Visit to Robinwood 2006

This year, just after Easter, J2, Ms. Roach and Mrs. Burns went to Robinwood again, up in the wilds of darkest Cumbria, not far from Hadrian’s Wall. After a long but pleasant journey we arrived in Alston for the expedition walk to the centre (inaccessible to any vehicle larger than a minibus) and the adventure began.

The two groups arrived very promptly at the top of the hill, located their bedrooms, packed up their kitbags for the afternoon and evening activities and leapt straight into action; no time to feel nervous.

Helmets and blindfolds on and it was off to the nightline where we had to rely on good leaders to warn us of what lay ahead- and they couldn’t see either as we were all wearing blacked out goggles. In the yurts (big round tents) we assembled between activities, donned waterproofs and wellies, sheltered from rain, did low rope challenges and played organised games that we had never seen before (like Dr. Knickerbocker!)

Nightline - Click to enlarge	Yurts - Click to enlarge

We felt like Robin Hood and his “Merrie Men”on the archery range and everyone managed to hit the target then we were off to sample kayaking (not easy in a strong wind but still great fun).

Archery - Click to enlarge	Kayaking - Click to enlarge

In the next day and a half we sampled all the delights of Robinwood; incuding taking a “leap of faith” onto a trapeze high above our heads, crawling in knee pads and miners’ helmets through the tunnels of the cave network, solving team challenges, conquering obstacle courses, zooming down the zipwire, climbing up the wall and abseiling down again, orienteering in small groups round the site and much, much more.

Leap of faith - Click to enlarge	Wall Climbing - Click to enlarge

By Wednesday lunchtime it was time to come home (though we would all have loved to stay longer) but we had learned a lot about ourselves and each other. We travelled home in a rosy glow of satisfaction at all the amazing things we had achieved. We had done lots of exciting things but we can now also pack our own bags, find our way round new places, make our own beds, take showers and get ourselves up in the mornings and we know that we can work as a team.