What an Adventure!!!

Last week saw PAS run another super successful ‘Residential Adventure Camp’!

We had 15 young adventure campers, all very excited to be away from home for a full week, and even more excited about the activities they would be participating in.

The camp commenced at 8.00am on Monday 5th August; this was the first time the full group were together. One or two had met before, and certainly had been on camps before so had met some of the coaches. However, there were a few who had never been involved with any PAS activities previously.

We set off to Shining Cliff, which is located 15 minutes from Matlock Bath. Once we arrived the reality of being in the middle of nowhere soon set in. Getting to the centre requires driving along country lanes, before heading down a short but very bumpy off road track and then there is the 20 minute walk with all our belongings. Finally we reached the centre and everyone was allocated a room.

The first day involved a group walk around the areas of the woodland which we would be using. This included the pond, river, cliff, cave, footpaths and extensive open ground, and this is only 1/10th of the whole woodland area. Later that day the children participated in some icebreaker games and bushcraft activities, including natural fire lighting and cooking on an open fire. Sausages and burgers were a great way to finish the day!

During the week various activities were undertaken. On Tuesday we all managed to canoe down the Derwent (some getting wetter than others), plus we made fantastic woodland shelters and played various team games. Wednesday was our biking day, and we could not have picked a better day. The weather was fantastic and we all completed the 23 mile challenge, which meant we all rode the Pennine Bridleway from Middleton Top to Parsley Hay and back again. A fantastic achievement by all, although perhaps helped by the ice cream at lunch time! Later that day, after dinner, we finished with a night walk to check out the night time wildlife. Thursday was another cracking day, which included everyone abseiling through ‘Bat House Cave’, a tight squeeze to start, followed by a good 30 foot descent to the bottom; a great one to get the adrenaline flowing. The afternoon was then spent at Harboro Rocks where we rock climbed, scrambled and visited the old Kings Chair and the cave of the sabre toothed tiger. After dinner we had a trip into Matlock Bath for a look around the shops and amusements. Friday finished with a team orienteering challenge taking in all parts of the woodland, and then a bit of improvised fishing. Before we left, we had enough time to sit around the camp fire for the last time. We all discussed our experiences from the week and the coaches had the chance to hand out various well deserved awards.

Following a fantastic week of activities, it was time to say goodbye to Shining Cliff. After packing and a good tidy up, we then had to make the difficult journey with all our kit and equipment back up to the vans. Several children made 3 or 4 journeys to help others and carry further bags from the centre to the vans – it was great to see how much everyone’s teamwork had improved since arriving in camp.

The weary campers arrived back at the PAS office at 6.00pm on Friday 9th August. Everyone was thrilled to see their parents/guardians and straight away the stories of the week began to unfold, stories and memories that will last forever!

Until next time…

Pictured below is our team of young Adventure Campers –

(Click here to view more pictures from our Facebook page).