I've been involved with Oswestry School's Adventure Education weekends for several years now. More recently, I've found myself working with paddling groups, so it was a pleasant change to be asked to run a mountain walking group. Tryfan - Scrambling We opted for an ascent of Tryfan, via the north ridge, on Saturday. It soon became clear that this was a popular choice as the mountain was … Read More »
Category Archives: Featured
Welsh 3000s with Ellesmere College
Last year, Ellesmere College resurrected their traditional attempt at the Welsh 3000s (or 15 Peaks). It's a challenge that involves standing on all 15 of Wales' 3000ft mountains within a 24 hour period and, due to the geography of it all, it's all done on your own two feet. This year's group was made up of two boys that had been in the College team last … Read More »
Gold DofE Canoe Training
I've been really privileged this week to work with a fantastic group in preparation for a Gold DofE canoe expedition. Some had done a fair bit of paddling before (one had done his 2 star award with me a couple of weeks ago), while others were completely new to it. On Monday, we took a short trip to the Shropshire Union Canal at the Lion Quays … Read More »
Hill Walking on Snowdon
I travelled over to Capel Curig last night with a group of 17 students, and another instructor, in preparation for hill walking on Snowdon today. Staying the night meant that we were there for a reasonably early start in the morning. So it was breakfast at 7am, ready to jump in the vehicles by 8am. Being fairly early, there was still space in the Pen … Read More »
2 Star Paddling Course
I've done a number of Adventure Education weekends with Oswestry School cadets over the last few years. More recently, I seem to have spent more time in boats, coaching canoeing and kayaking skills. This week, the senior cadets, that have given a lot of time and commitment to instructing younger cadets over the course of the year, were rewarded with a week of AT. I … Read More »
DofE Practice Expedition
After a productive weekend of training a fortnight ago, this weekend was an opportunity for the candidates from Oswestry School to undergo their Bronze DofE practice expedition to put their new found skills into action. Once all the necessary kit checks were done, we dropped the three walking groups off at the Ponderosa Cafe, on the Horseshoe Pass above Llangollen. Each group had planned their own … Read More »
Expedition in the Glencanisp Forest
After 3 day outings into the mountains of northern Scotland, it was time to set out on an overnight expedition. Whenever we've been on similar trips to this area in recent years, we've undertaken a 3 day, 2 night expedition through the Letterewe and Fisherfield Forests. However, this time, we opted for a change and decided to head further north to explore the lonely peaks … Read More »
A Level Glaciation in Cwm Idwal
For the last few years, Ellesmere College Geography department have used me for an A level glaciation field trip for their Lower Sixth form students. Having looked around for venues within realistic striking distance from Shropshire, none have matched up to what Cwm Idwal in Snowdonia has to offer. With many glacial features on obvious display, and within a relatively short walking distance from the … Read More »
Indoor Church Abseil
It seems like this indoor church abseil has been a long time coming, but was worth the wait. My older son, Alfie, is due to go on an expedition to Morocco with a group from his school in July. They'll be gone for 2 weeks during which they'll do a mixture of community projects and an expedition up Mount Toubkal. To fund the venture, each of the … Read More »
Team Building with Ellesmere Titans
The Ellesmere Titans swimming squad have a training camp running this week. Much of their time is understandably spent in the pool but, even for them, all day in the water gets a bit much. Consequently, the programme has been split up to include a variety of other things. I was asked to come in and provide 3 hours worth of team building exercises for the … Read More »
