Back in July scouts from Raptor troop headed to Norfolk for a loooooonnnngggg walk to the beach. Friday night saw us hosted by the lovely people at 1st Dersingham scouts at their HQ as the scouts braced themselves for a hike to Hunstanton along the Norflok coastal path, a trek that included encounters with spooky abandoned buildings, rare birds, apparently blown off course over the Atlantic and the quiet beauty of the Wash mud flats.

On arrival the mood changed! The Hunstanton fun fair saw scouts swung round at terrifying speeds on rides of all sorts followed by the inevitable chippy tea on the seafront.

We were hosted by the equally hospitable 1st Hunstanton Sea Scouts for the night before the RNLI invited the scouts to a training exercise at their lifeboat station in Old Hunstanton. Sun, sea, sand and lots of fun fair rides, a lot to cram in into one weekend!

After last year’s introduction to getting the scouts hammocking there was demand for more! So with very little debate we returned to the hammocking village at Thriftwood. A glorious weekend followed that included kayaking, zip lines, archery, plenty of fires, an intro to some Japanese crafts, pioneering and making our own fire lighters.

And of course a lot of hanging around in trees!

Way back in July during our summer camp…. when scouts were meant to be cooking…. we instead found them crowded round phone screen watching the Lionesses become European Champions again! So a plan was hatched…. with them due to play China at Wembley in November a weekend trip to the capital was planned. 35 scouts and leaders set off for a sold out Wembley Stadium where they watched England cruise to an 8-0 win over the Asian champions. With a sleepover at 1st/6th Edgeware scouts and some London site seeing on the river, Westminster and Greenwich thrown in.

Early spring and back in April scouts from both troops decided to dispense with tents and instead opt for a weekend of hammocking at Thriftwoood, one of our favourite sites. A back to basics camp with minimal kit, cooking on fires and of course as we were sleeping by hanging around in trees the high ropes in the trees were a must as well 🙂

The end of term and the start of school holidays saw scouts from both troops head for the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors for summer camp. Staying on the Ravensgill campsite with the moors literally out the back gate of the site they set to for a week of rock climbing, hiking, pioneering and day trips to Whitby and the North York Moors Steam railway AKA Hogsmead!

We were joined for the week by two scouts from Yorkshire, 1/36th Doncaster, who could not make their own summer camp, and hope that the bonds formed round the campfire between the two groups last long into the future 🙂

Originally planned for October 2023 but delayed by an Atlantic storm 12 intrepid scouts headed for North Wales in May to get some proper experience of the Snowdonia mountains and real hill walking. The target was the classic route of Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach via The Devils Kitchen. A classic North Wales route!

Back in September both scout troops rounded off the summer camping season with a gloriously sunny weekend at Gilwell, the international home of scouting. A lovely way to sign off 🙂

As July drew into August and our various international contingents made their way home a contingent of scouts from both troops headed off to somewhere a little closer to home for a hike a long the Norfolk Coast.

Friday night saw us hosted by our friends at 1st Sherringham Sea Scouts who we would like thank for their brilliant hospitality! Saturday saw our intrepid gang first encounter a seal basking in the sun at Sherringham life Boat House before we headed along the coast.

Hiking is all very well but when its a sunny day…. and you happen to come to the beach at Cromer early afternoon… what else can you do but go for a swim? Even if the north sea is a touch fresh! Fully refreshed the scouts headed along the increasingly remote and beautiful coast reaching Mundesley for fish and chips and epic stone skimming competition on the beach at dinner time.

We were hosted for the evening by the very hospitable village hall and would like to thank them for the excellent accomodation 🙂

Sunday saw the scouts head in land and navigate their way through the Norfolk countryside to North Walsham, tired but very proud of a long trek well completed.