DUKE OF EDINBURGH SILVER AWARD
Man’s Squeeze’, and it involved us all scrambling through a tight gap between two rocks. Later that day, we reached the tallest point in Sussex, which is marked out by a large metal block, leaving only one idea in my head: if I stand on this, I will be the tallest person in Sussex. The views were breathtaking throughout the whole trip. We eventual- ly arrived back at camp for lunch, where everyone ate as much food as they reasonably could. In the afternoon, we sat down and plotted our route for the qualifying expe- dition, finding the most efficient and safest one possible. That was the last thing we had to do that day, so we had a lovely evening playing card games and sipping on hot beverages. We knew that it was going to be an early start the next day, so we decided to get a good night’s sleep. The third day was the day we had all been preparing for, the day we had to go off on our own. The ground was covered in frost as we motivated ourselves to pack the campsite, leaving it without a trace of us ever being there. We set off on our walk to the first checkpoint, where our instructor would be awaiting to make sure that all was good. We got there with ease, leaving us all incredibly confident. By this time, the sun had thankfully decided to appear without a cloud in sight. Checkpoint after check- point, we arrived with a spring in our step, smashing the predicted time like a well-oiled machine. We enjoyed a lovely walk, stopping for lunch in the woodland area of a stunning golf course. As we arrived at the campsite for the night, looking out for any other teams, we swiftly realised that no one else had arrived, leaving us with first pick as to where we would like to camp. We found a great spot with two long logs that we used as benches so that we could all sit around our stoves together in the evening. Once we had put up our tents, we made the most of the sun and all sat outside listening to music, waiting for the next team to arrive, which took three hours. We had some good laughs with our instructor, who by that point we had nicknamed ‘Bazzatron’. It was a fun evening as we ate our final dinner of the excursion. We woke up nice and early for our final day. Some of us cooked breakfast while others packed away our tents, which we had become skilled at by this point. We then swapped tasks to work with maximum efficiency. We left soon after, while other teams were just getting up. We completed our final walk at a swift pace and had a debrief with our instructor before getting back on the minibus to return to school. We all loved the trip and can’t wait to go on the real thing. ◎
Towards the start of the Easter holiday, some fellow Year 10 pupils and I began our Silver Award training and practice expedition in the Ashdown Forest, writes Zac Shaw (Year 10)
W e arrived at school bright and early with our large rucksacks, which in some cases were bigger than the boys themselves. We swiftly loaded our things onto the minibuses and hit the road. The atmosphere was filled with a buzz of nervous excitement because we were apprehensive about what lay ahead. Once we arrived, we gathered into our groups of seven and waited to be chosen by our instructor. We were then given a quick briefing as to what we were going to accom- plish by the end of our trip. We proceeded to grab our equipment, such as tents and stoves, so that we could set up camp on the nearby field, a place that we would
call home for the next few days. After learning how to construct our tents and use the stoves safely, we started our first walk, which allowed us to get to grips with our maps and compass. Once we arrived back at the camp- site, we cooked our first meal, the taste of which left us all very pleasantly surprised, putting us in a great mood as we clambered into our tents for a bit of relaxation before sleep. On the next day, our instructor took us on yet another walk, and along the way, we stopped at many cool spots. One of these, a favourite of our instructor, was called ‘Fat
The ground was covered in frost as we motivated ourselves to pack the campsite, leaving it without a trace of us ever being there
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THE ALLEYNIAN 711
CCF & DofE
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