COBDEN HIT CUMBERLAND November 2004 |
Cobden's annual expedition to Cumberland took place in the freezing cold of November. A full cast-list of 20 arrived at the Cottage on the Friday night despite dodgy driving conditions over the hills, with the drivers having to endure ice, fog and mist for the cause. Indeed, it was believed in the Friday morning, after the snow had been falling all night, that the camp may have to be cancelled as there was no access to the cottage! After an hour of lugging kit up the 800m rock terrain course the one thing you need is a big fire, to warm your hands and aching arms on. Unfortunately it took Ian and his cronies - Nippy and Cobden (Mark Ridgway's new nickname) a full four hours to get it going, whilst at the same time they managed to smoke out the entire bottom floor of the cottage with their wafting! Cumberland is not what it once was, and it now offers almost comfortable living with electric cables and lights all over to ease the pain of setting up fires, etc. We were less than happy at the new modernising, and have vowed never to use electricity it just wouldn't be the same Cumberland Cottage experience! Dinner was served before the fire was up and running, as many fish-finger sandwiches as they could eat, and we still had some left over! After having their hot-water bottles filled (Pie's idea!) the Scouts went to bed. I'm sure they will be happy to know that the fire became self-sufficient (i.e not needing oxygen pumped into it) almost immediately, and the leaders had a nice hot fire for at least the next hour or so. Saturday saw an early morning and wooding collecting wood to burn on the fire that night. The explorers on camp went for a massive dead tree at the far side of the bank the very far side and took a while to get through it with the two-man saw, and didn't even have the strength to pull it back to the cottage. The leaders however, with their experience, chose a skinny tree at the top of the bank, to make both sawing and taking back a lot easier lesson learnt. The scouts spent their hours sneaking off to use the sledge that Hornsby had brought Cheeky monkeys! The afternoon was taken up by a walk to Shutlinsloe, the nearby hill. Though the Scouts whinged at first, the sight of all the fresh, deep snow soon made them happy as little pigs in mud. With all their diving around in the snow howver, they began to get cold and wet, so we hurried back to the cottage for a change of clothes, a fire and something hot to eat. A wide game was played after Spaghetti Bolognese, cooked expertly by Holowko, Pie and Julian (I think). The two scout teams had to try to find an explorer. Once a team had the one they were looking for they returned to base. It ended 1 1, with Pie deeming it too cold, whilst the other leaders and explorers were hoping that another run would be granted when the Scouts came in then we'd all be forced further away from the fire! Sunday saw a late start, with the Scouts only waking up and trying to wake the leaders up at 9 o'clock mainly because a few had tried all-nighters on the first night! Wood for the next group was needed, as was general cleaning of the cottage. After Pie's speciality porridge, more wood was chopped and the group got ready to go. The miserable weather conditions a light rain and mist made taking all the kit down uncomfortable, but this was helped by Mrs Hornsby coming right up to the cottage to save tugging a crate down the hill. It was much appreciated! It was a successful camp, in spite of the cold, and everyone had a top time. Who went: Leaders: Pie Dawson, Adi Togs, Tommy Togs, Ian Corbishley Explorers: Mark 'Cobden' Ridgway, Nippy Nolan, Ben Titt, Oli Hibbs, Alex Holowko, Graham Cruikshank Scouts: Gaz Hibbs, Callum Hibbs, Connor, Jonesy, Julian, Alex Walker, Jo Hornsby, Jonny Bowers, Tom, |
