Tohunga: Day 1 Hike

Tent Pitching

So we'd practised the skills, planned the route and today (May 9th) was the day of the first hike.  This year though we had to put up our tents before we set off.  

Once the tents were up we had to have our bags checked - to make sure we were carrying the correct equipment for a full day hiking.  (We did apart from the fingerless gloves - not much use for protecting your fingers from the elements on a mountain!).  Once the gear was checked we had to orientate our maps and then set off.

Waiting for the gear check

The route had actually changed a bit from the one we route planned, because there had been loads of rain the night before (thankfully not on the competition like 2014) we couldn't cross Cogden Beck because it was more raging torrent then beck.  We left Grinton in high sprints, the first section of walk was through the village and then through small fields with lots of stiles over the dry stone walls.  Most of this section was a steady trek uphill out of the Swale valley.  

After the checkpoint we were on a bridleway in open moorland traversing the side of the valley.  We could the villages of Grinton, Reeth and Helaugh below. Once past Reeth we dropped back down the valley to the riverside (checkpoint on the way down), then over the suspension bridge and almost into Reeth.  This was a cruel part of the walk we'd climbed up and way from the campsite, come back down and towards the campsite - then instead of being able to go to camp we had to walk away from it again!

The path followed the opposite side of the river across fields (and even more stiles) full of sheep and lambs - not sure what they thought of all the scouts wandering by!

The next checkpoint was the village of Helaugh (he-law, he-laff, he-low - we still don't know how to pronounce it).  From the village we climbed the steepest road in the world, thankfully it wasn't too far.  Then back onto the moorland.  We had to be mindful here of nesting grouse and make sure we stuck to the footpaths.  This was the worse bot for navigation - there were so few points to reference.  When we got to Skellgate lane (not a lane - but a small sort of cobbled path which was uncomfortable walking for weary feet), we knew it was the home straight.  The lane took us down to Reeth (checkpoint).  We headed through the village, looked longingly at the ice-cream shop and continued over Reeth Bridge and then back across the valley fields to our campsite in Grinton.

Setting Off

Tohunga: The Training

Tohunga Training

Tohunga, Teko Teko and Tahwiri are 3 levels of an annual scout and explorers competition run by our local district Harrogate & Nidderdale District Scouts.  At 1st Marston Moor we had a team of 5 in the Tohunga section of the competition.

In Tohunga you have two route plan and hike a 7  to 8 mile hike, pitch camp, cook dinner, camp overnight, cook breakfast and hike a second (previously route planned) 7 to 8 mile hike.  All without a leader!

To do this we needed to have some navigation, cooking and camp skills and be able to work as a team!  We needed to learn first aid and rescue techniques as well - thankfully we didn't need them

Tent Pitching

Training began in March with a short hike around a nearby village called Marton cum Grafton.  /it gave us a chance to show what map and navigation skills we had.  While we walked we talked about the competition and our scout leader (SL) asked questions about first aid and rescue techniques if we became lost.  It was all fine -but the looked horrified when one of the team said they didn't need to look at the map because they had memorised it!

The second training session was orienteering on West Chevin Park, this was all about navigation and teamwork!  (With lots of first aid and rescue questions - on the way).

The wet practise hike

We had two training sessions in Kirk Hammerton, we practised cooking on the Trangia stoves pitching and striking tents and did some of the route planning for the actual competition.  Of course there were lots of questions on first aid and rescue.

We also did two more hikes - on one it was so wet and cold that we had to abandon the walk part way.   Even though we all had waterproofs on we were still getting wet through to our clothes.  These hikes were all 8 miles or more - distance practise for the actual competition. (Plus more navigation, first aid and rescue!).

Finn Perkins-Hill

Wolf Patrol

Big camp 2015

Big Camp 2015

Over the weekend of the 1^st to 4^th May the 1st Marston Moor Scouts, Cubs and Beavers went to BIG CAMP, with approximately 6000 other scouts and leaders!

The event, at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, was organised by West Yorkshire Scouts and had over 300 activities, from axe throwing to fairground rides, donkey rides to ice climbing and a nightly entertainment programme (see the video).  One of the scouts, Bodhana, has written about the camp.

Big Camp was amazing! We did loads of activities. Plus we had a program that said what you could do and when, for example – cave bus, bungee jumping, bouncy castle, and a fair ground not to mention the music festival every night (it was so good).

The weather was pretty poor on Saturday and Sunday, but Monday was a gorgeous day. Lots of us went in a hot tub, but we made the mistake of going in when it was VERY COLD.

Our food was cooked by our lovely Scouts. Yummy! The camp was different from others because it had cool activities and a lot of people we could make friends with. On the whole Big Camp was…….

THE BEST CAMP EVER!

Bo

Jaguar Patrol

Paulo's Circus

Paulos Circus

Last term 1^st Marston Moor Scout Group went to see a circus in Poppleton called Paulos Circus. I loved this trip because there were all sorts of acts like tightrope, rings and magic.

On the way in, everybody was standing waiting for the show to finally start. Whilst we were waiting for it to begin, we got up and ate our candy floss and popcorn – yummy (they didn't last long)! When it started some crazy clowns (without masks) came and made a dramatic entrance for the start of the circus to kick it off.

Next came my favourite bit of the show with the amazing ringmaster with lots of tricks up his sleeve. He strapped himself to two ropes, a machine pulled him up and then he began doing amazing tricks, some tricks with two arms, some with one and even hanging by his legs!

Then came the woman with juggling feet! She threw and caught hoops, juggling clubs and even rings of fire – impressive! The magic man then came in with his assistant to perform amazing magic tricks with cage escapes and even escaped from suspended cages.

Overall, I think that was one of the best trips that I've been to in my time with 1^st Marston Moor Scouts. If you do happen to go, I hope you enjoy it too!

By Ben, Falcon Patrol

Clowning Around

Clowning Around.

On the 25^th of February we had a visit from Marko’s Circus and Mark the clown. We got benches out and we watched him use everything from Diablo to 4 wheeled unicycle (4 wheeled are to train people for the 1 wheeled) to miming and spinning plates. Other things were flower sticks, club juggling and scarf juggling which is a lot easier than club juggling. After wards we got told to grab a scarf/ handkerchief (which are specially made for this and don’t look like scarf’s by the way more like just a square of fabric) Mark then asked us to throw it in the air but not catch it like in normal juggling more to grab it out of there air since they float down. Then we had to throw it and spin 360 and then catch it and at one point we had to throw the scarf and catch it on our feet. 

After we had a go with the flower sticks, we had to roll the baton down the stocks and then all the way down our arms so it stopped at out shoulders, then we had to pass the sticks back to our partner.  They had to lift the baton over our heads and then roll it down their arms.  We would run behind them get the sticks and do it again.

After we had some time to play around with everything else and practise them and have a good time like everything else scouts do. Everyone had a great time, it was really fun.  One of our scouts Robert said “it was really good”.   Soon we will be going to a real circus to see the professionals in action.

Owen,

Wolf Patrol

Trees for the future

North Yorkshire Moors Week 6

Tree Planting

We first had a ride in the mini bus to an open field and then walked to a section of the River Esk.

The Pearl Mussel Project is designed to stop the banks of the river slipping into the water. When this happens this pollutes the river harming the wild life.

Our task was to plant 48 Oak and Hazel trees along the river bank to stop this happening.

We were given the correct tools and told how to use them safely.

First we put the posts into the ground and cut a square of turf out. We dug the hole deep enough for the roots. The tree was planted and the soil put back in the hole pushed down. The turf was replaced making sure it was placed upside down. Next the protective tube was placed over the tree to protect it from wildlife until it is established. We repeated this until all the trees were planted.

By Ben,
Stag Patrol

North Yorkshire Moors Week 5

Snow Day in the Moors

When we got to Sutton Bank we were handed our tools and gloves and set off, we walked in the snow for a while when we got near the 'finest view in England' the view truly was amazing.  

We then turned right and carried on walking when we got there we got told about what we were doing, we had to cut off the branches that would potentially hit walkers and people riding on horses we had a pair of loppers each also a pocket saw each.  In the bag of tools there was a few bigger saws and something like a pair of loppers mounted on a pole to use it you had to pull a string when holding the loppers up to a high branch which closed the blades, cutting the branch the other thing in the bag was a saw mounted on a pole also we used these to cut high branches that would potentially hit the horse or the person riding it.

I helped cut down a particularly large branch that would block a rider it was hard but the work was also fun, when you got cold you had hot chocolate and set back off to work.  When we had finished we had a group photo and started to walk back to the visitor centre.

We had lunch in the building then set off to the wood's to build dens. We had a certain amount of time to build a den I was with, Luke, Matthew and Owen we built our den by leaning a stick on a tree and leaning sticks against that, which we then put moss and other coverings on it to protect it. We tested the other dens by throwing snowballs at them.

I had lots of fun that day.

By Josh

Patrol  Leader, Cobra Patrol