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THE ALLEYNIAN 710
Walking back to
This year’s Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award practice expedition provided valuable experience, as well as more than a few moments of fun, says Henry Gooderham (Year 10)
In preparation for their upcoming final expedition in the summer and following an early start to make the 7:30 coach, a nevertheless excited group of Year 10 boys travelled to the dark, always hazardous, depths of Surrey to complete their silver practice expedition. Upon arrival, the boys were briefed and split into groups of six or seven. Each group was then personally selected by an instructor and taken to the chosen site to pitch their tents. Unfortunately for some, the many hours in the classroom clearly hadn’t transferred to the field of tent-making, as students comically grasped at the web of poles and waterproof sheets that lay before them. Whilst instructors either mourned or celebrated over their group’s food supplies, many boys found themselves doubting their packing decisions. Groups then gathered to where their instructors would run them through the basics of map reading, including compass reading, grid references and map symbols. Then the groups were off on their first taste
of DofE walking. With the sky overcast and the forecast dry, the conditions seemed to be playing their part as the groups developed their map-reading skills on a short 5km walk to ease them into walking with heavy backpacks. Arriving back before dark, boys were instructed on how to cook using a Trangia. Furthermore, students learnt, to the relief of some parents, how to wash up the Trangia as well. As expected, the food wasn’t up to the standards of the DC canteen but a sense of self-accomplishment certainly improved the taste of some of the questionable cooking on show. The boys arose on Wednesday morning to the formidable tapping of rain on the tents. The rain proved difficult considering the choice of shelter was between a smelly, teenage, three-man tent or the toilet block. Breakfast in the rain certainly wasn’t fun as lighting the Trangia proved difficult. However, most groups had followed their instructor’s advice and had put their bags under the waterproof covering of the tent, so again ‘most’ people’s
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