May Camp 2013 (Hunger Hill)

After the disappointment of Easter Camp being cancelled most Scouts had their hopes up that May camp at Hunger Hill was going to be amazing.

The group met at 6PM on the Friday evening as usual to pack the van and set off to camp. There were 13 scouts attending the camp and they successfully managed to set up most of camp on Friday night so it would be ready for the arrival of Cubs and Beavers in the morning.

The evening had fine weather until we went into our tents and it rained all night!

Scouts and leaders a like woke up to find pits they had dug the evening before now filled with rain water, fire wood soaked and the stream which usually isn't visible amongst the long grass was about to burst its banks.

Despite this, everyone continued business as usual by getting a wash, going wood collecting and getting breakfast. The rain kept getting heavier and heavier though until just before lunch the scouts were told to pack their personal kit away and head back up to the farm at the top of the hill. The cubs and beavers who were visiting for the day had already decided by this point that they weren't coming to camp and instead were going to spend a day in the Scout HQ playing games.

Depressed and disappointed, the Scouts were driven back to the Scout HQ where they would spend the next day. Despite having wet feet and soaked clothes most Scouts were happy that they were now somewhere dry and they could change into clothes that they found in the jumble. Maverick modelled a stunning yellow number which, worryingly, grabbed the attention of boys and girls alike. Geoff also changed into some old clothes which made him look like he was living in the 1990s.

Whilst waiting for lunch the Scouts discussed how they would be able to tell people in years to come that they once camped underwater. The Scouts even took it upon themselves to organise a quiz so they wouldn't get bored or annoy the leaders (who were busy cooking sausage sandwiches or looking after Cubs and Beavers).

Afternoon came and the sun even came out for a while. Scouts were given the option to return to camp to stay the night there however everyone agreed that they would rather stay in the HQ all night. This was a huge disappointment though as when some Scouts returned to Hunger Hill a few hours later they saw that the field had dried out and it would be fine to camp in again. The decision had been made though. Kit was packed up, carried up the hill and onto van and then taken back to the scouts.

At 3:40 PM there was a going up ceremony where Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Seniors and Rovers stood in the hall together to watch various Beavers move up to Cubs and various Cubs move up to Scouts. The Cubs and Beavers then went home to their warm houses and left the Scouts in the cold, dingy and haunted Scout HQ.

After that the Scouts did some smaller jobs around the Scout HQ and played some games. Later on the Scouts and leaders cooked some pasta with bolognaise on a campfire in the back garden. After a large amount of washing up the Scouts were then able to settle down and watch 'How to train your Dragon', a film which is nothing like the book. They then tried to settle down for the night but were unable to due to the fact that Ben Maglog-glog-glog was fascinated by his torch for hours on end. The next day some of the older scouts went back to Hunger Hill to take down the camp site. Although the field had dried, it was still a bit damp. Overall the camp was a failure.

By Liam Pape and Matthew Currey