Eight Scouts arrived at Broadstairs Station on Saturday morning ready to catch the train at 9:10, no sorry 8:00, oops sorry 8:45 to start their Expedition Badge. It’s a bit like a mini D of E Bronze Award weekend, they hike carrying their tents, camp overnight, hike the next morning. They started by catching a train from Broadstairs to the start point at Bekesbourne. Gadget was there to make sure they arrived safely, handed out the Hi-Vis and sent them on their way. Point 5 & Gadget then started their challenge, were could they get breakfast? Having passed a sign just outside Wingham for Free Wi-Fi and All Day Breakfast, they met at the Little Railway Farm Shop. A strange looking place, even stranger when you go in but don’t judge a book by it’s cover the breakfast was amazing, it beat Point 5 and even challenged Gadget! They then moved on to Fordwich to wait for the Scouts.
The Scouts hiked from Bekesbourne through Littlebourne then taking part of the Stour Valley Walk to Fordwich. They were told to phone if they got lost and having waited a while at Fordwich Point 5 and Gadget did start to wonder. Then Ponit 5 ‘s mobile rang “we went down a track, there was a load of smoke and then a bomb went off” !!! They met the Scouts to find the bomb was a bird scarer hidden in a hedge, it just happened to go off as they walked past it, however this was not the biggest problem. The big problem was the field they should have been going across (part of the Stour Valley Walk) was full of Bulls. Not just a couple, there was about 30 of them, so with Point 5 at the front Gadget at the back they walk across the field to the other gate, a few stopped what they were doing and decided to follow but kept a safe distance. They got somewhat closer to Point 5 and Gadget as they went back giving out a few grunts just let us know who was boss.
The Scouts stopped for a brief rest at Fordwich before continuing on through Sturry and Broad Oak up to the campsite for the night at Ross Wood (it’s next to Wildwood) arriving just after 4 o’clock. After chilling/recovering for a while it was tents up and sort dinner. As it was an Expedition it was expedition food for dinner, a choice of various main courses and deserts in foil bags. Boil in the bag for 8 minutes then eat (it wasn’t dehydrated stuff it was proper food, it actually tasted really good) and if you eat it out of the bag there is no washing up, bonus. A few Scouts then decided on a few games of man hunt whilst the others got the fire going. As they hit their sleeping bags the rain started.
They woke Sunday morning and it was still raining but that wasn’t going to stop them. Sausage and bacon rolls for breakfast, tents down and off they went, a couple looked a bit slower than the day before but once they got going the pace soon picked up. The rain stopped just after they set off which helped as they walked through West Blean Wood, Thornden Wood, Radfall and South Tankerton with the final destination Whitstable station then the train to Broadstairs. They met Point 5 and Gadget enroute for lunch before the last few miles to the station. They caught the train to Broadstairs at 15:33, they may have made the 14:33 but we have seen anyone take as long as Aidan to eat a pot noodle it must have almost been solid again! They arrived back at Broadstairs at 4 o’clock.
So thats the Leaders version of the weekend, what did the Scouts think ……..
On Saturday 5th May to Sunday 6th May me and 7 other Scouts did a big hike for our Expedition Badge. All together the hike was 14 miles. On Saturday we took the train from Broadstairs to Faversham were we then changed trains to Bekesbourne (which is near Howletts Zoo). When we arrived at Bekesbourne Station we met Gadget who gave us our Hi-viz, we put on our bags and started our journey to Ross Wood campsite. Before we left Broadstairs Station Point 5 handed us a couple of cameras and said we had to get pictures of 20 different trees, think we ended up with about 40 just to be on the safe side. When we arrived at Ross Wood we set up camp and had dinner. After dinner some of us played man hunt whilst the others made a camp fire. The next day after breakfast and once we had put the tents away we set off on the other half of our hike to Whitstable. Luckily it was a bit shorter and easier than Saturdays and we were all relieved when we saw Whitstable train station and were on the trian to Broadstairs. All in all it was a tiring but fun journey and all of us that did it will get our Expedition Badge.
By Charlotte
Megan, Tom, Charlotte, Charley-Ann, Rhys, Lewis, Ryan and Aidan you were brilliant. You should all be proud of yourselves. You walked approximately 14 miles, 8 Saturday & 6 Sunday (22 km) with all your kit and had a smile on your face all the time. Well done.
Thank you for a great weekend.
We gave them a couple of cameras to use, below are a few of the 300 pictures they took!!
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