19.5.15-22.5.15
Walking with; Cokethorpe School
A second week in Wales with The Bushcraft Company and a mixed bag in terms of the weather but we achieved some fantastic results with a bunch of very motivated and able kids. Day one saw the usual Trangia and tent workshops but with the forecast being for some fairly unpleasant weather we decided on two day walks instead of an overnight camp.
Day two saw us head to the Ogwen valley, one of the most spectacular areas of Wales and one of my personal favourites. We left the visitors centre and began the steady climb up towards Llyn Idwal with Tryfan and the Glyders ahead of us wreathed in clouds. En route we looked at many different kinds of plants and flowers including Star Moss, Bilberry, Heather and Gorse. We talked about the legends associated with the area including the story of the eponymous Idwal who legend had it was drowned in the lake. History, however, disagrees and states that Idwal was killed in battle against the Saxons. After visiting the lake we made our way round to the foot of The Devil’s Kitchen where we retreated from the rain and hail in our emergency shelters and had lunch. On the way back we admired the seams of quartz and the climbing rocks of the Idwal slab and saw a Great Crested Grebe on the lake.
Wednesday saw us taking on Snowdon, Wales’s highest mountain. We set off from Pen Y Pass along The Miner’s Track which was originally built to serve the Britannia copper mine. The path wound it’s way round the beautiful lakes of Llyn Teyrn, Llyn Llydaw and Llyn Glaslyn where we divided the group in three, two parties to aim for the summit and a third to rest at the lake and descend the Pyg track. Our summit parties worked really hard and eventually made their way through the clouds to the highest point in the UK south of the Scottish border. The clouds even cleared for us and there were some wonderful views of the Snowdonian lakes and mountains.
Our last day of activities saw the groups climbing at Lion Rock and taking the nature walk along the shores of Llyn Padarn where we found an abandoned Wren’s nest, talked about how Asprin was developed from the Willow tree and built rafts designed to hold a marshmallow. Another really positive week with The Bushcraft Company watching children develop independence, confidence and resilience in some pretty challenging conditions.
