Gold – Bushcraft Days

June 5, 2018

Golden Peaks – 2017

It was late October 2017 (I know I have a lot of blogging catch up to do) and I set off North to The Peak District with my lad Finlay. We were off to join teams from London and Southern Area Sea Cadets undertaking their Gold DofE Expedition.

It was a busy 5 days and the weather was glorious resulting in some fabulous Golden Peaks.

The cadets and young instructors undertaking their Gold Expedition had four tough days ahead of them carrying all their food and kit as they hiked through The Peaks. It was a windy but warm Peak District that greeted us on their first day.

Setting off from Pindale Farm they soon passed through Castleton and ascended up onto Mam Tor. This is a steady climb but one that affords great views on a clear day.

Day 1

All the staff headed off to different locations to ensure that the teams walked the route (they do this without supervision) safely. I went onto the slopes of Mam Tor with Finlay and Dave Lewis.

After spending a bit of time watching out for the teams from the minibus roof we headed up the slopes some more. Finlay got a bit of nav practice in from Dave and a bit of flying practice from me 🙂

After Mam Tor the teams headed West along the gentle ridge that is Rushup Edge before heading North down into the beautiful Edale valley. We met the teams a couple of times along the way but otherwise left them to their own devices as we explored the countryside and practiced our own nav.

Camp for the night for the expeditioners was the remote but rather well laid out campsite at Upper Booth Farm.

Day 2

This was a tougher day for everyone as the route was up and over the Kinder plateau. The weather was clear so that made the nav much easier for everyone (including ourselves).

I did not see everyone leave camp as I set off to ascend Kinder from the small town of Hayfield on the Western slopes of Kinder with Dave, Nina and Finlay.

There was a temperature inversion that morning and the mist was trapped in the valley. The mist slowly crept up the valley until it topped out onto Kinder reservoir making for a great panoramic. I also spotted for the first time a Mist Bow. This happens rarely – when you get sunlight reflected off water and through mist.

Once on top of the Kinder plateau we settled down into some crags and got the hammock out. I carry my EDC Hammock around with me for just such occasions. We spoke with the teams as they passed through our positions and it was good to see them all in good form.

After a while Nina, Dave Finlay and myself moved North over the Kinder plateau to observe the teams dropping down Snake Path. Finlay spotted a dead lamb along the way an got some more nav practice in from Nina – Dave got his head down and I got a few more pics 🙂

I followed the last team from a distance down Snake Path while the rest went back to Hayfield. We all met up again at the campsite the expeditioners were using that night.

Day 3

The weather turned on Day 3 with lots of low cloud and rain. Finlay had left the expedition the night before with my wife Alison so just Dave and myself headed off up into the woods over Ladybower Reservoir to meet the teams.

We eventually spotted them all as they hiked on through the clouds and rain. Eventually the clouds lifted but the rain did not. The teams walked up onto Stanage Edge later in the day and the wind started to pick up. Luckily they only had a short section to walk along the Stanage path and were soon down into the shelter of the woods and their camp for the night.

Day 4

I did not see the teams on this part of the route but thankfully the weather improved greatly for their last day. Straight after breakfast they were back up onto Stanage Edge and hiking South East to the finish at the Fox Inn.

After a short de-brief all the kit was dried out and the ‘Survivors’ group photo was taken.

There ended a fantastic October expedition to The Peaks.

Cheers

George

July 24, 2016July 24, 2016

Dartmoor DofE 2016

Adventuring is hard work – but it should also be fun.

The beginning of July found me down on Dartmoor with Sea and Royal Marines Cadets and staff doing a spot of training in preparation for their assessed Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) expedition in October.

The cadets and staff were from a number of different units in the London and Southern areas. We set up camp initially at the Tavistock Camping and Caravanning site just outside of Tavistock. This is a well catered-for site located on the edges of the Dartmoor National Park – I even managed to set up my hammock here (always a bonus on Dartmoor, where the trees are few and far between).

Training day

Time was spent planning and preparing for the first day out on the moor before setting off on an intensive training session the next day.

Joining us were a number of trainee Basic Expedition Leaders (BEL) so there was plenty of adult cover. We had three teams on this expedition, two undertaking their Gold award and one their Silver.

At least one fully qualified and one trainee BEL instructor were assigned to each team on this first day. The teams spent the day learning the art of navigation and group management around the heights of Cox Tor, Barn Hill, Great Staple Tor and Great Mis Tor to the East of Tavistock.

I spent my time wandering the moor keeping an eye on the different teams and meeting up with them from time to time.

Day 1

Even though the cadets and staff were only on their training expedition they were expected to navigate the moor without having a trained instructor present. At this stage in their development our job as DofE Leaders and trainers is to step back and keep a close eye on them through ‘Remote Supervision’ – which basically means to keep a good eye on them from afar and meet them from time to time at pre-arranged check points.

Here’s The Day 1 route from Barn Hill viewpoint to Nun’s Cross Farm campsite (via Princetown):

Below you can see the three teams with some of the instructors who were keeping a close eye on them. The bottom two teams were training for Gold and the top team for Silver.

They had full packs for the next few nights and were soon off and away. The observers keeping an eye on them were Lee, Dave, Jess, Carol and Donna.

The teams (pictures courtesy of John Kelly)

While the teams were on the Moor with their observing staff I helped de-camp and move the staff tents to a new campsite in Princetown.

We camped at the site behind the Plume of Feathers pub (thankfully again there was a spot to set up my hammock.

We met the teams as they came through Princetown and they all seemed in good spirits. It was a hot day and we made sure there was plenty of water available at checkpoints. Their final campsite was in amongst a herd of cows – I think it was quite a new experience for some of them.

Day 2

The Day 2 route was from Nun’s Cross Farm to West Stoke Farm campsite (via Naker’s Hill and Holne Ridge).

The teams and observational staff (Alan, Carol, Lee, Dave and Jess) were off early so I went for a wander up onto Holne Ridge with fellow instructors John, Sarah and Donna. Both Sarah and Donna are hoping to become qualified BEL instructors so we spent a lot of time doing map and compass work.

Along the way I introduced them to the delights of cleaning their hands in sphagnum moss and Donna even managed to find a whole bog full of the stuff to herself – she dried off soon enough :-).

Once onto the high moors we joined up with some of the other staff and kept an eye on the teams moving across the moors.

As the day was clear the trainee BEL candidates could really get to grips with their mapwork and Dave got the cracking ‘selfie’ below of us all sitting and observing at our meet up point.

Remote supervision – pictures courtesy of Dave Lewis

Everyone was tired at the end of day 2 (cadets and staff alike) and after preparing their routes for the next day they got their food on the go and had a well earned rest that evening. Chris made sure that the team leaders had their route planned out well so they could brief their team members.

Day 3

The Day 3 route was from West Stoke Farm to Scorriton (via Chalk Ford and Pupers Hill). As this was our last day and we needed to get back home everyone was up and away by 8am.

I went with a number of staff to the end point at Scorriton and headed off with Jess. Carol and Donna up onto the Moor to meet the observers. The observers, Dave and Chris, had good visibility so were able to keep me informed by radio of the teams’ locations all the time.

As there was no need for everyone to climb up onto the moors I left Jess, Carol and Donna by a stream crossing that the teams would have to pass and set off up Pupers Hill to meet the teams.

Soon everyone was down off the moor and relaxing by the stream where I got some great shots of everyone. After a good rest we headed off but could not resist a quick climb into this magnificent tree (well, Dave and Jess couldn’t resist it). Based on the amount of moss and lichens on the tree you can begin to appreciate just how wet this area can be.

This was a hard week with misty mornings and hot afternoons. Everyone worked well and really developed themselves so that their assessment expedition in October will be a success.

We did though as you can see below have some laughs along the way. Adventuring is hard work – but it should also be fun.

I am looking forward to working with everyone again in October when we will be running the assessed expedition on the Brecon Beacons.

Cheers

George

May 7, 2015March 30, 2019

Glorious Dartmoor Days

I spent seven days this Easter on Dartmoor – seven glorious sunny days.

I never thought I could have said that with my previous experience of this often wet and windy but beautiful moorland landscape.

Photo 27-04-2015 09 59 12 — Day 1 on the Moor

The first five days were with the Sea Cadets where my friend John Kelly was running a DofE Expedition on the moor. I was along as Mountain Leader safety and to help train the Gold training team.

John also had a Silver team under training, another Silver team under assessment and another Gold team under assessment – Quite a busy 5 days it turned out.

The first day was all about training for me as the Gold team were under my wing all day. We focussed on key map and compass skills so that the next day they could navigate under remote supervision safely.

Photo 27-04-2015 10 02 53 — The Gold Training team

Early on the first day my friend Dave Lewis managed to pull a muscle in one of his legs and had to retire early on from the walk that day. It was serious enough stop him from getting back on the hills for a few days and I insisted he put his feet up – to which I received no arguments (I needed Dave fit for another course straight after this one).

The evening of the first night was spent indoors learning all about route cards. Thankfully we were located at the Langstone Manor campsite near Tavistock where they have excellent facilities and allowed us to take over their dining area to run the classes.

Photo 27-04-2015 10 03 43 — R&R and Homework

Day two saw some of the teams starting out at the beautiful hump backed bridge over the West Dart river near the Dartmoor Training centre. Never one to miss a photo opportunity I soon had them lined up for a quick shoot.

I spent the day monitoring these teams remotely, only meeting up with them occasionally.

Photo 27-04-2015 09 53 23 — Day 2 start at the Dartmoor Outdoor Training Centre

At the end of the day the descent off the moor was pretty steep but very beautiful. The footpath that took them off the moor into the village of Michelcombe was very hard to locate so after a little bit of map revision with the teams we were all soon rapidly making our way downhill.

Photo 07-05-2015 19 05 07 — Heading off the Moor

The campsites were varied from the relative luxury of Langstone Manor, to the basic beauty of camping in a field of new born lambs and finally the remote camping of a high moorland copse.

Photo 27-04-2015 09 55 22 — Sunny Camping

I really enjoy these trips as I get to wander the hills on my own and getting to sit back and relax while waiting for teams to appear. I have to try and anticipate where the teams will be at any given time and observe them from a distance or from time to time wander down to meet them.

As the teams I was observing were all under training I was able to spend some time with them at some of these rest spots making sure they knew exactly where they were and offering them advice when needed.

Near the end of the day on the Thursday one of the cadets (Jess) tripped and strained a muscle in her leg. As this was very near the end of the day I called all the teams in from the surrounding area and revised their walk to head off the moor on an easier path.

We really took our time so that every one including Jess managed to walk off the moor and arrive back at the minibuses together.

For those doing the Silver award this was the end of the expedition and after a de-brief they boarded a minibus to take them back to London.

Those doing the Gold assessment and training had to do one more day so it was back to Langstone Manor campsite for one more night and a final days trekking the next day.

I did not manage to get everyone in one group picture but got these two in the end. The top picture is off the Silver teams and the gold training team.

The bottom picture is off the Gold assessment team prior to them heading off on their last days trek alongside some of the staff monitoring them.

Photo 27-04-2015 10 14 30 — The whole Gang

My final picture is of my hammock stand I had brought along for the week. I like tents but why sleep on the floor when you can hammock 🙂

Photo 27-04-2015 10 13 38 — My accommodation

I put together a short video of the trip.

The last two days of the week were spent on another course training up some Sea Cadet instructors to become outdoor pursuits instructors on the Basic Expedition Leader Award. That post will follow shortly.

Will I ever get so many sunny days on Dartmoor again I have no idea but I will certainly remember this trip because of it.

Cheers

George