irthlingboroughscouts.co.uk

On a cold and frosty morning in late November, brave Scouts and slightly-mad Scout Leaders went to a camp on a remote(ish) island in the wilds of Cambridgeshire, with no running water or plumbing. After a very icy night, the Leaders awaited the arrival the brave young Scouts.

Upon arrival tents were quickly erected with a little competition to put them up in good time. The next task was to build a Fiji fire pit and then gutting fish, cooking them on the open fire and eating them along with a squeeze of lemon! Delicious....

In the afternoon Scouts practised their fire-lighting skills and then made the main cooking fire. The evening meal was a Chicken Stew with the Scouts learning how to butcher and fillet the chickens.

"Food tastes better when it's cooked over an open fire - was the general comment!"

Morning brought an overlap in activities with a local Fire and Rescue Team arriving for an exercise.

After discussions and a cup of coffee, it was agreed that the Scouts should carry on with their Fishing Activity and the Fire Team do their training afterwards........... Scouts used bamboo canes as rods but only one fish was caught!

A hearty Brunch was then enjoyed and very dirty and tired Scouts came back to the Headquarters together with their exhausted Leaders. Everyone was ready for a hot bath but enjoyed one of the best November weekends ever!

A party of 8 Scouts and their Leaders supported by Steve and Andy so our own SASU, spent a glorious weekend at Shotley Marina, Ipswich.

With the most kind support and sponsorship of Alan Watts, a Sailing Trip was arranged from Shotley, around Ruffs Tower and into the North Sea on Alan’s Ocean Going Yacht.

The Scouts had a look at ’The Independent State of Sealand’ – a self-proclaimed independent island and whilst this went (and waiting their turn) on the other group of Scouts enjoyed Crab Fishing with surprisingly good results!

Sincere thanks must go to Alan Watts and to Steve and Andy who cooked the meals so that the Scouts could go out and enjoy the sea.

8 scouts and 3 leaders braved the elements on 1st and 2nd February to complete a brass monkey challenge. The challenge was to sleep under canvass for one night during the coldest time of the year and if the challenge was completed, each scout would be awarded the prestigious brass monkey pendant.

The scouts arrived early on Saturday morning to face their first challenge of the day, putting up their tents! Once completed they explored the campsite while the leaders played with mud pies, battled with flooding and built a fantastic mud oven complete with chimney!

The scouts ensured they got as muddy as they could as quickly as they could and soon returned to camp for a change of kit.

The group contributed to the Town's Christmas street party in December which saw Betty York, the Town's oldest inhabitant given the honour of switching on the festive lights.

The Scouts sent some elves to help Santa in his grotto, the SASU served tea and coffee and the group provided a climbing wall.

(Grotto photo used by kind permission of the Evening Telegraph)