On Saturday 11th May, nearly two thousand Cub Scouts from all over Cheshire gathered at Tatton Park. We started with a Bear Hunt, quiz and scavenger hunt, as we made our way around Tatton towards the Scout campsite. The rain came; luckily we all had coats. . . Unfortunately our quiz sheets got quite soggy and we had to abandon trying to write on them.
When we arrived at our camp we were a bit chilly, but Gail was ready for us with hot drinks. There was plenty of room for us all in the mess tent and we soon warmed up. We waited for the Scouts to arrive and then all ate lunch together. Some of us were really hungry after our long Bear Hunt and managed to eat 3 burgers, have seconds of fruit and then seconds of “stickies”.
It stopped raining before it was time for our afternoon activities. Refreshed we went out to the Fairground zone. It was really busy, with an enormous queue for the candyfloss and popcorn. We went on an assault course and then some of us queued for the mini waltzers and others for the coconut shy. Well done Cameron, who managed to win a coconut!!!
Our next zone was Tatton Adventure, but this one was even busier. We split into smaller groups and tried out the spider rope puzzle, rolled in barrels, went on the seesaw and swung on the rope swing. The zone next to us – Cheshire Show – was much quieter so we moved across to that zone instead. There we shot mini paintballs at targets, decorated biscuits with Alice and the Mad Hatter, tried to beat the Warrington wires buzzers, built a bridge from planks and walked across it, and had our faces painted.
At 3pm we raced back to our camp to wait to be called to our places in the arena. All the grass had been marked our in wiggly paths and each district was given a place to stand. Austen found an empty spot for us and all the Cubs lined up right at the front. There were some African dancers to entertain us whilst we waited, but we were too excited to stop talking so we could watch them. Soon Bear’s helicopter appeared in the distance and we cheered enthusiastically! It took a few minutes for the cars to bring Bear down to our site, and we waited eagerly for him to arrive. Bear jumped up on the stage to talk to us, but there was so much cheering we couldn’t hear him. Next, Bear walked through the pathways between the crowds of Cubs, Scouts and Leaders. We all held out our hands and Bear Grylls gave our Cub Pack a Hi-Five as he walked past – even Akela got a Hi-Five! Bear finished his walk and waved goodbye to us all.
We were all still very excited, so Austen, Ken and Shaun took us on the field to play football, wack-a-ball and dodgeball. Exhausted, we returned to camp for our tea of either pasta or sweet and sour followed by Eton mess or apple pie and custard. Some of us managed seconds and thirds again, having worked up an appetite from our busy afternoon. All too soon, it was time for us to walk back to our coach. Wistfully we left the camp, wishing we could stay overnight.
It was an amazing experience and I’m sure that everyone who took part would love to do it again!!!!