Above : A full complement of flags...might need more flagpoles soon.
Following a few very quiet weekends, things were back to normal with 7 different groups arriving onsite during the weekend. After an enjoyable week with pretty good weather, the Boys/Girls' Brigade group set off back down to Birmingham on saturday morning.
Due to back-to-back equipment hires (mainly mess tents and catering equipment), the staff had to work quickly to check in all the gear which the Brigade had used for their camp, then get everything ready for the new groups arriving later in the day. Unfortunately most of the patrol tents had been soaked the previous day but luckily most were not needed again so could be hung up to dry. Several hours later the main store was turned into a giant washing line with 10 tents hung up using a strange assortment of pulleys, old rope, old carabiners and granny knots.
Most of the afternoon was spent moving equipment about onsite ready for the new groups - all went well apart from a few minor mistakes, eg moving the World's Heaviest Gas Cooker from the Boys' Brigade site then realising that it would have to be moved back to exactly the same spot because a German group had hired it...
Above : a recent addition to the staffhut - giant Fellowship badge and website address (not shown). Yes, there is an extra letter 'S' and no, this wasn't our fault...to be corrected soon with the help of some black paint...
Eventually, after a worrying quiet spell in the afternoon, most of the 7 groups arrived on site and started setting up camp, including Guides from Denny, Glasgow scouts, Fife Air Scouts and a few scouts/leaders from Dresden who arrived very late but were made welcome in the staff hut with coffee and biscuits (although all the decent ones had long been eaten by the staff during the day).
Most of the staff spent saturday evening on the climbing wall either doing a bit of training or trying to burn off a few calories from the huge dinner. After growing tired of conventional climbing, much fun was had trying to climb some of the routes wearing a pair of giant size 14 steel toe-capped boots which had been left behind by a former staff member. Weighing at least a hundredweight each, these proved none too good for precise footwork but great for reaching far-away holds due to their monstrous length.
Sunday was a fairly normal day : flagbreak > activities > lunch > more activities > torrential rain > staff go home to dry off their clothes. Unfortunately due to the weather and other work the planned zipline training didn't take place, but this will be rescheduled soon and photos will appear on the blog.
