We went on a nighthike. It was cold and frosty. Ginger Togs and Thinhead took us on a long walk. In the morning Pie cooked breakfast. It was good. If only I was a scout instead of a top Marplescouts.co.uk journalist. Oh, they have it so easy. Instead I will stumble through the 14 hours I spent with the 6 Cobden scouts who turned up for a night hike on a February Friday night. However, if you really want to know what happened then why didn't you come!! Never mind. ( eh? What's the point? ed.) The Cobden Night Hike went off with a bang. We assembled on time-ish and having sent out a shopping party to go shopping for breakfast (they forgot to buy eggs), we geared ourselves up in the small hall while the scouts tried to work out where they were going. Having explained the Grid Referencing system and worked out where the first 8 of our 18 checkpoints were, we rushed off into the hillside and got completely and utterly lost. Well maybe not. Ben Tott took the first stint up to Linnet Clough. There we discovered that we had forgotten the route card luckily Thian told us we could still navigate round the course as we'd circled the checkpoints on the map. Aren't we clever. Carbon Copy then managed to travel on a compass bearing for 900metres and complete stage 2. Very good indeed. Now over a railway bridge and Olivier Hibbs took us back towards the Roman Lakes masterfully, followed by section 4 up to The Fox Inn via Strines railway station. The scouts had got the hang of navigating by now and were even predicting the future landmarks such as tunnels, traintracks, path junctions etc.. all in the pitch black. The Fox was lunchtime for those with Bacon Frazzles and flasks of tea / or a hangin Pot Noodle if you're Ben Tott. Onward and upward to Mellor Cross now, over some unknown terrain that even I have never covered. We managed to stay on the path and even met some horses which luckily for us, didn't want any trouble. The night was turning cold and frost was underfoot, even on tarmac grip wasn't so good. The ground had frozen by the Cross and the last scramble up to it was with hands and feet such was the lack of grip. A quick photostop and the pointing out of Polaris the north star for navigation purposes and we were on our way. Over the back of the cross playing in frozen over puddles and on our way down to Longhurst Lane. Chris Greevy slipped to great scout hilarity, and I missed the path turn off there was no stile. The scouts were still in bouyant spirits although some were begging me to turn to home probably so they could expend all their energy keeping us leader up all night. On Longhurst lane and then over towards Mellor church and the cemetary. Nothing scary happened unfortunately but the section down a grassy hill surprised many: the solid terrain proving to be quite slippy. Past some cows and some sheep which looked surprised to see us, and then we finally turned for home. We ventured past farmhouses and cottages in the backwoods of Mellor and conversation was now dwindling. For some walking had become dawdling they were getting tired. From Mellor sports club we descended into the Roman Lakes and then up the final hill to home. It was about one in the morning. The scouts looked tired but looks were obviously deceiving. However, there was no running about as the scouts went to bed. They managed to speak in very loud and excited voices but there was little that roused me from my sleeping bag once I had told them to shut up. The route card surprisingly turned up in my pocket and none of the humble scouts would admit to being an illusionist. Pie's Saturday morning lie in lasted till the late hour of 7:30. Some of the clever ones stayed in bed. Then sausages, bacon, beans and hash browns were served as Gangshow began to crawl into the hut and command all space. The game Quarter ball was attempted till the parents thankfully turned up. A good night hike in which the scouts hopefully learned a little of how to navigate. It's really just a shame I didn't have a scotch egg. Fun levels do not compute. The crew John Pieface Dawson Andrew Ginger.T Tognarelli Ian Thinhead Corbishley The Toxic Crusaders Banksy as Richard Banks Hornby as Carl Hornsby Hibbsy as Oliver Hibbs Greevy as Chris Greevy Totti as Ben Tott - spotted the pattern yet? Carbon Copy as Andy Statham. Go boil your head and write a report yourself!! |
COBDEN NIGHT HIKE 21 FEBRUARY 2003 |
