1st Stocksbridge Scouts

This year was the turn of York for our Troop day out. Yorks a great place to visit and with so many attractions. The day started with a little drizzle in Meadowhall car park and an anxious wait for the ticket office to open. Luckily the train was delayed - staff shotages, and we managed to catch the one we wanted. A quick change at Doncaster station where the scouts managed to 'entertain' other travellers with Jambo before 'treeing' a passing train.

On arrival at York we went straight to the Railway Museum, where the patrols were challenged to come up with a guides speech about one of the exhibits. As usual this involved loads of blood and guts. We had lunch outside before all the scouts went on the miniature railway. They said it would only seat 12 but we proved them wrong although the driver wasn't as enthusiastic as our kids!

 In the afternoon we walked into York before the scouts played Where's Wally orour version, Where's Nick. Its surprising how hard it is to spot Nick in the crowd. Em And N do blend in more easily though! Eventually they found them and we split up, half going to Gamestation and the other half to Borders!. Then after ice creams (most welcome considering the heat) we went wall walking where we serended a group of tourist with the Pirate Song and Beaver Jive.

A short stop, well it should have been, at Maccydees (How can they call it fast food when you wait for a half hour to get it!) and it was back to the station top catch the slow train to Sheffield. It stopped at nearly every stop on the way back.  Some of the scouts listened to music, others played games whilst quite a few took the time to meditate (well sleep). Next year it should be Scarborough!

The Scout troop had another great time on the river at Oughtibridge. The weather was great although some were complaining that it was cold, but thats Young Leaders for you! Everyone who went was taken down rapids and whitewater before they paddled in the calm waters and played canoe football.

More photos are are our photosite and on smugmug.

It was to be 25 hours of activity starting Friday night at 7pm. We all met up, along with another 80 scouts from the district, at the Greno Woods car park. Once again the weather was kind to us and it was a lovely spring evening. We entered 3 patrols in the night hike and they were all allocated a leader from one of the other groups.

We set off and along the way from the woods to Chapeltown the daylight turned to night. Patrols had to do various tasks along the way. These included minefields, finding cars, making a bivvy. All the patrols managed to navigate from start to finish, some taking in more sights than others . All too soon the walk was over and we were back at Chapeltown. It was then down to sleep (well into sleeping bags anyway). At 6.30 we were all wakened by a loud leader (not one of ours) and soon breakfast was being eaten.

The morning consitered of a trip to Hesley and then the Outdoor Cooking Competition. We competed with 17 other teams for the Outdoor Cooking Trophy. Our group served up a traditional breakfast with bacon, sausage, black pudding, egg, tomatoes and toast. The fires were brilliant, no problems starting and with the wood we'd cut no problems with fuel as well. Howver we just failed to get in the top three. This is a vast improvement from last years event and so a real plus point.

The afternoon saw the cubs and beavers joing us and a competition was held between all teams in the district. A good time was had by all as the scouts ran from one base to another trying out all that they could.

After Pie and Peas the formal part of the day was starting with the renewal of Promise followed by a fantastic campfire. After this we invested Liam into the scouts by the dying embers of the fire. All in all a great 25 hours adn then it was off to bed for a well earned sleep.

Check out the photos in our gallery and also the video of the campfire here.

This summer we have a fantastic three days of activities planned for the Scout Section. It's being dubbed a 'home' camp, because we're going home after all the activities!

On day one we're spending a full day at Underbank Activities centre doing canoeing, rafting, water activities. The second day we're exploring South Yorkshire by public transport with a special stop at a go-kart track to do 25 laps. On the third day it's off to Hesley Wood to do some climbing, caving, sledging and backwoods cooking. This will be followed by a campfire to which the parents will be invited to witness the awards ceremony.

The cost for this marvellous adventure opportunity ? Just £20 a head! This is only possible because of a very generous grant from the Bridge Shop. Many thanks to them for this fantastic gift.

If you want to attend, please sign up as soon as possible. Our scouts will get first pick at the places but we hope to open it up to other scouts in Stocksbridge if there are enough spaces.