Reminder of dates

Here are the dates in case you lose letter 4...

• Sun 14th Jun, 10am-3pm, practice hike around Woodingdean
• Mon 29th Jun, 8-9.30pm, parent/ scout meeting at HQ - important that all attend
• Sun 5th Jul, 10am-3pm, practice hike around Ditchling Beacon
• Sat 18th Jul, 10am-3pm, practice hike around Jack & Jill windmills
• Tue 28th Jul, 10am-3pm, practice hike around Devil's Dyke
• Mon 3rd Aug, 10am-3pm, practice hike around Beeding Hill car park
  
• Tue 4th Aug, 7.30pm (A-K)/ 8.30pm (L-Z), kit check etc at HQ - important that all attend
• Fri 7th Aug, 5.45am (to be confirmed), meet at Gatwick North
• Mon 17th Aug, 9.30pm, return to Gatwick North
• Fri 23rd Oct, 7.30pm, parents/ scouts report back
  

Dave

Our first practice hike

Well, we went out on our first practice yesterday. There were 3 adults and 9 kids, which is pretty good at only 2 days' notice!

We went from Woodingdean in a circuit around the Downs and had quite a slog up past Balsdean Farm (pic 2), where we had visited early in the year to see lambing.

We headed up on to the ridge and could see down to Cuckmere Haven (pic 3). Our lunch was taken with a fantastic view across to Kingston and Lewes - we could even see the Ashdown Forest (although I didn't take any photos - doh!).

The Scouts were mainly doing well so I took them on a quick detour down the scarp slope and back up again - they loved that! But it was only about 80m of climb and they'll need to do more than that in 7 weeks time!

I had my geeky mobile phone application running, which tracked our speed and altitude, although of course the battery ran out before the end. If anyone becomes my training buddy on the Nokia Sports Tracker (click here - I am davidaallen on it) then you can see it! I might even try using it in Switzerland, if my battery will be up to it!

Dave

Practices

Well, we're in to full steam ahead mode and it is all coming together, so we hope to see everyone at HQ on 29th June.

The hiking ability at our recent get together and also Spring Camp wasn't universally fantastic so please make every effort to be at the practices - our first hike is this Sunday. Start is here .

Finally, we are doing a fundraiser - Patcham Infant School fair on 11th July. Volunteers will be press-ganged, so why not volunteer first? Parents and kids welcome (ideally in uniform) - remember, this is credit towards the Community Challenge!

Thanks.

Dave