On the 28th of May to the 4th of June 2017 I had the best time of my life at Hesley Wood Scout Activity Centre. The Scouts (Grey Troop) all travelled down to Sheffield separately but as soon as the first people got there work started, unloading the van and putting it into piles of food, tents and bags may sound easy but in reality it was probably one of the most tiring activities from the week. After all the tents were up and jobs were done it was then time to finally relax.
On Monday, the group of people sleeping in tents were woken up to a wet and chilly morning. Jobs for the week were shared out, one being two people had to cook for the rest. This caused some panic due to them knowing their friends could not cook. Hopefully they’ve learnt some tips from that week. The groups were split into 2, group 1’s first activity was the obstacle course and group 2 had the cube booked. Because of the rain the obstacle course was extremely muddy which made it even funnier when you had to crawl through tiers and army crawl along the ground. The cube was an indoor maze where you had to crawl through tunnels and find the exit with barely any light. I think everyone is glad they had helmets on after hitting their heads on the low roofing.
Tuesday consisted of axe throwing and the climbing wall. Axe throwing was easy for some but for others it was very hard. Hitting an already well used target was a sign of a well enjoyed activity. On the concrete made climbing wall you had to climb up one side trusting your fellow Scout to catch you then absail down the other side. With time to spare before tea (evening meal) all the group minus the leaders loved to walk down to the field to play frisbee. We even made friends with a group of Cubs while helping them do their orienteering.
Wednesday was a quiet day besides from doing the zip line where you had to yell as you sped down the line. During our time waiting for something exiting to happen, many games of chess were played. Most of the time ‘back seat driving’ happened where other watching would yell out moves to any team to seem helpful.
Thursday the troop had a day off site. We went bowling. Some teams had the bumpers others showing that they were good at it by getting strikes most of the time. We got the tram and train back without losing anyone and when we got back the leaders treat the everyone to KFC.
Friday was meant to be a hike but with everyone enjoying the cube another activity called the Cave bus was squeezed in. Quite literally, the cave bus was like the cube but smaller and you had to slide around on your stomach to fit all the way around. It was like a sauna!
Saturday was the water activities, kayaking and raft building. In kayaking you had to jump in your boat, rub noses with the very front of the boat and race around the lake. Raft building included remembering knots and fitting 6 people onto a very unstable structure of wooden poles and containers that floated. No one stayed dry.
Sunday was the day it all had to come to an end. The tents had to be pulled down and everything had to be cleaned. I had heard others wishing they could stay for another week and some others ready to have a nice warm bed to sleep in. The week was well worth braving the wet, mud and sleepless nights.
By Amy (Explorer Scout).
For lots more photos from the weekend, view our Facebook Album.
