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Cub Camp
Will Smith Chalet, Overstone
14th-16th September 2001
Friday
The weather forecast was for a showery weekend, so it looked as if we were in for a wet and muddy time. Some of the leaders had been at Overstone for most of the afternoon, unloading all the food and preparing the Will Smith Chalet for the weekend. It was fairly bright when the Cubs started to arrive, and all were there by 7pm (I always wonder why parents are so keen to drop their sons off, but reluctant to pick them up again). The kits were put into the bunk rooms and we assembled for flag break and a briefing of the weekend's activities. The first activity was a wide game that entailed the Cubs running around the woods collecting signatures from the Leaders. Unfortunately they were rather noisy so this made it easy for the Leaders to avoid them in the dark. A game of hide and seek then followed. The Cubs had been given the task of making a minature camp site over the weekend from a variety of scrap material. Some made a start on this during the free time before supper, which was a hot drink with cake and biscuits. Bed was at 10pm although it was well gone midnight before there was total silence.
Saturday
Despite talking into the wee small hours, some Cubs were up soon after 4am. Needless to say, the Leaders had more
sense and slept to a more sensible time. Breakfast of cereal followed by sausage, egg and beans was well underway by 8am.
After things were cleared away, it was time to do some planning for the morning's hike to Sywell Country Park. The route was
approximately 2¼ miles along and followed a track for some of the way, with the final part being along a quiet road. It was
bright when we set off, but got rather overcast and windy at times during the hour and a quarter it took us to get there. Despite
complaining they were tired while walking, the Cubs managed to find enough energy to run around the adventure play ground
at Sywell.
There was less enthusiasm shown when we set off on the homeward journey. The first group got back to site at midday, while the other group stopped to pick blackberries on their way back, and arrived about 20 minutes later. Surprisingly, it had stayed fine while we were out. Lunch had been prepared while we were away and it was a help yourself to sandwiches, crisps, fruit and cake. More free time followed lunch while the bases for the afternoon were setup. Most Cubs spent this time building a dam on the stream running through the campsite while others helped collect wood for one of the afternoon's activities. There were 4 bases planned, each to take about 45 minutes. These were rifle shooting, archery, bivouac making and backwoods cooking.
This took us up to dinner time, which was burgers, chips and beans followed by apple pies. It started raining whilst we were eating, and got heavy at times, which looked like it could threaten the evening's campfire. Luckily it didn't last long, and soon dried up enough for the Cubs to go and collect more wood. The campfire started around 8pm and most Cubs were struggling as they were tired. At 9pm we headed back indoors, just as the rain came on again. It didn't take much persuasion to get the Cubs to have some supper and go off to bed. It was quieter than the night before, but some still have the energy to stay up and talk. They had been threated they would be going out for a run if the noise kept up, and one poor Cub ended up going for a quick run. There was silence after that.
Sunday
A later rise this morning, but some still up at 6.30am. Another bright and dry morning - it's nice when the weather forecast is wrong. Breakfast was cereal, followed by bacon sandwiches. The Cubs then had a chance to start tidying their kit away.
The first part of the morning was spent constructing the minature campsites from scrap material. After these had been
finished, there were 3 bases to complete - pitch and strike a hike tent, knotting, and planning the layout of a campsite.
This took us up to lunchtime which again was sandwiches, crisps, fruit and cake, and an eat-up of any left over food. The Cubs
then had some more free time which was spent finishing off the dam, whilst the Leaders started on tidying up the chalet. As it
had been dry most of the time, there wasn't the usual trail of mud to clean up. A short presentation then took place, and the
parents started arriving about 2.30pm and all had gone by 3pm. The Leaders then finished tidying up and departed shortly after.
It seemed an enjoyable weekend had been had by all the Cubs, particularly helped by the fact that the weather had been kind
to us.