On Saturday 1st August, 24 Cubs, Scouts & Explorers along with 5 Leaders met at the Sea Terminal for the start of Summer Camp 2015, after everyone had checked in with the Leaders, all bags were loaded onto the boat, shortly after 3pm the Manannan left Douglas for Liverpool. The sailing was pretty calm and uneventful; during the sailing the Cubs & Scouts played card games and generally chatted to one another. Once we had arrived in Liverpool and got onto the coach, it was time to set off to the Campsite, it only took about 1 hour to get to the campsite; we had to be dropped off at the local pub as the coach could not get down the narrow road to the campsite (it was only a 10 minute walk) and all the bags were transported to the site in the Linnet Clough Van. Once we had arrived on site, we had a quick briefing and let everyone know the plan for the week, and what patrols they would be in. After everyone had unpacked there stuff away we played some wide games in the nearby field before having supper and then off to bed.
On Sunday after breakfast, the Cubs, Scouts & Explorers were split into 3 groups where we went on the cave bus (a single decker bus converted into a mini cave), shooting and archery, everyone had a really good time and the highlight of the morning was definitely the cave bus as this was something different that the young people had not done before. In the afternoon we went raft building and canoeing on the nearby lake, where almost everyone got slightly wet and muddy. For dinner that evening was spaghetti bolognaise which went down a treat, we were also joined by 3 other Leaders that evening and everyone played Danish Longball and Man Hunt on the fields nearby.
On Monday after cereal and toast for breakfast, it was time to head to Stockport where we have 2 hours of climbing, at Awesome Walls, all Cubs, Scouts & Explorers had a go at traversing and conquering some of the really high climbing walls, everyone did really well and impressed the instructors and the leaders, after lunch in the local park it was time for swimming for a couple of hours at the local swimming pool. Once everyone was tired enough and clean we walked into Stockport town centre and the Cubs, Scouts & Explorers had some free time in the city centre and ventured into shops including Primark, Sports Direct and Pound Land. In the evening we had another game of Danish Longball and play some Man Hunt Games.
Tuesday was an all day hike for all Cubs, Scouts & Explorers after we had breakfast, flag break and inspection the Cubs, Scouts & Explorers were split into 3 Groups, and the Cubs & Explorers were dropped off first at their various locations and had to walk back to the campsite, and then the Scouts were also dropped off. It was a lovely day for the hike as was cloudy and not too sunny, everyone did really well and most of the hikes were finished by 4.30pm. After dinner we watched a film and some Scouts & Explorers played some card games before having Supper and then retired to their bed.
Wednesday was a very early start as we had to be at the local pub to catch the coach at 8am, so most of the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers had a wakeup call at 6.45am as breakfast was at 7am, after inspection Steve realised that the coach was in fact picking us up at 8.30am, so we managed to play a game of Danish longball before heading to the coach. Once we had arrived at Alton Towers, the Cubs, Scouts & Explorers were split into groups and were allowed to wander around the park by themselves, we were very lucky that the park was quiet as we managed to go on the bigger rides 2 or 3 times and the longest queue was only 25 minutes or so. We met at the Burger Kitchen for lunch where Burgers & Chips went down very well and to make sure everyone was having a great time, once everyone had their lunch everyone went back into their groups for the afternoon, we all met again at the entrance for 4.30pm where we had a packed tea before heading back to the campsite. In the evening, yet again another game of Danish longball was played along with the usual man hunt games, then we had supper before everyone heading to bed.
On Thursday, everyone was treated to a lie in; we were doing onsite activities this morning, the Cubs, Scouts & Explorers were split into 2 Groups, half of the group did some orienteering around the campsite and the other half had to conquer the Cube (the Cube is a high ropes course on site), everyone enjoyed this despite the waiting around waiting for others to complete the course. In the afternoon one group went on the mini assault course on site, while the other group went grass sledging, everyone seemed to have a good time. During the afternoon a couple of the Explorers got covered in flour and beans due to getting the Leaders wet the previous date, both the Explorers took this in good humour and laughed about it later on in the evening. After Dinner we challenged some Scouts & Explorers from Scotland to a mass game of Danish Longball, everyone had a really good time and it got very competitive, however 2nd Onchan triumphed and were the eventual winners. We then joined in with their campfire and took part in some skits and some of their campfire songs, all the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers have a great time and enjoyed taking part in a joint camp fire and game.
It was another early start on Friday as we were off to Jump Nation in Manchester, some of the Older Scouts, Explorers and Leaders were dropped off at the bus stop to get the bus to Manchester and the other half were transported in the minibus to Jump Nation. We had 2 hours at Jump Nation (139 trampolines all joined together), everyone had a great time, and most of the Leaders joined in this activity. In the afternoon we had a couple of hours walking around the Science & Industry museum, it was just a shame that everyone was shattered and that not all the interactive activities were on. It was a quiet ride home, as mostly everyone was asleep which made my ride very quiet indeed, once everyone had arrived back onsite, we had dinner (chips and pizza). After dinner we had a review of the week and went through everyone’s highlights and the activities that they didn’t enjoy – the highlight was definitely Jump Nation & Alton Towers and no one seemed to enjoy the hike (for some reason). In the evening we played more Man Hunt games before everyone heading to bed.
On Saturday everyone was woken up to the smell off a full English breakfast (not really it was done by Leaders waking everyone up by making lots of noise with pans). After a clean-up of the building it was time for a few group photos before everyone travelling back on the coach to Heysham to catch the 2.15pm, the boat journey was fine and got into Douglas shortly after 6pm, where all Cubs, Scouts and Explorers were picked up by their parents.
It was a good week away and many new activities for the Cubs, Scouts & Explorers to try, a big thanks to all the Leaders who helped during the week (Steve, Alex, Rob, John, Aleyn, Charlotte & George)
Report by Andrew Galka CSL