Hi All,On Saturday 24th July to Saturday 31st July, 9 of our Scouts and 3 Leaders took part in Peak 2010, an International Camp held in the grounds of Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.
It was a very early start for us all on Saturday morning to make our way to the campsite and pitch our tents in our allocated space before the 10am deadline.
The Duchy of Devonshire had requested that there be no heavy traffic in the grounds bewteen the hours of 10am and 4pm!
Due to some site rules with respect to clearances between tents, we were unable to pitch our kitchen tent and so we decided to do all of our cooking, eating & socialising within our large marquee.
The camp was divided into sub-camps and we were part of the Pacific zone.
After our camp was established, the Scouts were allowed to go off an explore the vast site, only coming back at mealtimes.
There were many attractions including an; internet cafe, souvenir shop, games room, campwear, Scout shop, outdoor gear shop, tuck shop & coffee shop.
There was also plenty of space for the Scouts to play games or just chill out and relax.
At 7.30pm we all had to gather in our uniforms and Peak 2010 hats & make way to the main arena for the grand opening ceremony.
This marked the official start of the Camp.
After a long day we finally settled down for some supper before quiet time and eventually lights out.
On Sunday after breakfast and the usual camp matters, the Scouts were allowed more time to go off and explore.
The Leaders had to attend their first sub-camp meeting in order to discuss how the camp would be run over the week.
On Sunday afternoon, many of the activities not requiring tickets were opened up for the Scouts to enjoy.
These included things such as; mountain boarding, arts & crafts, stone carving, woggle making, inflatables, trampolining and so on.
On Sunday evening we all had to gather in the main arena wearing our Peak 2010 hats and take part in an aerial photo. The photo would be available to purchase later on in the week.
This was followed by a rock concert and then a disco. Some of our Scouts also had tickets for the cinema and watched 'How to Train a Dragon'.
On Monday all of the activities requiring tickets were made available.
Basically, each sub-camp were given an allocation of tickets and these were distributed to the Scouts based on the preference forms they had to fill in several days beforehand. This was the only fair to way to issue a limited number of tickets and it did encourage trading with other Scout Groups and therefore some verbal interraction!
Ticketed activities included; sailing, mountain biking, football skills, archery, climbing, go-karting, canoeing, air rifles, RAF team building and many others.
In the evening it was Wild West night at the main arena.
For the rest of the week the Scouts organised their time with a mixture of ticketed and non-ticketed activities, trips to the shops, playing games or just enjoying the freedom and independance.
There was also a chance to achieve the coveted 'Camp Challenge' badge in which the Scouts had to complete various tasks including; obtaining 100 signatures, collecting all of the sub-camp stamps, collecting 10 activity stamps and singing to a Leader of another Troop!
One of our Scouts, Vincent, managed to achieve this highly sought after award. Well done Vincent!
On Tuesday evening the camp was opened up for visitors to attend. Several of our parents made the trip to Chatsworth House and were shown around by the Scouts and offered some of our dinner, a very tasty spaghetti bolognese!
The main arena hosted a 'Battle of the Bands' competition and then the usual themed disco.
Wednesday was our sub-camp day which meant that there were no official ticketed events. Instead our sub-camp organised it's own activities including a gang show, volleyball, football & tug-of-war competitions plus our turn to take part in a crystal maze style event.
Our Scouts were also encouraged to wear the gaudiest Hawaiian style clothes they could bring as part of a 'beach party' theme!
In the evening it was Peaks Got Talent in which many of the Scouts from all over the site attempted to entertain the masses.
On Thursday it was back to more activites and on Thursday evening it was Peaks version of 'High School Musical' followed by a disco.
On Friday there were only ticketed activities available until early afternoon as the camp slowly started to wind down to a close.
We started to pack away non-essential items so that we could shorten the time taken to depart next day.
On Friday evening we all gathered one last time to take part in the closing ceremony, which was followed by a fantastic fireworks display.
The camp was now officially closed.
On Saturday we woke up very early in the morning (6am for the Leader's) and started to strike camp. Again we had to respect the deadline of 10am imposed by the Duchy!
It was a very busy few hours but eventually we managed to get everything packed away before heading back towards the Midlands.
Peak 2010 was a fantastic experience and I would like to give a big thank-you to all of the Peak 2010 organisation team.
I would definitely like to take the Troop again in 2015.
I would like to thank my Leadership team, Jason & Graham, without whom the week would have been impossible.
I would also like to thank the parents who helped us set-up camp on Saturday, visited us on Tuesday and also helped us pack away on the following Saturday. Your assistance & participation is always very much appreciated.
I would also like to thank my wife, Clare, for doing all of the food shopping and bringing the rest of our supplies over for second half of the week.
Please click on the above image to see more pictures taken during the week.
I have also included some pictures taken by the press during their coverage of the event, where some of our Scouts have been captured enjoying themselves!
Yours in Scouting,
Adam, Graham & Jason
