At 7:00pm on the 25th of February, two leaders, one parent, two explorers and six scouts, set off for a weekend camp at the Gradbach Scout Camp in Derbysire. After a refreshment stop on the way, we arrived at the site at about 11:00pm. Our first task was to clear about 3cm of snow from areas so we could put up the tents. We finally crawled into bed at about 1:00am and tried to sleep, with the sound of the wind howling through the trees behind us

We began to emerge from our tents about 8:00am on Saturday morning to a crisp, but sunny day. We put up a dining shelter and set up our Trangias to cook our breakfast of Sausage, Bacon and Eggs whilst the kettle was set to boil on the gas burner. After a good breakfast we began to prepare for our Hike, setting off about 11:00. Our hike took us first to Ludds Church, a split in the rocks, then across the hills to the villages of Danebridge and Wynckle and back to the site, a total of 10km. The snow provided plenty of entertainment for the walk, including the throwing of many snowballs. Patrick provided the chocolate for the walk.

We arrived back at the camp about 4:00pm and set about collecting wood for a fire and starting the heat up the dinner, (a delicious home made Beef Stew), We sat around the fire and ate our stew, followed by Hot Rice Pudding. It then started to rain and we retired to our tents to keep warm and dry. During the evening Patrick was democratically elected president of the World McRummy Association. (Ask Patrick for more details of McRummy).

Sunday Morning saw us getting up and beginning to pack up ready for the Journey home. We left the site at about 11:00 and arrived back at 15:30.

Our Thanks go to Michael Calder and Steve Piper for helping to provide transport for us and to Steve for staying with us on site and helping out.