We held our Group Camp in 2023 to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of our Scout Group. On Friday 30 June 44 young people and 16 adults left Southport for a weekend camping at Waddecar Scout Activity Centre in the shadow of Beacon Fell. We were based in the Bleasdale tented village with additional tents for the Cubs and Scouts. Arriving at Waddecar we pitched the tents in very wet conditions and after a ramble around the site to check out the facilities we all had our supper of hot dogs and hot chocolate before settling down for the night. Sleep was at a premium on the first night especially for some of the Beavers and Cubs.
Saturday dawned and was dry after Breakfast and joining in with the official Camp flag break, we commenced our activities which included, a Hike, Leathercraft, learning how to light a fire, a session on the climbing wall and a scramble in the Badgers Warren (simulating a pot hole, damp and muddy). After our evening meal we all got dressed up for the campfire on the theme of our camp super heroes. After the singing and activities at the campfire we all managed to toast marshmallows and made smores to have with our hot chocolate.
Sunday was another dry day after breakfast and a short Scouts own (quiet time of reflection) and flag break we commenced another set of activities including the Challenge course and Bouldering wall for the Beavers, the High ropes Gladiator Challenge and Archery for the Cubs, Jacobs Ladder and Orienteering for the Scouts. After lunch we all had to start breaking camp, cleaning the kitchen and dining areas, packing bags, and then the tents ready for our departure on the coach. What a fun filled weekend it had been. The return journey on the coach was not a pleasant experience, what should have been a 90-minute ride lasted 3.5 hours, the M6 motorway had been closed due to lorry going through the central reservation and all the traffic was diverted onto the A6 and caused a complete bottle neck from the site all the way to Preston. Thanks must go to all the leaders and helpers who attended the camp without them we would not have been able to go and a special thanks to those leaders and helpers who were on the coach not what you needed after a weekends camping.
