Post by JEM on Nov 20, 2005 12:42:24 GMT
DARTMOOR DESPATCH
Archive Report
Reporting the Boys Brigade Camp 2005
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Version 1
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44 Campers went to Broad Acres Haytor on Dartmoor in Devon, the camping and training centre of the Boys’ Brigade in SW England. This enclosed by a wall is a wood with several open glades. In one was the Dining room, Kitchen, Drying Room and showers and toilets block all leading onto a veranda overlooking a playing field with a wire slide on one side, with a camping area for family tents and parking space, and a stone circled bonfire site. From here through the wood was a path over a stream to another inclined glade where boys and staff tents were pitched and the flagpole. In another glade was a football pitch, and in another an open air swimming pool and a chapel where we met twice a day and held the Camp Concert. Within the wood were badgers sets, red squirrels, and moles, and many kinds of birds, and deer pass through at times.
We had 4 days of hot sunshine and cold nights, a storm and heavy rain, and cloudy and sunny periods and a fine day to come home.
.
On site the campers swam, and played cricket, rounders, draughts, cards, chess, and table tennis. One evening we had a hilarious “It’s A Knockout” with dressing 3 victims up in newspaper designer clothes, and feeding each other with custard.
There was an under 20’s Quiz and a Staff Quiz. We enjoyed excellent meals.
The site warden took us on a ramble on the moors, visiting 2 disused quarries with water lilies on the ponds, with gorse and many colours of heather in full bloom, culminating at Hay Tor rocks.. We went up again on Monday night and looking across the moor we saw many stars, while looking seaward we saw the illuminations from Torquay to Brixham, the off shore fire work display, the lights of towns and villages in between and the rising of the red egg shaped Moon from the sea. Boys went to see a Chocolate Factory film, and potholing, rock climbing, fishing, quad biking, and pony trekking
Visits were made to Plymouth Hoe, Smeatons Tower lighthouse moved here from
the Eddystone Rocks, . the Plymouth Dome Museum and the Oceanarium
Some of us visited Castle Droga, built 1910-1930 for Julius Drewe, one of the founding partners of the Home & Colonial Grocery Chain now part of Argyle Foods. The castle has 84 rooms including the chapel and was given to the National Trust in 1975. We walked around beautiful gardens and played Croquet on the lawn. The Camp Run was won by Ben Butcher who with Liam Mandy organised most of the Camp Concert.
Ged Pearce serving as chaplain led us in 6 studies with discussion time of the first chapters of Daniel and other staff members led “Thought for the day” and staff prayers. There we 5 first time campers. Presentations were made to various campers including the catering team Jill & Paul Player and Glenys & Cliff Goodwin who have been doing this for 10 years and will not be available next year. Ged made a presentation to Lieut Andrew Turner the CO with the thanks of us all.
Version 2
**********
BB & Church Camp was at Haytor Camping and Training Centre on Dartmoor.
W went walking on the moor both in daylight scrambling up ledges and cliffs, with my walking stick to hand. and at night. From the base of Haytor Rocks we could see the countryside down to the south coast, the lights of the towns and villages in between, the illuminations from Torquay to Brixham and the fireworks display off Torbay. We also saw a great red Easter egg rising from the sea and coming our way so it seemed, the Moon. One of our officers with a camcorder photographed that, and the myriad clouds of stars we could see when we turned our backs on the coast and looked inland
On one day we walked around two old quarries used between 1830 and 1850 to provide stone for public buildings in London, they are now overgrown with multi coloured heathers and gorse all in full bloom, with water lilies on the water filled pits.
Mr M fell over at one point but bounced back OK but the fall shook up his Lucozade bottle in his pocket and when we reached a point where the guide was talking to us he went to take a quiet private swig and it shot out like a fountain all over him The guide said “There always has to be one, doesn’t there?” Andrew Heinrich said he’d take the matter up with his bosses as he works for the manufacturers on their research side.
We spent a day at Castle Drogo built between 1912 and 1930 for Julius Drewe Indian Tea Baron and co-founder of the Home and Colonial Grocery Chain store Company that dissolved around 1964 and is now part of a Argyll Foods
There are hundreds of acres of park land scores of acres of beautiful gardens and a croquette court where we played the game, In the restaurant there was a lot of home baked cakes made locally. Mr M had some bread pudding made of a recipe similar to the one used by his mother’s mother, such as he have found no where else since she died in 1953.
We spent another whole day at Plymouth, eating our sandwiches on the Hoe, some climbing Smeaton’s Lighthouse, but we spent a lot of time in the Dome Museum all about the life of Plymouth as a port and city, and the expeditions that have left from or returned there. We spent a lot more time in the new oceanic Seaquarium.
Our camping site was a series of glades in a wood including a football pitch, a sports field , a craggy camp fire site, an outdoor swimming pool, 2camping areas, criss crossed by two streams, and in the woods red squirrels, badgers, moles and loads of birds. Another glade was occupied by a chapel with carpeted floors where we had to leave our shoes outside in the porch area, we also used it for the Camp Concert. There was also a main complex with dining Room, excellent kitchen, drying room, toilets and shower units and a veranda overlooking the sports field with an adequate car park. Mr M also went walking about 4 miles around the tiny hamlets with his mate Andy, aged 42 from Sawbridgeworth. They’ve been sharing tents since 1984.
We had 4 days of brilliant warm sunshine and very cold misty nights, followed by a 36 hour gale with high winds and heavy rain, and then changeable weather until the final Saturday with a sunny warm day, plenty of variety for everyone then when coming home our convoy of 3 minibuses and 4 staff cars had to leave the motorway system at Reading due to accidents and tail backs and return across country by the A roads. DV next year we return to Bembridge IOW
Signed Mr M
Archive Report
Reporting the Boys Brigade Camp 2005
********************************************************
Version 1
****************
44 Campers went to Broad Acres Haytor on Dartmoor in Devon, the camping and training centre of the Boys’ Brigade in SW England. This enclosed by a wall is a wood with several open glades. In one was the Dining room, Kitchen, Drying Room and showers and toilets block all leading onto a veranda overlooking a playing field with a wire slide on one side, with a camping area for family tents and parking space, and a stone circled bonfire site. From here through the wood was a path over a stream to another inclined glade where boys and staff tents were pitched and the flagpole. In another glade was a football pitch, and in another an open air swimming pool and a chapel where we met twice a day and held the Camp Concert. Within the wood were badgers sets, red squirrels, and moles, and many kinds of birds, and deer pass through at times.
We had 4 days of hot sunshine and cold nights, a storm and heavy rain, and cloudy and sunny periods and a fine day to come home.
.
On site the campers swam, and played cricket, rounders, draughts, cards, chess, and table tennis. One evening we had a hilarious “It’s A Knockout” with dressing 3 victims up in newspaper designer clothes, and feeding each other with custard.
There was an under 20’s Quiz and a Staff Quiz. We enjoyed excellent meals.
The site warden took us on a ramble on the moors, visiting 2 disused quarries with water lilies on the ponds, with gorse and many colours of heather in full bloom, culminating at Hay Tor rocks.. We went up again on Monday night and looking across the moor we saw many stars, while looking seaward we saw the illuminations from Torquay to Brixham, the off shore fire work display, the lights of towns and villages in between and the rising of the red egg shaped Moon from the sea. Boys went to see a Chocolate Factory film, and potholing, rock climbing, fishing, quad biking, and pony trekking
Visits were made to Plymouth Hoe, Smeatons Tower lighthouse moved here from
the Eddystone Rocks, . the Plymouth Dome Museum and the Oceanarium
Some of us visited Castle Droga, built 1910-1930 for Julius Drewe, one of the founding partners of the Home & Colonial Grocery Chain now part of Argyle Foods. The castle has 84 rooms including the chapel and was given to the National Trust in 1975. We walked around beautiful gardens and played Croquet on the lawn. The Camp Run was won by Ben Butcher who with Liam Mandy organised most of the Camp Concert.
Ged Pearce serving as chaplain led us in 6 studies with discussion time of the first chapters of Daniel and other staff members led “Thought for the day” and staff prayers. There we 5 first time campers. Presentations were made to various campers including the catering team Jill & Paul Player and Glenys & Cliff Goodwin who have been doing this for 10 years and will not be available next year. Ged made a presentation to Lieut Andrew Turner the CO with the thanks of us all.
Version 2
**********
BB & Church Camp was at Haytor Camping and Training Centre on Dartmoor.
W went walking on the moor both in daylight scrambling up ledges and cliffs, with my walking stick to hand. and at night. From the base of Haytor Rocks we could see the countryside down to the south coast, the lights of the towns and villages in between, the illuminations from Torquay to Brixham and the fireworks display off Torbay. We also saw a great red Easter egg rising from the sea and coming our way so it seemed, the Moon. One of our officers with a camcorder photographed that, and the myriad clouds of stars we could see when we turned our backs on the coast and looked inland
On one day we walked around two old quarries used between 1830 and 1850 to provide stone for public buildings in London, they are now overgrown with multi coloured heathers and gorse all in full bloom, with water lilies on the water filled pits.
Mr M fell over at one point but bounced back OK but the fall shook up his Lucozade bottle in his pocket and when we reached a point where the guide was talking to us he went to take a quiet private swig and it shot out like a fountain all over him The guide said “There always has to be one, doesn’t there?” Andrew Heinrich said he’d take the matter up with his bosses as he works for the manufacturers on their research side.
We spent a day at Castle Drogo built between 1912 and 1930 for Julius Drewe Indian Tea Baron and co-founder of the Home and Colonial Grocery Chain store Company that dissolved around 1964 and is now part of a Argyll Foods
There are hundreds of acres of park land scores of acres of beautiful gardens and a croquette court where we played the game, In the restaurant there was a lot of home baked cakes made locally. Mr M had some bread pudding made of a recipe similar to the one used by his mother’s mother, such as he have found no where else since she died in 1953.
We spent another whole day at Plymouth, eating our sandwiches on the Hoe, some climbing Smeaton’s Lighthouse, but we spent a lot of time in the Dome Museum all about the life of Plymouth as a port and city, and the expeditions that have left from or returned there. We spent a lot more time in the new oceanic Seaquarium.
Our camping site was a series of glades in a wood including a football pitch, a sports field , a craggy camp fire site, an outdoor swimming pool, 2camping areas, criss crossed by two streams, and in the woods red squirrels, badgers, moles and loads of birds. Another glade was occupied by a chapel with carpeted floors where we had to leave our shoes outside in the porch area, we also used it for the Camp Concert. There was also a main complex with dining Room, excellent kitchen, drying room, toilets and shower units and a veranda overlooking the sports field with an adequate car park. Mr M also went walking about 4 miles around the tiny hamlets with his mate Andy, aged 42 from Sawbridgeworth. They’ve been sharing tents since 1984.
We had 4 days of brilliant warm sunshine and very cold misty nights, followed by a 36 hour gale with high winds and heavy rain, and then changeable weather until the final Saturday with a sunny warm day, plenty of variety for everyone then when coming home our convoy of 3 minibuses and 4 staff cars had to leave the motorway system at Reading due to accidents and tail backs and return across country by the A roads. DV next year we return to Bembridge IOW
Signed Mr M