1st Stocksfield Scout Group

Congratulations to the Scouts who won the District Mountain Bike competition at Slaley Woods this year. They had to master a challenging track designed by leaders from the 1st Hexham Group. Cheering them on was local school teacher (and Scout Leader) Alex Hammersley whose Mountain Bike Club at school could well have been our secret weapon!

Scouts under the watchful eye of members of the Tyne Rivers Trust (and sometimes falling snow) worked on creating homes for riverside creatures. Can you guess what might choose this as a house?

Scouts explored issues of homelessness, attempting to create shelters out of newspaper and other materials people are likely to throw away. Some tried to engineer paper tents, other took a leaf out of nature – building a hedgehog inspired shelter.

One of the highlights of the Scouting year is the District Night Hike. This challenges the Scouts’ navigation, teamwork and spirit as patrols race around the Northumbrian countryside in the dark, trying to complete a timed course and answer quiz questions. This year’s course was set by leaders from Prudhoe. After a long evening, a patrol from  Stocksfield came back with the new cup.

Snow on Scout night is always a cause for celebration. The meeting was quickly relocated to a local sledging site. To keep warm, a shelter was built (using snow cleared from the roads) and hot drinks prepared on a wood burning stove.

Congratulations to the eleven Scouts who spent this weekend walking along the Weardale Way as part of their Expedition Challenge badge.