Snow

With the UK (and various parts of Europe as well, by all accounts) getting snow unseasonably early, the country is slowly grinding to a halt!

However, should this mean that Scouting activities should stop as well? No!

At the beginning of the year, it snowed quite badly, but our Scouts went ahead with the camp they’d planned. They’d hired buildings to stay in, so they were able to dry themselves out etc. at the end of activities. However, the funny thing was that the Scouts who actually camped were warmer at night than the ones who stayed indoors! The buildings hadn’t been used for a few weeks so had got cold and damp etc. The camp went very well and all who went had a brilliant time. In fact, the only issue they had, was at the end of the camp, the parents had difficulty getting onto the campsite due to the poor road conditions!

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A number of years ago, I organised a hike by Errwood Reservoir in Derbyshire. It was in late February, so I’d expected rain, but not the snow we discovered when we arrived! Anyway, it was decided to proceed as it wasn’t a very long hike and it would be an experience! All was going well until it started to snow again and it was quite intense. We stopped and took the decision to come down off the hills on the prearranged escape route and make our way back to the cars. This cut the hike short but ensured that we were all safe and knew where we were. Although we did less walking that expected, there was the added bonus of the snowman making competition! Again, a good time was had by all (except when I had to reverse over half a mile on a single track road as the end was blocked!).

The point of this is that despite the fact the weather was poor, the activities were properly organised and precautions taken to ensure we were all kept safe.

Of course all that really matters is that everyone had a great time!