Both cub packs set off to Belchamps Scout campsite for our first camp of 2018. We were lucky with the weather again, and spent most of the time outdoors, as you can see!
Category Archives: Cubs News
Cubs Winter Camp 2017
It was the last weekend in January, and what better place to be than Eaton Vale Scout and Guide Activity Centre as part of the 12th Cambridge cub pack. The weather was kind to us and we were able to enjoy crate stacking, high ropes course (pretty challenging!), catapult pioneering and pedal car racing without getting wet at all – and everyone was in fine voice for the campfire. We enjoyed delicious food, courtesy of Mang and Shada, and ample cake thanks to all. Here, with thanks to Shere Khan, are the photos.
A term of pioneering
When the cubs revealed last term that they had a voracious appetite for pioneering, I needed no second bidding. This term, they’ve been developing their skills in knotting and lashing and have become pioneering experts.
Early in the term, we spent an evening refreshing ourselves on some knots and some basic lashings, and put this into practice by building some A-frames.
Camp gave us an opportunity for a more ambitious project: a grand gate for our campsite!
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Then this evening, we took things to another level, literally, with a rope bridge.
I’m pleased to report that all cubs made it safely across the river!
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Spring Cub camp
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…Autumn Cub Camp: Thetford Forest
The Cub pack headed to Thetford Forest this year for their Autumn camp. The whole thing was guided by our founder, Lord Baden-Powell, drawing on his Wolf Cub’s Handbook.
Let’s let him take us through some of the cubs’ activities this weekend in his own words…
Every Scout aims at being a good camper, because you can’t be a backwoodsman or a pioneer unless you can look after yourself in all weathers in the open.
Now that we’ve packed our kit let’s be off, shall we? Before you go, and the whole time you are away, say to yourself, “I am going to make this the jolliest camp there ever was FOR THE OTHER CUBS.”
“Knock the Blob”, a game from the WCH
And when you are in camp remember that as you are there to have a splendid time you must keep in mind the Cubs’ patent dodge for making themselves happy – that of helping other people and particularly Akela.
There are lots of ways in which a tenderfoot suffers in camp. But there is no roughing it for an Old Scout; he knows how to make himself quite comfortable.
In order to be a good Cub a fellow must know how to lay and light a fire.
Every Cub must be able to tie knots properly. 
What duffers ordinary boys are at tying knots! They make a sort of tangle of string or rope, which probably they can never undo again! That would never do for a sailor or for a bridge builder.
Knots are quite easy to learn, and as soon as you know them you can teach other people how to make them.
Young wolves learn to look after themselves in the wild. They learn to watch birds and animals day by day so as to learn their habits, just as a boy Wolf Cub does. But the boy’s object is to know more about them, and to take a friendly interest in their doings.
Practising fox-walking
Now tracking and stalking are fine things to do, but if you are to be a good tracker you want a great deal of practice and training.
Practising fox-walking
Texts and images from The Wolf Cub’s Handbook, Lord Baden-Powell (15th Edition)
More photos of the camp
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Cubs activities in 2015
As we get our activities lined up for the coming term, it’s time to take a look back at some of what the Cub pack has got up to in the last term. (That is to say, I’ve just got round to going through my photos.)
Archery, maypole dancing, a visit to an old people’s home, a tour of our local fire station, bowling, canoeing, parents’ evening…and that’s just the ones I had time to take photos of!
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Bold Bouldering
Once again, the Cubs had a chance to prove their skill and fearlessness as they tackled the heights of the climbing wall at Kelsey Kerridge.
Completely ignoring the pleas of the instructor to stay at shoulder height, they ascended, without the aid of ropes, helicopters or anti-gravity boots, up all that the wall could offer.
Thanks to all the parents who volunteered to supervise (and endure the rigours of the safety form & training)!
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Sir Gawain and the Knights Away: Cubs Spring Camp
It’s been a while since the Cub pack’s Spring Camp in the Peak District: it’s about time I got some photos out to the world! See the bottom of this page for a large number of photos.
The theme of the camp was Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a story with a close connection to where we were camping. Our band of knights encountered many a challenge and accomplished many a feat of derring-do, too many to recount in full, but particular highlights should be recorded.
Perhaps most notable was their descent from a terrifyingly high bridge, lowering themselves through thin air. Then there was the epic journey on foot along the spectacular Roaches ridge in two separate groups, navigating themselves.
Back at camp, our knights were never idle. When they weren’t building our grand fortress gate, they were inventing and building numerous items of camp furniture, making flags and heraldic crests, laying trails of tracking symbols, hunting for treasure, cooking food over a fire and digging around in the undergrowth to discover its hidden inhabitants. And let’s not forget the necessary components of day-to-day life on camp: collecting firewood, helping with cooking, washing up, fetching water, and so on.
The cubs’ enthusiasm, helpfulness and general positive attitude to the activities, as well as the more mundane everyday aspects of camp life, was fantastic and made the camp great fun for all of us! Well done to them all, especially those camping with us for the first time!
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Cubs back in the day
So while reorganising a load of our archives we came across a huge number of photos showing what our cubs got up to between 2006 and 2009. It includes what we got up to in the scouts centenary year in 2007, a really special time to have been involved 🙂
Many of those featured are now explorer scouts or even leaders now. We’ve put them all in the gallery now here. Enjoy!
Winter Camp 2014
A short camp is no excuse for cutting down on activities, just a reason to cram everything into a shorter time! Nor is winter an excuse to hide away indoors. We succeeded in cramming a large number of outdoor activities into this winter’s camp and absolutely exhausting all the cubs, not to mention the leaders.
We learned about Morse code and semaphore, map reading and compass bearings. We hiked under cover of darkness, including first aid on a broken arm (simulated) and a chance to put newly acquired Morse code skills to use to call for help. We crawled through woods playing wide games in the middle of the night and enjoyed hot chocolate and songs by the campfire, diligently kept burning until the early hours of the morning by Kaa and Kichi (though the cubs went to bed a little earlier).
Washing up
Then, in the morning, we practised our compass bearings in order to unlock hidden padlocks. We held a Remembrance Day parade at 11am. And all the while, we consumed large amounts of food. And, of course, there were all the usual camp activities – pitching tents, cooking, washing up, etc.
The cubs, as we usual, were tremendous, good-naturedly mucking in to deal with whatever tasks needed doing throughout the weekend and launching themselves with enthusiasm into all the activities.
See for yourself some of what we got up to (though much of the camp was in darkness, so sadly undocumented):
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