Ten Tors Training - Dartmoor 3

  • 0
From 27th to the 29th April was Ten Tors training 'Dartmoor' three. We arrived at the sports barn after school on Wednesday and unpacked all our kit to go through as if doing scrutineering. After this, we went down to the co-op while the 45ers and 55ers did their scrutineering. When we got back we were given our rout cards and went to plan our route. It was mainly going straight from one tor to another as the weather had been good so we didn't need to go around bogs etc... We then went to bed as soon as we could.

The next morning at 4:00am we were woken up by the lights being turned on. We quickly got dressed and packed up all our kit before grabbing a breakfast of a flapjack, some fruit, some flavored water and a pan au chocolat. We then loaded out kit into the trailer (not a horse box this time). And went into our mini bus to eat the remainder of our breakfast and catch some sleep.

After a brief stop at Exeter services, we went straight to Okehampton army base and unloaded our kit. We then went to the gate where the event would start. Our team where the last to be allowed to leave, we had staggered starts, but were still the first to reach our first tor - Row tor before the two teams that left before us (our other 35 team and the 35 team from Mr Brewer's, sisters school (castle school)), even though I did almost step on a discarded grenade.
We then powered on (seriously with Tom leading us) to Oke tor. When we reached the top we saw our other 35 team crossing the river at the bottom as we left to our next tor but didn't see them reach the top our come down the other side, we were later told that one of them had fallen in the river and they had had to wait 30 mins for him to get changed. We then went on to Sharpitor where we met Mr Brewer's sister and her colleague followed by Watern tor, Quintins man and the Sittaford tor where we met Mr Brewer and Mr Mason. We then went on to a large rive crossing where we met Mr Stewart and his dogs, followed by Higher white tor where we met Mr Brewer's sister again followed by Beardown tors where we met Mr Brewer's sister (the Brewer family say that they have mastered the ability of apparition). We then went down through a farm and along the road from two bridges to Princetown. We then made use of the toilets in the town (but they stunk so much we would almost have been better off waiting till we camped. We then continued along the road until we turned off at Black tor where we were first to arrive for the night. We then set up our tents, collected some water, lit our trangia and cooked our ration meals while the other teams trickled in. We then set up our tents and cooked our dinner on the trangia's. The teachers then came to check on us and when the left we skillfully avoided the pile of skin that Josh had peeled off his feet before going to bed.

The next morning we got up at around 4:00am and quickly took down the tents and cooked our meals on the trangia's before the teachers arrived and after checking we were all good, our team were dismissed first. We then went from Black tor, to South Hessary tor. From there we followed 'the yellow brick motorway' down to higher hartor and then up Eylesbarrow tor where we met Mr Brewer's sister and her colleague again. We then went down into a very steep valley and up the other side to down tor. We then went along to Cramber tor followed by Black tor where we had camped.
Mr Brewer then phoned us and told us that because we were going so quickly, instead of going straight to Leedon tor we went to Sharpitor first. We then went to the road at the bottom of Sharpitor where we met Mr Brewer, Stewart and Mason and they told us we were doing very well. We then continued up to Leedon tor. We were then planning to go straight across to North Hessary tor but Joel Flint and his friend blew their whistle from the bottom of the tor. We presumed they were calling us when actually they were calling the other 35 team who had just reached Leeden tor. We then walked together up to the huge mast on the top of North Hessary tor where we met Mr Brewer, Stewart and Mason again. We then walked down into princetown with Mr Brewer to the mini buses where we sat, ate and drank while we waited for the other teams. While we were we spoke about who wanted to be on the team for the actual event. Cobi said that he didn't want to which left 8 people going for 6 places.

A week later we were told the final 35 teams for the event which consisted of; Me, Tom, Rob, Ollie, Tom and Josh. Adam and Marcus who didn't get in then went with different 45 teams and also took part.

Below is what Mr Stewart wrote for the school about the training and the up coming event:
"TEN TORS CHALLENGE FOR BEECHEN CLIFF
This  weekend 24 Beechen Cliff  pupils  will take on the
challenge that is Ten Tors. This event requires the teams
of six to navigate across Dartmoor and be self­sufficient
for two days,  whatever the weather.  These pupils  have
been training since January  spending 3 weekends  on
Dartmoor and a long day in the Black Mountains, Wales,
to practice and refine their skills.  Year 10 pupils will be
attempting 35 miles, Year 11 will walk  45 miles  and 6
Year 12 pupils  will attempt  the 55 mile event. They  will
gather along with 2400 other youngsters on Okehampton
Camp this  Friday.  The place becomes  a tent city  as
organisations set  up their base camps.  The buzz  starts
and the atmosphere will build along with the anticipation.
Teams  undergo kit  checks,  route planning and briefings
before the adventure begins.
The teams will start at 7:00am Saturday and aim to finish
before 5:00pm Sunday  afternoon.  If successful  then
bronze,  silver and gold medals  will be allocated
accordingly. If they  finish outside 5:00pm then to quote
Ann Robinson they  will ‘leave with nothing’.  The stakes
are high.
Ten Tors  is  one of  the most  challenging events
youngsters  at  this  age can attempt, both mentally  and
physically.  It  is  held  in high regard by  employers  and
Universities  alike and Beechen Cliff has  a proud record
with the event.  Every  year the finish is  well attended by
parents  and spectators  as  well  as  making local  and
national news.
You can follow  the progress  of our teams  by  visiting the Ten Tors  website at
http://events.exeter.ac.uk/tentors/ and following the links. We wish all our teams  well and hope to report
success next week. Regardless the experience will be unforgettable!!
Mr Brewer, Mr Stewart, Mr Edy, Mrs Denning, Mr Mason."

DofE - First Aid Training

  • 0
On Wednesday 27th April as part of our Duke of Edinburgh awards preparation we learnt some basic first aid in the beechen cliff hall with the school nurse. Amongst other things with learnt how to put someone in the recovery position, how to treat burns and about breaks, sprains and twists

Patrol Camp 2011

  • 0
28th logo - official - NEGATIVE
From the 8th to the 10th April was our annual 'Patrol Camp'. This is held every year as preparation for the week long 'Troop Camp' which happens later in the year.

I arrived about 1 hour late because my work experience (see last post) didn't finish until half an hour past the start of camp, and joined my Patrol. They had already put up the patrol tent so I helped put up the (new) dinning shelter, we then gathered all our personal and patrol kit and put it to the relevant tents. Afterwards we all went into the mess tent for hot drinks and we got a intimidating talk from Simon before we went to bed.

The next morning we had a continental breakfast (croissants with jam and cereal) and spent to morning setting up our patrol sites (gadgets, roped off, making sure tents are put up correctly and neatly etc...) and each patrol had a slot on rotation doing archery. We then stopped for a brief lunch of sausage rolls, crisps, fruit and cake. In the afternoon we all worked towards our outdoor challenge badge (or outdoor challenge plus for those, like me, who had already completed it). I learn't some first aid with James and helped some of the younger scouts complete some of the things that they needed to do. By the end of it I realized that the only thing I needed to do to complete the plus badge was to sleep out in a bivi/poncho shelter so me, Tom and Alex convinced Simon to let us sleep in one that night. We then cooked an assessed dinner on our patrol fires which went quite well.
For our evening activity, Me, Tom and Alex walked to Nunny castle (a reasonably local ruin) where we hid and waited for the rest of the scouts to arrive with the leaders. Simon had a radio as did we so we were given 5 minutes warning before they arrived. The scouts mission was to throw five glow sticks into the castle, what they didn't realize is that we would be throwing them back out. Much as this was a good idea it was somewhat shortened when after about 30 seconds all the glow sticks ended up in the moat.
Me, Tom and Alex then went off ahead again and arrived back at the campsite quite soon where we put on the hot water and had a doughnut. When the leaders and the rest of the scouts got back we went and set up our poncho shelter which was luxuriously constructed of five ponchos before getting our mats and sleeping bags and going to bed.
The next morning we got up and Tom and Alex were told to take down the shelter while I went to help my patrol cook our assessed (full English) breakfast. After breakfast we had the main inspection which went quite well. We then went down to the river and built mini rafts (we did this on troop camp in 2008 and it was a great success) after we  had built them we set fire to them and floated them down the river. My one and Tom and Alex's ones got the furthest. We then walked back up to the campsite and took down the patrol sites, tents etc... and started to loads up the trailer. We then had a break for lunch and tried out James hammock which he had set up. We then took down the main mess tent and finished loading up the trailer and the cars.
We then had the final flag and went home.

Work Experience at Enlightened Lighting

  • 0
 



From the 3rd to the 8th of April was work experience week at Beechen Cliff. I went to work at Enlightened Lighting Ltd which hire out lighting, sound systems, cables etc... for large shows, concerts, productions etc...

MONDAY
On Monday, I arrived and Andrew, my boss, quickly showed me around. I then went out in the van with Geri in the van to pick up a load of kit from Bristol temple meads  because the lorry that was meant to be taking in had broken down. I then went out in the van to collect some lights from the pavilion. I then tested cables for the afternoon.

TUESDAY
Josh (the warehouse manager gave me a more in depth tour of the warehouse. I then prepared some orders with him. I then tested cables for the afternoon again

WEDNESDAY
Went out in the van with Geri to cirencester. Then I cleaned and tested fresnel lamps.

THURSDAY
Drove with Geri to Weston-super mare to pick up some lights, went to St Brendan's college, went to bath spa uni and cleaned more fresnel lamps.

FRIDAY
Went to a school in van with Geri which was quite along way away, went to bath uni, went to deliver and set-up a private disco before saying goodbye to everyone, getting my paper work signed and then I got a lift to KES - which is right by my house, as they had broken a light there.

All in all it was an enjoyable week and I learnt a lot, especial in the specific technical terms of the industry