… and as promised, here’s the review of the last 12 months.
Straight after last year’s birthday celebrations we were off on a Joint Camp with 3rd Brampton, 3rd Hindley, Helios ESU and 3H ESU at Linnet Clough, where the Chesterfield half got a good education in to the ways of the Wigan accent (“can I gu’t provvi Tony?”)
October brought us our first go at the Apex Extreme Challenge, the opportunity to test out some of the Scout Association’s new sex education activities (“could you use Polyfilla as a contraceptive”?), the bike ride and the Halloween trip out to Sheffield. The highlight of November was of course the opportunity to drive the trains at Barrow Hill Roundhouse, whilst December brought us “Fencing Tuition” and the winter hike. The winter hike was a particular favourite of mine, as whilst every other Unit / Group / school / office was shut due to the snow, with some great planning and teamwork, we managed to get a bunch of Explorers to the top of Winhill Pike in several feet of the stuff!
We started 2011 with the now traditional winter BBQ, followed a few weeks later by the District’s Golden Duck Awards. The awards gave us chance to show some Helios spirit as ESL Padge and Explorer Imran stepped in to help out the ‘band’ whose drummer, guitarist and bassist hadn’t turned up. Oh yeah, and we won the Gold Duck Award for the best photo / video slideshow too!! In February we went to the swimming baths (“what could possibly go wrong?”) where Conor managed to peel the bottom of his foot (for attention), and also got another day out in the snow on Derwent Edge. Rounding off the winter period was the camp at Hesley Wood (the less said about that, the better, I feel!!) and after 18 months of trying to arrange it, we finally got to do some kayaking skills with ICCC, thanks to Kieran.
We started the spring off with the Apex Overnight Challenge (a tale of boy meets girl…), and continued in to May with an adventure up Ingleborough, where the only half hour of rain was the half hour that we were on the summit. Also in May was the A-frame / pioneering pole relay (“have you done a risk assessment?”), whilst June brought us a new widegame – ‘urban manhunt’ – some climbing, some geocaching, and a weekend away at Trent Lock which saw some interesting attempts at raft building, an angry ginger man, and the best instructor quote ever (“OK, I’ll say it again, IN MONG”).
July was brought in with 2 full days of rock climbing at The Roaches and a camp at Gradbach, followed by two near disasters. It rained through the sunset hike, and for our day at the beach, it peed down again, and the theme park’s main attraction was shut. On both occasions however the Helios spirit shone through, and a great time was had by all. At the end of July and the beginning of August we got to progress our kayaking skills, with 17 members achieving their BCU 1 star award with the ICCC coaches.
The rest of July and August were fairly quiet due to holidays, until the main event at the end of August – Summer Camp at Blackwell Adventure. Over the course of 4 days we got to take part in zipwires, 3G swings, more kayaking and much much more. At the end of the weekend the staff told me that Helios were one of the nicest, most enthusiastic Explorer Units that they have ever had there, something which makes me immensely proud.
I’m sure that next year will be just as action packed. We’ve already booked our tickets to Kandersteg International Scout Centre for Summer Camp 2011. In terms of activities, still to come this year we’ve got caving, mountain biking, D of E expeditions, abseiling from Miller’s Dale bridge and the winter hike. Next year we’re hoping to offer more kayaking, more hillwalking (including some proper hills next year), more climbing (including another Learn2Lead course) and hopefully sailing too. We’re already working hard on the week camp programme too!
Special thanks go out to Catherine and Mark for organising tonight’s meal, and congratulations to all of our award winners. Extra congratulations to Caitlyn for achieving the coveted Golden Bull Award for Quote of the Year for “well if you go down that really long road near St. Mary’s, then it’s not there” when asked where Loundsley Green hall is!
Oh, and *clap*
To start the year off gently, we went on a little stroll through a bit of countryside in the Peak District. It all started smoothly as we left Longnor and headed to the valley. And then the rain came in. Lots of it! Still, that didn’t stop us, so we continued out of Hollinsclough towards our first challenge of the day, Chrome Hill. You don’t need a map here.. the only instruction is ‘up’! Admittedly not so easy with a gale force sidewind, but we managed it. The walk across the ridge was made all the more challenging for it. Decending the other side (the quick way, ie bum first), we had a quick stop for lunch before our second challenge – Parkhouse Hill. This begins with an easy (or not so easy in the wind) scramble before another narrow summit ridge. Once again we took the quick way down before our final challenge of the day – a brief nip up High Wheeldon for a photo with the trigpoint. When we say ‘nip’ what we actually mean is that High Wheeldon is one of those kinda of standalone hills that doesn’t really go well in to a route. If you want to see the top, you go up it, and back down it. All 300-and-odd metres of it!
