Broadstone Warren Scout Camp
3rd to 5th May 2024
We had 10 Scouts and 5 Cubs with us for the whole weekend plus one Cub visiting us for the daytime.
On Friday evening, everyone arrived in good time for a 6pm start. We headed down to our camping pitch which was an extensive area in a sloping woodland between two streams and close to the facilities. The first job was to erect the tents and set up our fire pits and kitchen area, so we could get on with cooking food.
Our first evening meal was a pre-cooked Chili (thanks to Karen), rice and flatbreads, made on-site by three of the Scouts. After a rather late dinner, plates were washed and preparations were made to go to bed.
For some of our young people this was their first night camping so most people were buddied up with one or two people. Everyone got to sleep very quickly, but there were a number of very early risers who didn’t know what the time was (3am, 4am, 5am!). The plan had been a 7am get up time (note to everyone – take a watch or small clock next time). First job was to get the fires going (something that everyone improved on as the weekend went on – the main skill being finding the right wood).
Breakfast was sausages, bacon, baked beans and scrambled eggs all prepared by Scouts and Cubs. We had two fire pits with sausages being cooked on one and bacon on the other. Baked beans and scrambled egg were made on the gas stoves. Cooked breakfast is a highlight of camping with Scouts!
After breakfast, we set off on a 2 hour hike through the campsite and out onto Ashdown Forest. We were rewarded with lovely views across The Weald to East Grinstead and reminded by Andy that the term Forest comes from the French, Fores, denoting ‘wild land set aside for hunting’ which is how Ashdown Forest would have been used in the past.
On the walk we passed a fantastic den and a lovely climbing tree, which we stopped to play in and around. The walk was made very memorable when Andy decided to take a short cut through a vast block of Rhododendrons – it felt like trekking through the jungle – and finished off with a slide down a steep bank – this was a highlight of the weekend for some!
Back to camp for ‘make your own’ rolls, fruit and cake, before heading out for our next challenge.
We set off to the Activity Zone at Broadstone Warren for a choice of Jacob’s Ladder or Net Climb – both climbing activities involving climbing high up into the trees. These were led by instructors at the camp. Everyone listened carefully about how to put the harnesses and helmets on and then how the activity was going to run. Both climbing challenges were set up well, so that two climbed at the same time and each had one young person belaying and two tailing (pulling the slack rope into a box), which meant even when not climbing all were part of the team supporting the climber. Each of our Cubs and Scouts gave it their best shot and everyone supported each other, which was lovely to see.
After an hour and a half climbing it was time for a couple of hours free-time back at camp. Some went to play in the streams, some climbed trees and some made a swing and a den with our rope and poles. It’s amazing what children can achieve without their phones!
Our next activity was a choice of two leader led activities – tunnelling or a low ropes course. The low ropes course was a traversing challenge, which was still quite difficult and required a good amount of flexibility and strength. Ideal for those not so keen on the heights!
The other group were keen to explore the tunnels. This was a series of different size concrete pipes set under a mound of earth. There were eight entrances – some from chimneys and some from gates.
After locating the mapped entrances from the outside, they set off in pairs or threes with their helmets and head torches to explored as many routes as they could. Some routes were very tricky with sharp right-angle bends and tight squeezes, but most cubs and scouts in the group explored the whole system.
Our early evening activities meant that dinner was going to be quite late and everyone was pretty tired, but nonetheless our Cubs and Scouts got to work preparing and cooking dinner. Scouts had chosen the menu in one of our planning meetings. They wanted to have an option of either Chicken Stir-fry or Spaghetti Bolognese. Both of the meals worked out really well and everyone went to bed with full tummies.
On Saturday night everyone slept much longer, which was nice for the leaders!
Time for another cooked breakfast, again made by Cubs and Scouts. This morning cubs and scouts were told to pack tents and kit away, as well as cleaning the site, before they were allowed to do other things. Washing up was done, stoves cleaned and tents were packed up (luckily in the dry). A lesson learned from this camp was next time to have regular tent inspections – this ensures that our young people keep their tent tidy and know where their own clothes are! Packing bags up took some time, as there were various random clothes found! This is all part of what young people learn on camp and it helps them to become more independent.
Packing done; we were free to head off for our final activity – Angry Birds Pioneering. We collected the kit from the site office and headed off to find a space.
We divided into four teams with a mix of cubs and scouts. Each team had some time to build prototype catapults with small sticks and bands, before moving onto the full-size Angry Bird Catapult construction. This was a great activity where they had a large Angry Bird to fire out of the catapult to see if they could knock over any pigs! The constructions worked very well with many successfully knocking down all the pigs.
Finally, it was back to camp for lunch and then packing away the final equipment into cars. Following lunch, we had a quick discussion about what our favourite and less favourite parts of camp were, then everyone was rewarded by a special Broadstone Warren badge before setting off to meet parents. After a long weekend away, everyone was looking forward to getting back home, despite an exciting and enjoyable camp.
