Come to Tolmers day six

Well here we are on the eve of the last day of activities.
All rested from yesterday's hike, our Scouts were up remarkably early and done with breakfast and washing up quickly enough to get a good place in the activities queue.
Today was a water day with more than half of our Scouts spending some or all of the day on a craft of some kind.
There wasn't enough wind for sailing, so those that had planned to do that learnt to do Stand Up Paddleboarding (Supping) instead. After lunch, there was more water fun with 9 Scouts taking on the raft building challenge while others canoed on the lake. Attempt one at the raft building was not a huge success, sinking and depositing it's crew into the lake fairly quickly. Having learned from the mistakes, the MKII raft was much more robust and outlasted all the others on the water.
Other activities today included the Bungee Run, Giant slide and Shooting. There was a visit from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue who, of course, got pegged. The #followthedragon tag is gradually taking over the world!
After dinner it was off to flagdown and a surprise for two of our Scouts who celebrate their birthday on Saturday. As they have to leave tomorrow to go on a family holiday, they found themselves on stage with 800 Scouts and Guides singing happy birthday. They also got to join in with the service crew leading the camp in the daily rendition of Round the Old Camp Fire.
Camp fire was the final activity of the day and, again, some of our Scouts got to go centre stage and help with the action.
Tomorrow brings a bitter-sweet touch - we're all looking forward very much to the activities and the evening disco but we're very aware that it's the last day and it'll soon be time to go back to the real world.

CTT2016 Day Five

Well, we're now over half way through and, most importantly, everyone is still smiling.
Today was incident hike day - the famous Tolmers Incident Hike. 13k (8 miles) in some amazing Hertfordshire countryside.  It was hard to believe at times just how quiet it can be when you're this close to so many big towns and cities. Out of 90 teams taking part, we had 6 teams out walking; 5 Scout teams competing and a team of leaders walking at the back as sweepers, supporting the excellent CTT service crew. Our 5 teams were mixed again with Scouts from the two troops working together to navigate the hike and complete 4 teamwork challenges. The winners have been announced but not the full results so we know we didn't win but we don't yet know how close we were.
Just to prove how posh Cowbridge is, our leaders even managed to procure a cream tea mid hike!  Not many pictures today as the Scouts were spread out walking at a very different time and pace to the publicity crew. One special mention has to go to Team 54 from 2nd/4th Leighton Buzzard Guides. Our leaders spent some time with them as they fell behind and were caught up by the sweeper team. Normally, the back markers are the ones that moan and whine, making the sweeper task something of a chore, but these girls were great. They had one member who could only walk so fast so just accepted that they were going to be last in and concentrated on enjoying themselves, smiling, laughing and singing their way around. A fantastic positive attitude that their leaders and parents can be properly proud of.
Back from the hike, we realised that there had been a bit of a comms problem with the food shopping so the leaders had to be a bit creative with the contents of the food box in a "ready steady cook" style.
The resulting improvised concoction proved so popular that we're trying to cone up with a name so we can add it to future menus.
Of course, after the local Air Ambulance rep was so supportive of our pegging campaign, it would have been rude not to support them so a crew of Leaders took part in the charity bingo night in the Leaders only club, Joy's Joynt.
Just two more days of activities left and discussions are already underway about where to camp next year. Keep reading for news on that as it develops.

Ctt2016 Day four

Well, here we are at the end of day four. Another successful day in the combined 1st Cowbridge / 1st Melbourne calendar. Our Scouts, some whom met for the first time at the weekend, are working really well as mixed patrols. Tasks and challenges are becoming more or less automatic as the Scouts get into a routine. Another batch of #followthedragon pegs was released at flagbreak and the message continues to spread. After flagbreak, our Scouts went off to another day of activities and adventures. The leaders took advantage of the local hospitality and were served with proper cream teas at Joy's Joynt.
Never willing to pass up an opportunity, we've accosted most of the visiting VIP's with #followthedragon pegs. We've managed to peg, and photograph most of Hertfordshire Scouts senior management along with the Mayor and Mayoress, Hertfordshire police and the rep from Hertfordshire Air Ambulance (Joy's charity for this year and beneficiary of all our tea drinking donations) - see our Twitter feed for pics @1stCowbridge or search #followthedragon. The football series continues with Wales currently leading two matches to nil.
Flagdown was particularly poignant this evening as we all paused to pay respects.
to a young British Scout who passed away on camp in Finland. Wherever you're reading this, we ask you to spare a thought for Kent Scouts as they deal with this tragedy.
We're all hoping for a good night's sleep and some equally good weather for  tomorrow's world famous Tolmers Incident Hike then two more days of great activities.
#followthedragon