Brecon

BROCKS

ESU

Last Updated : 00:56:00. 17 September 2009

Last Updated : 18:00:29. 24 April 2009

Well, not exactly going for it this time round but haviing an intensive training session for the qualifying expedition which is planned for the end of June in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District.

DofE rules state that the area for the real thing must be unfamiliar to the team so the Brecon Beacons seemed to offer similar terrain for training purposes.

Seven of our real oldies who’ve all done their Silver expeditions and in most cases completed the other Silver sections as well, plus Dave and Jacqui, set off for a camp site near Merthyr Tydfil. We used this as a base to set out from each day carrying a full expedition load as there just aren’t enough campsites open before Easter to make it possible to move to a different campsite each night as will happen in the qualifying expedition, but in the end it worked well.

Day one was a shake-down day, sorting and adjusting problems with kit, clothing, feet, boots, backs, etc, etc and with frequent stops for navigation work. It didn’t help that it started raining about mid-day and kept it up for the rest of the day, backed by a brisk wind which boosted the wind-chill factor and made it easy to see how to get hypothermia up on the tops. Unfortunately (according to Dave) the cloudbase remained stubbornly above us so it wasn’t possible to practice navigating in cloud but there were some good forest areas with paths that didn’t exist and some that did but weren’ t mapped, and also where a lot of clear felling had taken place since the last map revision making the ground detail nothing like the map, which made for good practice.

Day two was a bit more strenuous, a circular route on the west bank of the Llyn-on reservoir using most of the skills learnt the day before and with a fair bit of yomping across open moorland (and wet bog.....). At the end of this day after massaging sore muscles and swallowing painkillers, the team decided that Phil was team leader, Emma was chief navigator and Rose was motivational resources manager. This latter post was originally entitled foreman a*** kickerbut we decided to be PC and give it a nicer title although the job function and the effect on those requiring motivation will be the same.......

Day three was “on your own day” with the team tackling a route on their own, including all the problems tackled on the previous two days, plus a few new ones including a LNG plant with security like a prison camp which has closed down several footpaths. Jacqui and Dave played assessors, tracking the team and intercepting them at various points (thinking that they would have a day off walking), but they finished up walking probably as much as the team did (see LNG plant above!)

Apart from the aches and pains there was a general feeling of satisfaction and a lot more confidence about tackling the qualifying expedition in June. Everybody learnt a lot including some unexpected features. Phil learnt where not to apply Deep Heat and how a fire bucket can be used to ease the side-effects, Rose was matching terrain to map like an expert without being shown how to do it despite her unshakeable conviction that she can’t map-read :-), and Caitlin realised that if she could do this with a world-class cold, the real thing shouldn’t be a problem and so, in a spirit of true generosity passed the cold on to Steff.

To see a few of the photos we took, click here...

GOING FOR GOLD ON THE BRECON BEACONS