The 40th Leicester Scouts and Cubs had their summer camp in Devon at Collard Bridge Scout Campsite. Despite mixed weather, everyone had a great time. Activities included pioneering, boulder wall climbing, games, and rescuing older scouts from a mole in their tent. On Tuesday the group went to Exmoor for map and compass skills. Wednesday was spent at the National Aquarium in Plymouth and Tinside Lido. Thursday was spent doing activities at camp due to rain, like the assault course, whittling, and cooking over fires. The group returned safely on Friday after a week of camping adventures.

1. 40th Leicester (Anstey & Newtown Linford) Scouts and Cubs have
just spent their Summer Camp in Devon at Collard Bridge Scout
Campsite, near Snapper in Devon. Despite the very mixed weather
everyone had a fantastic time… Here’s how the camp progressed…
GSL Jacqui eventually arrived at the campsite at 3.30am on Saturday
morning after a 9 hour trip due to a blow out on the trailer.
With the help of the lead team the tents were pitched and the
kitchen ready for the cubs and scouts to arrive on the Sunday.
Once everyone was settled we had wide
games and chill time on the Sunday night.
By Monday the weather was not improving,
so pioneering, and the boulder wall became
the order of the day. Sadly, the beach was
out of the question. More games and we
had to rescue the older scouts from their
house guest… a mole!
New skills like washing up were also learnt!
Tuesday saw us head to Exmoor and Simonsbath. Again the weather was
bright and sunny one minute and downpours the next, but all in all we
practiced our map and compass skills and found our way back to the
start. In the evening the scouts had a go at crate stacking and the cubs
just had more chill time and an early night ready for the next big day.

2. The National Aquarium at Plymouth
followed by the Tinside Lido were the
order of Wednesday. Finally, we had a dry
day and spent a great time looking at
sharks, rays, plaice, coral and little
jellyfish, before jumping into the freezing
waters of the lido. The lido staff were
amazing and we were able to eat fish &
chips and stay at the lido to watch three
displays which were part of the National
Firework Championships. The Red Arrows
also gave us a fly past. We got back to
camp around 2am the next morning but
we’d had a fantastic day.
Once we staggered out of bed, Thursday was again spent dodging the downpours at the site ,
so instead of the planned activities the cubs enjoyed the assault course and we did other scout
things like whittling, woggle and whistle making, chopping wood and lots of backwoods
cooking using alter fires and a pizza oven.

3. Somehow we managed to break camp with most of
the kit just being damp not sodden… And we arrived
back to Anstey safe and sound Friday evening.
A massive thank you must go to Greg, Sarah, Andy, Neil, James, Anita, Amelia, Kim, Penny and Tom
for steering the scouts and cubs through the week.
And to the Cubs and Scouts who made it all worth while.
My favourite part of the camp was leading
the campfire, catching up with my sleep,
the FREEZING cold lido, the food and
finally, crate stacking for the first time.
I liked going on the assault course.
The best bit of the camp was the
boulder wall and the fireworks.
I loved the outdoor swimming pool and the
fireworks. I also enjoyed the wood carving and
axes. I thought I would hate the crate stacking
because I didn’t like it in the beginning, but I
ended up really enjoying it. I loved the fire
lighting.
Some quotes from the cubs, scouts and leaders are:
Enjoyed backwoods cooking, Exmoor walk, visiting Plymouth. It was nice to see everyone enjoying
themselves and learning new skills. Shame about the weather, but hey-ho, that’s camping!
Scout Ashley led the campfire to see us through
for the final day.
Yours in Scouting, Jacqui Yeomans Proud GSL of 40th Leicester