2ND BARRY COMPANY
2005 Camp
BB Camp 2005 Pembroke
Showing Mess, Boys and a Staff tent
Well, the summer is nearly over and we have started back for our 2005-2006 session. The boys have returned to old sections and those who have moved up are settling in to the new sections. It does seem a long time ago we staged our Presentation Evening, where boys from all sections were rewarded for effort during the 2004-2005 session.
We did not manage to continue through the summer but we did organise 2 Section events. The Company Section had a week-long camp in West Wales, at a beautiful spot just outside Haverfordwest that had a magnificent view into Fishguard harbour. In the end only 4 boys attended, accompanied by 3 staff, but it was still a full week of activities. We visited St David's Cathedral, Whitesands Bay, Haverfordwest itself, Pemberton's Chocolate factory, which was a big hit with both staff and boys alike and a full day at Oakwood Theme Park.
The site was situated in a former farm owned by Steve's family and they kindly let us use the toilet and washing facilities, which was a great help, not least financially and meant we managed camp hygiene much better - big thanks to Rhys and Tarne.
The weather was very kind to us most of the week, a little gentle drizzle early in the week, then brilliant sunshine. Thursday was the only day we had any prolonged rain and this not until quite late, though it did manage to get into the boys tent. The boys had failed to heed the warnings of earlier in the week and keep their tent discipline, still it was a lesson learned for the future. The boys slept in Barbara's tent (it has 3 bedrooms!!!), for that one night, the rest of us were fine; it could have been so much worse if we had experienced any strong winds.
Daily routine was to get up around 7:30, breakfast then camp chores; washing dishes, fetching water for cook, clearing rubbish and getting the tents in order. Barbara then led an excellent devotional period daily using the theme of people's jobs. We investigated soldiers, fishermen, bakers and sailors using biblical examples, followed by some relevant music.
The field had a football pitch so there was the opportunity to play games and we had set up a badminton court. The site also had a family of semi-feral cats so daily sport entailed keeping them out of the tents and, more importantly, out of the house. We were fortunate to have access to the house fridge to store items such as milk, perishables etc.
Cook provided a well-balanced and nutritious menu (ed: was this the same camp I went on?) for the week and all meals were well received. The highlight was sausage and mash with onion gravy followed by apple pie and custard, or so I'm told. After breakfast, prayers and chores time was spent on activities around the camp interspersed with our visits. Lunch was at between 12 and 1pm when on site, mostly snacks and fruit and a delightful packed lunch when off site. (ed: no, this wasn't the same camp! Only kidding Derek)
Lewis was responsible for running camp tuck shop and made a small profit offering a variety of chocolate, sweets and drinks. The main meal of the day was dinner at around 6pm, followed by free time until 9pm when we all gathered in our mess tent to share evening devotions. Derek led these using "expectations" as the theme, exploring our relationships with each other, our expectations of God finally exploring God's expectations of us. This was followed by a period of story telling and supper, hot drinks and "Dear Diary", where we recalled what had happened during the day in a humorous way, usually at the expense of each other, though all done in "the best possible taste". We gave each other nicknames, Derek was the "Chef of Death", Steve was affectionately renamed "Me drive, you Jane" because of his insistence on using a SATNAV system called Jane. Barbara was called "Angel of Mercy" due to her first aid responsibilities.
Bed was usually called for at 10pm with lights out at around 10:30. I must admit we did all benefit from the outdoor life and slept soundly, apart from those who insist on snoring, all night. We did however, have an impromptu star gazing session one night after 11pm. The site was on a slight rise and VERY dark at night so giving excellent views of the night sky. We saw a few UFOs, that were quickly identified as jets flying in from and out to the US.
Our day out at Oakwood on the Wednesday was a great success with all the boys returning very tired but happy and longing to go again. The very next day was a short hike around the local area. A route was chosen and the expedition led by Lewis with every boy taking a leg to lead. After about 2 hours they all returned safe and sound.
Thursday was our last night so we staged a camp concert with every taking part with sketches, songs and poems... a lot of laughter and joking; it was fun.
A very large part of camp is the boys bonding with each other and with the staff and I feel we all know each other a little better after camp. So a successful week and now a chance to catch up on our SLEEP!!!
Boys in their camp t-shirts as we strike camp
Handsome bunch aren't they?