6th Bracknell Scout Group
Easter Camp
Phasels Wood 13 April - 18 April 2014

Friday

Happy Birthday Archie!

The last night on camp was spent making and eating s’mores, before turning in, ready for the final day. We started with a continental breakfast & birthday wishes for Archie, before packing up kit and making the bedrooms tidy.

Our final activity was potholing which takes place in two tunnels under the main field. The first has an entrance and an exit, with an access hatch half-way. The second is much longer, but with smaller pipes and goes in a circle with a shared entrance and exit.

Everybody went through the first tunnel (including Disco, Techno and Akela) at least once and most people completed the second tunnel also.

After this we finished packing up the camp site, and then had some lunch, with lots of cakes.

When the parents had arrived, we closed the camp in the traditional manner with awards and prizes, before sending the children off. Another great camp, made even better by the weather – not a single drop of rain fell on us the whole week!

All the leaders would like to thank the children for their excellent behaviour and for joining-in with all of the activities, and we look forward to seeing you next term.

Click here for photos.

Thursday

Happy Birthday Techno!

Today, we had our first indoor activity which was the rolling rock and traverse wall. The rolling rock is a computer controlled device which tilts backward and forward to create a different wall each time. We all got into pairs and while two people were climbing on the rolling rock, the rest were traversing around the room trying not to touch the floor.

After a hot dog lunch, followed by birthday cake we sadly waved goodbye to Millie & wished her good luck in her Sadler’s Wells performance.

This afternoon we went for a hike down the lane and across the field for about 4Km, during which time we saw some fantastic houses, but not very much wildlife – just a single rabbit and some kites, but we heard loads of birdsong!

For dinner we hand-made pizzas with ham, cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, pineapple and pepperoni on burger buns. These were a real hit – it was a shame there weren’t more! Pudding was jelly and cream (proper birthday food!)

After dinner, we all went across to the track and raced pedal cars into the twilight. A final campfire with more s’mores will bring another jam-packed day at camp to a close.

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Wednesday

Quidditch was really fun last night – we played until we couldn’t see properly and had a really good game. Millie caught the snitch (Francesca) to win the game for her team. Thank you to the Explorers for organising and running it.

This morning, we did a Harry Potter themed scavenger hunt, where we had to find 8 items hidden in the “Forbidden Forest”. Most people found at least four or five, but Sam was the first back with all 8 items.

After lunch the Cubs went out to the Bucks County Museum and the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery where they went up the great glass elevator, inside the giant peach and appeared on bogglevision. They spent some money on souvenirs, had a really great afternoon and behaved impeccably - Akela was very proud. Thanks to Nala for coming with us.

Meanwhile, the Scouts and Explorers did crate stacking where they had to build a stack of crates as high as possible while standing on the top (with a harness and rope of course). Francesca and Becky both got up to 17 crates high, before toppling the stack.

After the Cubs returned we all enjoyed an ice cream in the sunshine – what a novelty at camp!

The Explorers had an extra activity before dinner: climbing the ice wall. Not made of real ice, but of high density polystyrene. They used ice picks and crampons to scale the side of the abseiling wall. As he will be an Explorer after Easter, Seán joined them for this activity too.

A very busy day today with more to come tomorrow...

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Tuesday

Last night we spent a few hours sitting round the camp fire, telling stories and jokes.

Today, after breakfast, we all went climbing with two walls to try; one vertical brick built wall, and one concrete wall at a slight angle. Most people had a go on both walls and several made it to the top.

While one group was climbing, the other group was performing a camp site service which in this case was tidying round the hut ready for painting. We cleaned the paths, swept the cobwebs from the cladding and trimmed the hedge by the path. When that was finished, we swapped groups and the second group cleaned up outside the camp office and providore.

After lunch, everybody who wanted to, had at least one go on the zip wire - some people went three or four times. Some fantastic poses were seen, including several “stars”, superheroes & one “hanging man”!

Tonight the Explorers will be running a game of Quidditch on the field in keeping with our Harry Potter theme.

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Monday

Everybody had a great night’s sleep last night after the wide game. We were all up by 7.30, ready for breakfast and our first activity.

Group A started off with air rifle shooting while Group B was doing archery, then after an hour they swapped over. Rifle shooting was good but hard according to Kyle, while Seán says archery was better than shooting.

After lunch we all went down to the Cresta Run - wheeled toboggans on a wooden track. After everyone had had a few turns, we did a knock-out competition which was won by Millie. They then chose who to race against which led to some fun competitions – Josh v Leon and Oliver v Disco, for example!

Tonight we're looking forward to sausage & mash for dinner, and then we have a choice of activities before bed.

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Sunday

Welcome to Easter Camp 2014! The theme this year is Harry Potter. Each bedroom has a "House" and points will be awarded during the week. Check the roll to see which house your child is in.

This afternoon we sorted out the rooms, then spent a long time playing in the SUNSHINE! After dinner we had a wide game on the field so hopefully we might sleep tonight!

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Sixth Bracknell Easter Camp

Welcome to the Easter Camp mini-site. Use the navigation bar to view information about the camp.

During the camp week, we will endeavour to update the mini-site on a daily basis with information and pictures of the young people's activities.

Click here for the Phasels Wood web site.