rivers - this would surely work up an appetite for their sunday lunch of roast beef and yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings!

 

As the camp came to a close, the heavens began to open (though we can't grumble - this was the first spot of rain all weekend). At the closing ceremony the results of the Olympic Games were announced along with the winning team (see results below), and every member of the camp received their 'medal' - a 2012 cup filled with chocolates!

And then it was off home.... for cubs to be reunited with their parents, and for leaders to get a well earned rest!!

 

Thank you to all the cubs who attended and took part - and also a big 'Thank You' to the parents of cubs who came along and helped out in any way (whether by staying the weekend or simply driving cubs to and from camp). And one final 'Bravo' to Lottie and Amy our two girls who decided after the first night indoors that they would rather be outside in a tent! Well done girls!

Olympic Results

Individual Winners

Shot Putt (distance of 26.3m)  - Louis Tudor 

Javelin (distance of 14m)  - Spencer Bowker

Long Jump (distance of 2.8m)  - Daniel Todd

Discus (distance of 27.2m)  - Louis Tudor

Welly Throwing (distance of 12.1m)  -Zach Cherrington

Sprint - Daniel Todd

Tug of War Winners

Australia

Final Team Placings

1st place - China

Daniel Plant; Louis Tudor; Jack Edmunds; Luke Mackey; George Brash

2nd place - Australia

Nathan Hull; Billy Cooper; Joseph Taylor; Zach Cherrington

3rd place - USA

Spencer Bowker; Thomas Reeves; Elliot Aitken-Clarke; Amy Tapper

4th place - Great Britain

Kyle Bickerton; Daniel Todd; Callum Parkinson; Lottie Cunningham; Seb Heywood

Phil
Assistant Cub Leader

Scouts Giant's Seat Camp

GIANT'S SEAT CAMP - SCOUTS

What a great weekend, and god was looking down on us and decided to give us a whole weekend of nice weather, the rain finally coming down 10 minutes before we left to go home!

The weekend started early for James and Anthony, staying over an extra night to prepare some of the kit, followed by a full day with Wendy and Martin putting up tents.

The Scouts were impeccably well behaved all weekend, and were kind enough to look after some of the younger cubs (some of whom were a little home sick).

The Friday started with an integrated introduction to the weekend, with teams split into their Olympic Countries.  Friday night activities included, amongst other things, a competition to produce an Olympic ring collage.  I just can't understand why someone would bring glitter for the cubs and scouts to use?! (Let's just say you live and learn..... and I won't be doing that again!)

Phil and Anthony led the group off into the woods for some wide games (attack the base),and everyone enjoyed themselves.  There were some ingenious methods of getting to the top (from crawling through the undergrowth, to hiding behind the leaders legs as they walked!)

Friday night and, as per usual, all the cubs were giddy kippers, and it was into the small hours before the last one eventually started to snore.

No rest for the wicked though, and Wendy was round the tents at the crack of dawn (banging the spoon and pan!) and everyone was up, bright eyed and bushy tailed (of a fashion!).

The Scouts started to explore the sight and commenced some pioneering projects for all to use throughout the weekend.  These included a Washing-up stand (complete with bowl and drying board!), a separate water bowl, cooking tripod to heat water, erected the mess tent and..... lit the weekend fire!  This fire was to be the focus of attention for the majority of the Scouts, and they did a sterling job of keeping lit all weekend (well, almost).  The cubs were like fireflies around their projects, and the Scouts did everyone proud by maintaining a clean and safe camp fire site.

The BBQ was lit and The Scouts (well, Scout leaders, as the Scouts were more interested in erecting some tyre swings - which turned out to be a great feature and very sturdy!  Well done) commenced with cooking the burgers.

The cubs assisted by trying to get horse chestnuts (which compromised throwing sticks, shoes and even Callum up the tree to get some conkers down!)


Saturday night and, after an excellent sing-along campfire, the scouts ensued on a night time hike.  Very enjoyable, ducking under the colony of bats and overcoming the steep hill climbs, being rewarded with hot-chocolate and toasted marshmallows! yum (once they had cooled!)

Saturday evening was a complete opposite, with most of the cubs falling asleep at the tables.  I've never seen them so quiet!  ( a job well done I say).

Sunday was another cracking day.  Started a bit glum by having to take some of the camp down, but another hike with Phil and Anthony, followed by some Orienteering, topped off a great weekend!

We did feedback last night, and some of the comments of 'awesome' and 'great' show that it was worth all the hard work.  (I don't think I agree with the comments about the food being yuk?  That was the finest corned beef hash I've ever tasted!)

Looking forward to the next camp!
Anthony