Tag: Scouts

Last night the Scouts were challenged: what do you do if you are out walking and your water bottle runs dry? They learnt how the empty plastic bottle could be fashioned into a DIY water filter, using stones, sand, charcoal scavenged from an old fire and a scrap of cloth.

Much to their amazement, when dirty brown water was poured in at the top, clear water came out the bottom. It would still need boiled, but it was the first step.

For the last two weeks Scouts have made the journey to the Diving Centre at East Bolden, for their Discover Scuba sessions. These have been a big hit with the Scouts and their parents – several had a go too!

You won’t be alone! This weekend thirteen Scouts from Stocksfield joined 150 from the District and over 1,500 from across the UK at Hawkhirst Scout Activity Centre on the edge of Kielder Water as part of the 2019 Wintercamp.

Activities included quad biking, tomahawk throwing, zip wires, power-boating, crafts, fairground rides, mountain biking, a silent disco and a Scout version of angry birds.

Participants returned happy, tired, having made new friends and tried new activities. Plans are already underway for the 2012 camp!

This weekend the Scouts braved wind and rain camping out in the wilds. They learnt survival skills – building bivvies in the woods, foraging for food, preparing and cooking wild animals, different ways to build fires, which wood burns best and how to signal for help.

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.