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Our Summer Camp was held at
Blackland Farm, a well equipped Girl Guide Association site
near East Grinstead, from the afternoon of Saturday 16 August until
lunchtime on Tuesday 19 August 2008.
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The mess tent
We had to cram in our 23 campers and the kitchen as the group could not find us a bigger tent |
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Saturday tea
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Popular choice
The cheeseburgers went down well |
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Fresh fruit
Strawberries and cream for pudding. Delicious |
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Washing up
Panthers had the first washing up duty |
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Evening view
The geese were heading for home as the sun went down |
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Camp fire
We were invited to a camp fire by 1st Ticehurst |
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Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Baloo and Ann were out the front showing the Cubs how to do it |
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Wet start
Overnight rain had left things rather wet |
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French cricket
A pre-breakfast game with wellys on |
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Looking guilty
I thought Marian wasn't supposed to be on kitchen duty |
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Cooked breakfast
Bacon, eggy bread and tomato. A nice hot meal on a damp morning |
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Indoor climbing
Our first activity - the Cubs wait their turn |
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Ready and waiting
Some of the Cubs look keener than the others |
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Going up
With three instructors we had three ropes on the go |
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Where next?
As well as keeping the Cubs safe, the instructors were able to give encouragement and advice |
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Concentrating
Akela keeps a careful eye on the climbers. Lee keeps his on Baloo's camera |
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Not keen
Not everybody wanted to rush up the wall but all the Cubs at least got off the ground |
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Time for a game
The instructors got all the Cubs climbing at once for an elimination game |
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Then there were two...
Just Emma and Jake left. Jake went on to win this game |
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3,2,1...
The Cubs wait for the start of the next game |
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Go!
5 seconds to get off the ground |
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3 left
This time Matthew went on to win. A good achievement as he wasn't keen on climbing the wall |
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Lunch
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Dining al fresco
We made the most of the sunshine by having our lunch outside |
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Next activity - abseiling
The instructors made sure that the harnesses and helmets were fixed correctly |
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Here we go
The tower is very tall and the ground looks a long way down |
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Why has Emma got a shoe on her head?
The instructors played games like making the Cubs remove their shoes on the way down |
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The Olympiad
We had a competition between the cats and the birds |
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Tent peg challenge
All you had to do was bang as many tent pegs into the ground in 30 seconds |
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All in line
Of course they had to be in a straight line for them to count |
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Callum and Matt go head to head |
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Some took it very seriously |
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Next event
Frisby bowls - Sean has the golden ring for this go |
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So serious
There is a lot of concentration required |
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There it goes
It is going high but will it be on target. Nearest to the tent peg wins |
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Let it fly
Despite a distraction from the cats team, Laurence concentrates on the job in hand |
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Sunday dinner
Chicken supreme, rice and sweetcorn |
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Raksha serves the drinks
Children's champagne all round |
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Camp fire
We ended the day with Cubs Own followed by songs around our camp fire |
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Another day, another puddle
Yes, Monday dawned wet too |
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Monday breakfast
Eggy bread, sausages and spaghetti |
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Crate challenge
All you have to do is climb higher and higher |
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8 high so far
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7 high, but then...
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There she goes
10 was one too many |
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Team game
The great thing is that everybody had a job to do so there was no sitting around waiting |
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12
Lee and Sean were soon up to big numbers |
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14
15 was one too many but this was still the best score of the day |
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The instructor persuaded Akela to have a go
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How high?
We didn't record what number he got to but he tells us that it was about 13 |
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Swinging
Then it was all over |
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Richard and Jodie
Richard was more worried about hanging on to Jodie than he was about the height |
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Emma and Charlotte
Going well |
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Oh dear
Charlotte fell off but the tower was still standing |
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Crash
Not any more |
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Tom and Michael
8 so far |
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12
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Hanging around
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Jake and JoJo
Going well at 7 |
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13
Jake fell off the tower |
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Didn't quite make 14
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Bluebell Railway
After lunch we hiked to the Bluebell Railway. The birds team toured the engine shed |
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What are they watching?
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Waiting for departure
There was a lot of noise and steam as the train pulled out |
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Third class
The Cubs packed into the coaches for the journey back to Kingscote |
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Wet walk
Unfortunately it was raining again as we walked back to the camp site |
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Crossing the railway
The footpath took us under the line at this high arch bridge |
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Visiting the rocks
On the way back we explored the rocks |
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Over the stile
Baloo was not best pleased to see rather a steep drop ahead of her |
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Sunday dinner
It was Baloo's award winning homemade sausage pie. Just what we needed after all that walking |
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Tucking in
Went down well with the Cubs |
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Moonlight
The moon briefly broke through the clouds and lit up the tents |
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Monday morning
Sunshine |
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Downpour
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Drying room
After the wet hike back from the Bluebell Railway the mess tent was full of drying clothes |
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Baloo finds a friend
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We managed to get a write up in the
County Times | 
