1st Keyworth Scouts are always keen to take part in new initiatives and this year the Woodland Trust are hoping to get 10 million trees planted to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and encourage biodiversity. Our local Keyworth Parish Council obtained 500 tree saplings from the trust so we requested six trees for the Elm Avenue Allotments. The Scouts hold one of the allotments where Explorer Scouts can fulfil the Skills Module of their Duke of Edinburgh Award; each week they work for one or two hours learning how to sow seeds, nurture young crops and look after them until it is time to harvest. As part of their maintenance of the allotment site they have planted Wild Cherry and Silver Birch trees. Sectional Assistant Richard Lumb is pictured with Explorer Scout Ben Turnbull planting these new trees. The saplings will grow quickly and have been chosen to blend in with the allotment site. Other residents in the Keyworth village have a wide choice of trees including oak and rowan; the Woodland Trust will also supply community groups with enough mixed saplings for a ‘productive hedge’ which will attract birds, insects and small mammals to promote biodiversity by providing food, shelter and safe corridors for movement. 1st Keyworth Scouts provide adventure and life skills to young people through a balanced programme of events and experiences. Groups range from Beavers aged 6 to Explorers aged 16, and new leaders are always welcome within Rushcliffe District Scouts. Richard Lumb, Sectional Assistant
Parth - 4th West Bridgford It all started off on a Friday... We got given maps and were given the campsite's location. From there we had to form a route to get to the campsite. We made route cards saying where we would be by using a 6 figure grid reference's and where our emergency point would be in case of an injury or problem. One week later we brought our equipment for check up and added the group equipment to our bags, which made our bags quite heavy at that point. The walk... The group which consists of 10 scouts and 2 leaders set off in the morning to the Peak District In a minivan. As soon as we reached there we got out and started walking. The first obstacle was getting over the dam. This was a steep climb up a hill. The view over the dam and trees looked incredible. The view was like this photo below, but it was raining. About 1 hour after we crossed the dam, we saw a river and followed it for about 2 hours in the storm. We were all cold and hungry so we stopped for some sweets and chocolate. We walked for another 30 minutes until we were half way through the first day. We met the leaders here to show them where we would go next. 10 minutes later we left to go to Edale. Up in the forests we had lunch. To shelter us from the rain we stopped under the trees. We then set off up a rocky hill. And then went over some mountains and crossed over a stream. The water was gushing through the stream and was cold. We were only one mile from the campsite. At the campsite... As soon as we reached the campsite, we quickly put up our tents in the rain and made some food. Our group had some noodles and sticky toffee pudding with custard. After the cleaning up we just went in our tents and did what we wanted to do so me and Peter played some top trumps. Around 11pm we went to sleep with aching legs. Morning... We woke up at 8am and made a bacon roll for breakfast. The leaders decided to cut down our route to make it easier for us. We entered a farm that led to a railway. We walked along it until we reached Barbar Booth. After a lot of walking we reached the bottom of a mountain. Up the mountain We went over a lot of stiles but when we came to the last one it was too muddy and so when I tried to get over it I got stuck in the mud for about 5 minutes. After all the stiles where gone it was a steep climb until we got to the top of the mountain. That hill took us about 1 and a 1/2 hours to get the top. When we were at the top of the mountain we had to go look for the minivan but there was hope problem, a massive puddle. About that big and deep like the photo below After we crossed the puddle we made our way to the minivan to cook our lunch but it was raining so we couldn't get a fire going which meant we couldn't have lunch. So we went to the youth hostel, where we made woggles. McDonalds Because we were starving due to no lunch we stopped for some food. I had a chicken Mayo burger with chips. From there we went back to the church and were given equipment E.g: pots and pans to clean at home. I really enjoyed this experience and I really want to do it again. I have learnt many skills like compass and map reading. I want to say thank you to the leaders for all their hard work. Thank you leaders for an amazing experience
Our luck held for another year and we had a dry, not too cold evening with only light winds. With the predicted increase, yet again, in the number of teams we re-used a set of routes from a number of years ago, and a brand new six mile route with a total of 28 teams. To help manage the increased number we drummed up support from the scout troops and explorer units so we could run incident bases on both routes including two food bases and deployed more than 50 staff on the night and our thanks to all these volunteers (well nearly all volunteers, a few were volunteered!) We always advertise that the bases may educate, entertain and test the young people and this year we had country code questions (need to be more difficult next time), the problem of getting the fox, a chicken and bag of grain across a river (2 lengths of rope, some carpet tiles and a good dose of imagination), vegetable identification (didn’t they do well!), Black Bart’s Treasure, dry skiing with up to four on a pair of skis, and a “bomb” base. We also laid on a surprise base towards the end of each route titled silent zone – it appears some Scouts and a few leaders don’t seem to understand it applied to all in a team! We always award points for timeliness between bases and points for teamwork and success at the tasks set as most of the young people seem to enjoy the competitive element, with four “classes” this year: Scout 6 mile route accompanied by an adult, Scout 6 mile route unaccompanied, Scout 10 mile unaccompanied route and an Explorer 10 mile unaccompanied route. We know where next year’s routes will be based but are obviously saying nothing for many months to come although the diary has already been consulted. Fiona Burrows and Alan Hubber
On Thursday 1st February, there was a scary set of visitors to our scout hall for 'Meet the Creatures' night. There was a rat, a tarantula, a few snakes, a bearded dragon and different lizards. Dean, who was the creature's handler, brought them all in and we sat in a circle while he introduced them. Dean told us what they would eat if they were in the wild including snakes which would eat mice. He told us all the the creatures were safe and not poisonous but it was still really scary when he got them out of their boxes. I was allowed to hold the snake and it went round my neck. The snake felt smooth, cold and the colours were beautiful. Next i held the tarantula and it was really hairy and was crawling across my hand and up my arm, it was tickly. There was a lizard and this just kept walking around the hall and other scouts were enjoying watching this. Dean brought some water along because they need to drink a lot and he sprayed them with water as well. At the end of the evening, Dean got the creatures back in their boxes and we all said a big thank you. I will remember this evening for a long time