The Cubs spent a weekend in the Bedfordshire countryside, packed with adventurous activities. A few days after getting back and I’m just beginning to recover from the exhaustion – I’m guessing the same goes for the cubs! Here are the highlights. See below for all the rest of the photos from the camp…

Much of Saturday morning was taken up with pitching camp and getting our site in order, in which the cubs set to with admirable effectiveness. They then had time to explore the warren of paths in the wooded part of the site on a scavenger hunt.

Stoked with Rama’s delicious burritos, we moved onto perhaps the most eagerly anticipated activity – rifle shooting. Our instructors were utterly bewildered when they briefed the cubs on using the rifles and they sat still, giving it their absolute attention – clearly not what they expect from a cub pack! Everyone got their turn to shoot and took their target home with them. I think the experience thoroughly lived up to expectations.

Kaa taught the pack about building bivouacs of various sorts and everyone got down to constructing a shelter out of whatever they could find in the woods. Then it was time to start cooking dinner, which the cubs did very successfully in their sixes. Not only that, but the leader, who were guests in the sixes’ dining shelters, were treating to after-dinner entertainments, some of which would have fitted perfectly into Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Washing up done (and you should have seen the efficient conveyor-belt system they developed with Thuu for this), we were off again, on a hike around the area, along the River Great Ouse, as the sun went down. Then there was just time to have a squint through the telescope at the moons of Jupiter, grab a mug of hot chocolate, and head down to our colossal campfire, for a good sing-song to finish off the day.

The next morning, it was up to the cubs to cook a fry-up. After this, we took a moment for reflection, with a Scout’s Own on the theme of the Jungle Book and the wolf pack, led by Oo.

Back on our feet again, we pioneered a grand gate for our site, whilst each six took their turn to compete on an adventure course in the woods. With the sun beating down on us, everyone (leaders included!) was ready to throw themselves down the water slide, which consisted of a hill, a tarp and lots of washing up liquid!

After putting the finishing touches to the pioneering and eating lunch, it was time to start dismantling the camp and packing everything away, which was undertaken with the same impressive gusto as the opposite process the day before. By the time this was all done, everyone was about ready to head home!

Water slide videos

All the rest of the photos

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