Friday 25 October 2013

Captain's Log 24102013 Final entry

Weather forecasts - what would you do with them? Despite the terrible outlook for today we have had a beautiful day of warm sunshine and a great day. Bristol harbour tour was superb and a great introduction to the history of the city. The children and adults were fascinated by the stories of sailors and their ships when the age of sail was in its heyday. The captain said it was a genuine pleasure to have us on board (and we could join his pirate crew at any time they liked!) Only joking, of course but the compliments are true. Looking at the day and the traffic mayhem caused by local roadworks and a serious traffic accident in the area, I made the decision to cancel the visit to Bath in the afternoon and so make the most of our day in the Bristol area. We went to a splendid museum on the harbour front and then onto the Camera Obscurer for a fantastic 360 degree view through mirrors and lenses, and down through a tunnel to a giants cave in the cliff face. Back to the surface again and from there we walked across the Clifton Suspension Bridge just as the lights came on across the bridge and then finally back to our base for dinner.

Finally, a closing comment from the crew, "Please, can we go to bed now, too?"

Captain H

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Captain's Log 23102013

The day began wet once again. The early morning walk lasted 2 minutes before the heavens opened and we had our first wash of the day - only kidding!

After breakfast we were off to the woods to learn bushcraft skills. Den building first from branches and leaves and then after lunch around the campfire we were shown how to make a fire using straw and twigs - no matches but fire steels to strike sparks and then lots of blowing to keep the flames alight. Predictably, some were more successful than others but they were good enough to toast bread on sticks and marshmallows. By now the rain had stopped and the clouds had blown away to leave a lovely afternoon which later turned cold as the sun went down. 

Before our evening meal we set friendly small mammal traps around the grounds full of lovely food for mice, voles and shrews. We shall check the traps in the morning to see how successful we have been, before releasing them, of course, although I suspect that some of the creatures may choose a night in a trap - lots of food and cosy bedding. We shall see.

Following dinner we were out again to search for creatures in the dark. Wellies on and torches in hand and then off to the woods to look for slugs, worms and woodlice. Great fun!

Tomorrow is our day for Bristol Harbour and Bath - and more rain forecast.

Capt. H

PS. Photos included show the wonderful bedrooms - seeing is believing!


Dear  Stonham  
Today we went den building it was very fun we chose our groups with our best  friends .Everyone got  dirty I was really silly I went in a white jumper . Over all it was one of the best days of my life ,some people got wet because they tested how water proof they were.Not a single den was perfect but we all had fun building them,but we got very wet.
our next activity was fire making ,we leant how to build one with,hay cotton wool twiges and fire still.  We had a great day!

Charlie Hill and Ollie Smith