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On the 20th August 2005 five lads, James Donnelly, Jamie Bates, Chris Klein, Mike Townsend and Sean Bryan from the Bromborough unit, (Bebington District) set off to the Explorer Project 816 in Epping Forest London. We were all new to this camp, we were in for a camp with a difference.

This was a conservation camp with Explorer scouts from all over the UK, people travelled from Leeds, Rosendale, Bournemouth, London and Merseyside. As we where the only Merseyside group there we were know as the "Scousers." First day was an awkward day, as nobody knew each other and it was very quite, nevertheless we all soon started mixing together and got on very well.

The camp organisers split us up into four groups: Red, Yellow, Blue and Green. Because there wasn't many of us who had travelled from Merseyside we didn't get in the same groups as each other, but this allowed us to meet new people from our teams.

James Donnelly: Red Team
Jamie Bates: Yellow Team
Chris Klein: Yellow Team
Mike Townsend: Blue Team
Sean Bryan: Green Team

When the groups had been sorted out we all sat down to dinner, in our teams. We were told that time was going to change on Fairmead Scout Campsite, from GMT to FMT. FMT was +1 hour this allowed us to get an extra hour of day light, but an hour less sleep, this didn't go down well with many but turned out to be a success for night activities so we could gain points to determine the winning team.

Work started on Monday morning 09:30 FMT after flag break we were all sent off to different worksites, these were:

Cuckoo Pits, this was a pond that had been so overgrown it had lost all traces of being a pond, so it was up to us to drag piles and piles of mud out of this pit to make it look like a pond again (without killing a very rare plant growing within the pond). Working on this site meant you got muddy but it was worth it in the long run, WE GOT WATER!

Warren Hill, this was a part of the forest that was to be turned into green land, this involved cutting down every tree within the area we were given (except for the trees with the red and white tape on them otherwise Glen got the sack). This was very hard work because all we did was cut down trees with a bow saw and pile them up for the chippers.

Event Photos

The Fairmead Pond, our task was to dig a new pond with a stream and build a bridge enabling people to cross the pond. This was a very constructive job but also was something I and many other people had never done before, this involved getting muddy and dusty because we were filling sand bags with mud and dry clay, we used these to strengthen the pond banks and make the pond look natural as possible.

The Red Path, this was a pubic footpath through the forest that had been over grown with trees and bushes. This had to be closed while we trimmed back the over grown bushes and trees to make space for more open land for walkers. This was a hard job as all we were doing was shifting trees all day, and the public not being able to read CLOSED PATH signs didn't make it any easier for us (and they kept on coming!)

On the last night we built a huge campfire and sung some classic campfire songs. As a team we had to perform something to earn points so that a winning team could be decided. This could have been anything from a stunt to a sketch.

Final Team Results:
1 st place: Blue Team
2 nd Place: Red Team
3 rd Place: Green Team
4 th Place: Yellow Team

This was the first time I had ever done anything like this but enjoyed the camp so much that I can't wait to go back next year, hopefully with some more people from Merseyside. If you do go I guaranty that you will love it, I did and so did the other lads that I went with.

Thanks for Reading.

James Donnelly.
Bromborough Explorers.

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