Zoo

When we arrived at Bourton Coombe, it was something completely new to me and one of the eeriest places I had ever encountered. Dense forest surrounded the singular road that the minibus parked in, a derelict house being the only object separating us from the woods that encircled us. After having various items of cutlery lodged in our bags, we set off into the pitch dark, tattered stone and dirt path that at times was only just recognisable. Many Scouts relentlessly kept their torches on, despite encouragement from both Richard and Chris to turn them off so we could adjust our optical organs to the dark. Many Scouts tripped over inconspicuous branches during the hike, although fortunately no Scouts were harmed.
Near the end of the hike we reached an abundant, precipitous hill which we scaled to reach an opening that led us to our final destination; an empty area beneath trees ideal for camping out and/or cooking. So we set up camp. A singular torch hung from a tree to provide light and a canvas rolled out on the floor to lay down the essential cooking equipment.
	We lay down the equipment lodged in our bags before Richard showed us a variety of pre-cooked camp foods, which basically consisted of boil in the bag delicatessen cuisine. After the Scouts had cooked and devoured their food (some successfully, some unsuccessfully), Ryan organised a manhunt wide-game. Everybody simultaneously ran off into the unknown at the speed of a thousand gazelles, but it was Joe and Henry who won the game in the end by simple trickery tactics: unnoticeably crouching behind a bush right next to the camp site.
Finally the troop packed up and descended the abundant hill before hiking back to the minibus to drive back home, and out of the uncanny no man's land that is Bourton Coombe. It was a thoroughly gratifying evening, and one which I would be in favour of repeating.
		JOE
On Friday 25th November 14 scouts accompanied by Richard, Chris, Pete and a couple of helpers met at the church at 6:30pm. We were taken in a minibus to Bourton Coombe where we filled our bags with cooking equipment. We then walked for about twenty minutes up a muddy path in the dark without using torches to a spot covered by trees to protect us from the wind and rain. We unpacked our cooking equipment, chose some food to cook and got into small groups. Once the food was cooked and the rice was burned we sampled it and packed it away. This was followed by a small wide-game (manhunt) and a walk back down a slightly less steep path to the minibus. Overall it was an extremely enjoyable night.
	RYAN