Gilwell Park
January 2005

The hard core of Troop B headed to Gilwell Park for the annual Winter Camp that is held there. We'd added a couple of twists of our own, so this became the Winter Camp +.

M25
What a lovely motorway to spend a Friday evening on. In truth it wasn't that bad, and the stop off at Wimpy at Clacket Lane made it much more palpable.

Cheeky parking
We managed to park our bus right next to the site, which was handy. And Matt managed to drive our van onto the site! Saved a long walk across a muddy field with heavy kit.

Tent breaker
It was windy when we arrived. So windy in fact that it broke Max W's tent which he was none too happy about. Fortunately we had brought a spare patrol tent with us, which at least meant everybody had somewhere comfortable to sleep.

Activities
There were loads of on-site activities that the scouts got involved in. Simulators, dodgems, curling, climbing, laser clays, quads to name but a few.

D.I.S.C.O.
We make a point of ruling the disco wherever we go. This was no exception. We busted a groove as only we know how. They should've played Alice though...

Burgers
We had a limited menu over the weekend, most people opting for burger, burgers and more burgers.

Monster Trucks
On Sunday we packed up early so that we could head off for some Monster Truck rides on the way home. A fab time was had riding over cars, mud banks and more in these specially designed super-vehicles.

Slides
We also went to Aquasplash in Hemel Hempstead to check out the various water slides, bowls and pools they have there. A nice way to wash the mud off at any rate.

Late back
We lost our punctuality record thanks to Ed misreading his own instructions, then taking the worst short-cut in the world ever at Heathrow. Doh!

A chilly and sunny weekend with loads going on, that certainly signalled who the toughest scouts in the troop are. And the muddiest.