We can be heroes

I don't know about you, but we find it difficult to get our son off to school on time, and impossible to vacate a campsite or a caravan by 10 am on the last day, and there's only three of us. Imagine getting a dozen of our children and a whole Transit van full of stuff up and away on time, without leaving anything, or anyone behind. Its especially tricky when some people don't acknowledge the concept of pairs (ie wellingtons and socks come in twos.)

There is a philosophical and a moral case to be made against the pairs concept. Its not fair that you can only get wellies in pairs. What if you only have one leg? What if you want one to be green, and the other to have pictures of fairies on? What if you only want it to grow flowers in, or throw at the neighbours' cat? In fact footwear isn't made in pairs. They come off separate assembly lines and there are a lot of single shoes out there. Just look at the racks in the shoe shop.

Now, where was I? You can see, its easy to get diverted from packing, or writing a blog. Due to great planning and a lot of hard work late at night, the whole group (except us Stevensons) was packed and away on time, leaving the staff at Dukes Barn a short time to get ready for the incoming group.

So, this is the last blog. There's a bit of housework to do and then we'll be off.

I have to say a huge thank you to all the staff from Sam Pepys. I wish you could all have seen them at work. Without exception they love what they do and they are totally dedicated to our children. No one seemed to take a minute for themselves, attending to the needs of the youngsters at all hours. The whole trip was organised around giving every pupil a memorable, challenging experience, away from the telly and the computer.

The youngsters themselves were (almost) total stars. You would all have been proud of them; not just for jumping off bridges, falling out of canoes or going down mines. They helped each other and the staff with the daily routine and they laughed and played together much more than you would ever have expected. They are all heroes.

To wrap things up, a few words about this blog and the pictures (also see the side bar on the right). The pictures and blog will stay up for several months so you have lots of time to share them with your families. You can download pictures to your PC or print them off. You can e-mail them to friends, or simply send them the link by email.

Over the next week or so, I will edit the pictures, turning them the right way up and getting rid of duplicates and duds. Some of them need a tweak.

Over on Photobucket, the hundreds of pictures from each day are in separate albums called Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. (how original is that?) Make sure you look in all of them, not just the default one.

Finally, thanks for letting us come along. We had a blast!.......Oh, and if you find my welly, it's green, size 11.

Wednesday and Thursday

I had naively thought that we would find the time to keep everyone up to date, at least on a daily basis, but we were a bit busy! Where did the time go? A residential week with our children is a full-on experience, 24/7 for all concerned, but it really is fun. We are already talking about next year. Of course the weather has helped, but the facilities and the staff made it work so that there really wasn't a minute with nothing to do.

So, back to the programme. On Wednesday the Badgers went way up onto the moors for a walk along an abandoned railway track in the Goyt Valley. It was dead flat on the trackway, but the land rose and fell around us in a remarkable way, so it felt more challenging than it was. Some of us were really challenged on the return trip, because we took one of (the instructor) Phil's short cuts. He seems to ignore the fact that a straight line on a map may be the shortest route, but those little lines that crowd around you are contours. You might go up and down further than you go along! We survived. On the way we saw curlews, lapwings, skylarks and green butterflies (green hairstreaks) on the blue berry flowers.

At the same time the Foxes went down an old, 17th C. lead mine that closed in the 1930s. It still had pumps, cables and other equipment down it. All of the group rose to the challenge of a tour underground, wearing all the proper caving equipment. In the afternoon, they did something even more spectacular; they jumped 75 feet (yes, 225o cms) off a railway viaduct! They had a rope or two attached to them, but, essentially they jumped off a bridge and landed safely, and they would do it again.

The Badgers went to a much bigger, spectacular cave at Buxton, where they saw huge stalactites and weird formations. Poole's Cavern is a popular show-cave with very few steps, but it is fairly unspoilt. We had a realistic caving experience due to Phil's other tendency, which is to save electricity by turning the lights out.

Those who were still awake after nine went on a night walk round the village, watching bats and freaking out the natives.

Thursday was just as spectacular. We knew what canoeing meant, but wondered what "weaseling" was. It turned out to be clambering around in crevices between layers of Jurassic limestone, often in cracks only a foot wide. So now you know too.

We all went canoeing on a lake in Chatsworth estate. In the morning, Leroy fell in, but in the afternoon, almost everyone fell in; or were they pushed? Needless to say, they all had a good time. Water just gets you wet, and you were already wet from splashing anyway!

Our last night was a spectacular birthday for Beckie, which involved a disco, cake and all the trimmings.

Back to school tomorrow!

Tuesday

What an amazing day! Everyone assembled for breakfast at 8.15 and most of us had the full English. The morning agenda looked a bit daunting, full of worrying words like "climbing" and "ropework", but we stuck to Sam Pepys time, so "no worries". We were so impressed with the crew today; they all tried a lot of new experiences but the resident staff set things up so that they were all stretched, but safe; not over-stretched. Look at the Tuesday photos to see what I mean.

As usual, we split into separate groups, but their activities were broadly the same. We all had to try the climbing walls in the barn, and the assault course, which involved wearing macho helmets and harnesses. Everyone had a go and some people had to be dragged away for lunch.

We all thought that it would be hard to beat the morning, but the afternoon was even better. Two groups set off up Bradford Dale to walk and fall over in the river. We all had wet feet at the end, and had a wonderful time.

We should all sleep well tonight.

Monday

I'm sorry this posting is late. We were a bit busy last night, then the staff turned the wireless network off for the night, so we had no access until this morning. The good news is that everyone had a lovely evening at Dukes Barn, and they even got some sleep!

The troops left school before 10 and set off for the M1 where they descended on the Leicester Forest Service Station. (Everything should be fixed and working again by Wednesday). They made really good time, so had lunch and a run around in Chatsworth Park, only a mile from Beeley.

We all gathered at Dukes Barn at 2.00. The place really looks its best on a sunny day like today. The building is lovely and welcoming and the surrounding hills are gentle and not too threatening, but we were told that they had snow on them only last week!

It took about an hour and a half for us all to settle in, then we split into three groups for various walks. There's a pretty circuit around the village, which is mostly owned by the Estate, hence all the blue doors. Beeley Brook runs down the side of the street and has a lot of wildflowers, a few trout and a parade of ducks. Radiating from the village is a web of footpaths; along the valleys, or up the hills, it's your choice. We probably won't see them all in our week here.

Dinner is at 6. The main course was an interesting carbohydrate blitz, composed of pizza, chips and tinned spaghetti. Salad was optional, and mostly ignored, which is a shame as it was the best bit! I'll try and find some salad dressing today.

Desert was sponge pudding and custard which was universally approved of. 'Looking forward to full English breakfast!

We had a full evening of fun and games in the courtyard sensory garden, and in the games room upstairs. Everyone had a shower and was in pyjamas by about 9.

Have a look at the pictures on Photobucket.

Nearly there

Have you bought all the stuff on the list yet? We met other parents out shopping today, and I picked up a few extra bits and bobs from work. Now we have a telescope for watching the stars, and a net for catching bullheads and loaches. It would be great to catch a crayfish, wouldn't it?

The centre has broadband wi-fi. so there should be no problem getting a blog and pictures up each night.

Just to test the system have a look at a few stock photos of places we will be visiting. All the pictures we post will be in this album on Photobucket. Go to http://s820.photobucket.com/albums/zz126/sampepysatdukesbarn/

One Week to Go

We just had a planning meeting at the school. It looks like 13 adults will be going and they are all fired up for a great trip. Below, we have the kit lists and a loose itinerary which includes orienteering, river hiking, canoeing, climbing, abseiling and a visit to a big cave.

KIT LIST

1. Please bring a packed lunch for the first day.
2. A pair of trainers for wearing outside.
3. An old pair of trainers for canoeing.
4. Wellington boots and walking boots (if you have them).
5. Water proof coat and over trousers (if you have them).
6. Several pairs of trousers such as track suit bottoms (jeans are not suitable).
7. T-shirts, one for every day AND a swimming costume for wet activities.
8. At least three jumpers, fleeces or sweatshirts.
9. A minimum of two pairs of socks per day, which cover the ankles. And a long pair of thick socks to wear with wellingtons.
10. Slippers and underwear.
11. Towels, wash bag, soap, toothbrush, comb etc.
12. A warm short coat, gloves and a hat.
13. Sun-tan lotion and sun hat.
14. You might like to bring CDs, tapes, camera, torch.
15. Maximum of £10 in £1 coins to spend.
16. Please bring s drinks bottle with your name on it.

Please label everything and don't forget to take it home!

PROGRAMME.
Monday Leave school at 9.30. Arrive at Dukes Barn at 1.30. Orienteering
Tuesday: Canoeing, Ropes, Stream scramble.
Wednesday: Visit to show cave and to Buxton.
Thursday: Wall climbing, abseiling, hill-walking.
Friday: Travel home.