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| Back to Basics Camp Aug 2011 |
Hi All,
During the weekend of 26 to 28th August, a handful of our Scouts took part in a back to basics camp at the Rough Close Scout campsite near Coventry.
We arrived early Friday evening and made a way to our pitch, which was hidden deep within a wooded area of the campsite.
We then strung up several tarpaulins between the trees to keep off the worst of the elements and cleared an area underneath of leaves and debris, using a leafy tree branch as a broom.
Because the light was fading fast, we pitched several pop-up tents for the Scouts to sleep in that night and got on with supper.
We had brought a small portable BBQ with us and the Scouts were soon cooking themselves burgers, sausages & corn on the cob. Sausages are not really in keeping with the survival ethic because they are processed, but they tasted nice and so we let the Scouts off this time!
It was a damp night.
Next morning, the Scouts went off to find some wood so that we could build a fire and make some breakfast. One thing about this sort of camp is that if you don't get a fire going, you don't eat!
We were also joined by a couple more Scouts who could not attend on the Friday evening.
Whilst all the Scouts were away we cleared areas for both a traditional ground fire and a chopping square, using our makeshift broom. Twigs were used to mark out the four 4 corners of the square. We also made a washing up bowl stand.
The Scouts were soon bringing back a decent amount of wood for us to use in the camp. Some larger sections of wood were used as a fire surround and to prevent the fire from spreading. A layer of green wood was also placed at the base of the fire in order to prevent damage to the ground. Two forked branches were driven into the ground either side and another branch was placed across them so that we could suspend our billy cans over the fire.
The Scouts also managed to 'recover' a couple of benches to sit on and a rather impressive chopping block.
Unfortunately the weather was not kind and it rained on and off over the entire day. This meant that the wood was wet and took longer than normal to provide heat and light. However in good Scout tradition we were well prepared and had brought along plenty of dry tinder, kindling and larger pieces of wood to get us going.
The fire was soon established and the Scouts were able to start cooking bacon, sausages and anything else they fancied! Some water was also boiled up to make hot drinks.
After 'brunch' the Scouts went off again to find wood and foliage in order to try their hands at shelter building (or 'bivouacs'). All sorts of designs were attempted, some starting from scratch whilst others made use of some naturally ocurring shelter. Unfortunately there was a serious lack of useful dead wood on the campsite and this made construction very difficult indeed. However this did not put our Scouts off from having a go. The Scouts learned how to use axes, saws & knives to utilise the wood in their designs. They were also shown some basic lashings so that they could tie the various bits of wood together.
Around mid afternoon another fire was established so that the Scouts could start preparing dinner. Because of our location deep within the trees, we lost the light earlier than if we were on open ground and we therefore needed to start cooking a little earlier.
For dinner the Scouts cooked chicken, steak, eggs, rice, pasta & sausages. One Scout even parboiled some potatoes to make some backwoods cooking style chips! Nicola attempted some egg fried rice and even made her own collander to strain the rice and for some blackberries she had collected and washed earlier.
After dinner and the usual camp duties, the Scouts continued with their shelters.
We decided to keep the fire going so that we could dry out the wood we collected and also create a nice ambience within the camp.
With the light quickly fading and the weather taking a turn for the worst, we then started to make preparations for the evening.
For supper we had hot drinks, biscuits, toasted marshmallows and bananas stuffed with chocolate buttons which were then baked in the hot embers.
We all enjoyed a good social around the campfire before finally turning into our tents. One of our Scouts however, Vincent, braved the elements and decided to sleep in his shelter. Well done Vincent!
It was another damp night with some rain in the early hours.
On Sunday morning we awoke to a chilly start. Vincent had lasted the entire night in his shelter and was none the worse for wear.
For breakfast we cooked more bacon & sausages and after the usual chores of washing up, etc, we then started to break Camp.
At around 11am we stopped what we were doing in order to Invest Jack W into our Troop, using one of the bivouac's as a backdrop. Welcome to the Troop Jack, we hope you enjoy your time with us as a Scout.
By noon we had managed to pack most things away and waited for the parents to arrive.
At around 12.30pm we had final flag down before leaving site and heading back to HQ.
We would like to thank the following Scouts; Jacob H, Vincent P, Kelsey J, Jack W & Lawrence P for taking part and getting stuck into the theme of the weekend. I would also like to thank our Leaders Nicola & Jason for giving up their time and making the weekend possible.
We had a most enjoyable if very wet & tiring weekend and we would like to do similar camps in the future.
Yours in Scouting,
Adam, Jason & Nicola
