Camp Report 2009

Sedbergh Cumbria

Any bronzed features seen on the lads are due entirely to rust and not sun. It would be nice to write about warm sunny days but alas not this year. We were lucky to arrive and to put up camp in the dry and by 5pm everything was done and up and running.

Fr Rob Western (ex boy of the Company who lives in Sedbergh) celebrated a communion service for us out in the field on Sunday morning. After breakfast we set off on our first walk which was to be Baugh Fell. The forecast was light showers, but somehow this was a little inaccurate. Half an hour into the walk we were caught by a horizontal Monsoon as we were crossing a bog with little time to get waterproofs on. Within minutes the younger boys were soaked through and we had to stop and get them in the shelter tent which warmed them up and with chocolate and a bit of chivvying soon revived spirits, but I decided to call the walk off, disappointing though it was.

The main transport had already been despatched to the finishing place which meant a long delay whilst we waited for it to be brought back. All part of the fun I suppose.

Monday saw us in Kirkby Longsdale for the morning and we went to Hadraw Scar Waterfall after lunch near Hawes. The waterfall was impressive with the amount of rain this summer. When we returned our Parish Priest Fr George had arrived and was to stay with us until Wednesday.

Tuesday was a reasonable day so we set off to climb Pen-y-Ghent. This is a 694mts hill with superb views. We arrived at the top but within a short time we could see heavy rain coming in our direction, which gave us time to don waterproofs. Within minutes the whole top of the hill was shrouded in cloud and heavy rain. Luckily it passed over and we diverted off track to see the mighty Hull Pot, an open pot hole 60 feet or so deep. The risk assessment goes into pages just having a look at it but we managed not to lose anyone.

We arrived back at the transport more or less dry as the sun came out on the way back. The Revd Richard Ford visited us in the evening who was visiting Rob Western and he was astonished that we still did camp as he remembered it as a boy. Richard’s dad Graham Ford was camp cook for many years.

Wednesday the weather was appalling even the tent competition had to be called off, but Fr George managed to do a communion service in the Marquee amid howling wind and rain. It was decided to go to the swimming Baths in Kendal mainly to get a layer of mud off the lads and then have a look around the town, which is very attractive. I managed to buy a reliable mobile phone at last but dropping it in the mud in the dark and treading on it did not help it. Luckily the lads came to the rescue and took it to pieces and dried it out.

Thursday we decided to climb Skiddaw at Keswick, but this required a very early start. At 6am everyone was up watching the sunrise over Baugh Fell, we were away from the camp site by 9am and on the M6. Thursday was of course GCSE results day and there were anxious phone calls to parents who had ventured to Brunts to get their results. All seemed to have done well with one boy declaring he had 7 A stars plus other A’s, another boy got 5 A stars plus other good results We all congratulated them on their efforts.

In spite of us being early at the Skiddaw car park we only just managed to park the transport before it was full. Skiddaw is a popular tourist hill with ‘a cannot get lost’ track up it. However the tourists go back the same was as they got up, but we carry on off the top to the valley around the back of the hill, which is stunning. We met about four walkers on the way. Fun was had diving in the heather and sliding down the steep grassy slopes.

Friday is the relaxing day at Blackpool where the boys can spend their cash on the usual trinkets for Mum. The evenings tended to be the best part of the day with time to do archery, air gun target shooting and other pursuits. At 9pm we always gather for a hot drink/soup etc and the traditional sing song, (who says boys do not sing these days) a log of the days events sung and compiled by two of our ex members James and Martin. These verses attack all those moments campers might wish to forget and the cook too got some gentle fun poked at him over the state of the various custards prepared. We managed six ghostly stories with a local theme (mainly to keep them in their tents after 10pm) The odd clear night revealed that the Milky Way is still in the sky and as ever caused great wonder, helped by the fact that there are no interfering street lights.

Saturday was pack up day and this was done in record time in spite of the fact the our kit lorry could not get on to the field because it was so wet, instead the farmer Tom Parkin brought on a tractor and a trailer which did a shuttle service for us.

In all, the week was not too bad and in a months time the good things about camp are remembered. We still seem to be unique in the BB camping world as few venture far from all the modern amenities of showers, flush toilets and the like on ‘Camp Sites’. We are lucky having dedicated and very experienced hands at this sort of thing we even have webbed feet!