Cabot Ten Tors

Well again it seems the weather had been on are side again on the weekend, I have not seen weather this good in many years especially for March. I hope the next hike will be the same, as in my opinion that was perfect walking conditions. Please on the next hike if we have same conditions it will be a lot hotter so do make sure you all put sun cream on, but also be prepared that it could be bad weather so don't expect sunshine all the time.

All the leaders were impressed with your attitude on the weekend, especially with scrutineering, getting to bed on Friday night (Did like the fact 45's had a BBQ, next time I'll join you, but only if James keeps his feet away from the food), and getting up Saturday morning. Plus all gone by 7.30am, not very often we see that. Also that you were all cheerful and working as teams. Please be aware when walking to keep an eye on each other, if you start letting team members fall behind:

• That member will fill left out of the team and will get slower.
• Do not expect your adult in your team to pick them up at the back.
• On the event if you do this leading up to a tor with the army waiting they will make you all turn back and go get your falling member and then will give you a very strict warning, they have been known to kick teams off for this.

The only thing I really picked up on the Sunday when kit was being handed in was a couple of teams had a map in there bags when asked for them back, which to why were they in there, and not being used? Please use both maps and don't rely on one person doing it all.

I would like to say thank you to everyone especially you young people, who helped in drying the tents out on the Sunday and getting team kit back, helps a lot in getting ready for the next hike and for us few who have to sort the kit out between hikes. Overall keep it up and make sure you enjoy yourself out there on the moors.

Please keep looking on the website for further news about where to be picked up on the Sunday as there will be a new location for your parents to meet.

Rich G

45s News

Benny A and the four fives had another good weekend out on Dartmoor! Sooty and I were really happy with your pace, how you worked as a team and especially how you dealt with what must have been an alarming situation. Despite a disturbing night being up again at 6am getting ready for another day was impressive. Hopefully shoulders and some enormous blisters will get well soon. Some things to think about:

• If you think you have a rub spot, deal with it before it turns into a blister. One walker last year successfully avoided blisters by plastering the rub point before even starting the walk;
• Use your Ten Tors 1:25,000 map to see where bird nesting areas are - Official TT Scrutineers were out checking;
• Don't walk further than you have to. Navigate with your map, look which is the best route not the one you can remember without checking the map;

See you next time, Brian P

Fire at South Hessary Tor - information for Parents/Guardians

To avoid doubt and rumour I thought it would be useful to give a summary of the facts surrounding this incident and how our 45ers and trainers dealt with it.

45 and 55 teams can camp wild on the Ten Tors event, not at manned tors like the 35s. This helps them cover the longer distances. So we include this in our training. But to conform with Scout Association rules they are not more than 3km from us in training. We regularly use South Hessary Tor near Princetown for their wild camp which is about 1.5km from our main site at a nearby farm.

In the early hours of Sunday morning the 45 team found that someone had started fires on the moor that were encroaching their camp. They withdrew to safer ground and called us. Myself and 3 other trainers were with them inside 20 minutes and escorted them off via a safe route back to a minibus and recamped them with us. The fires, while serious, were not "raging towards them" etc, were low and I could walk safely past them. The team were naturally concerned but not in a state of panic as they were not at imminent risk. Their good sense and our procedures meant the situation could be dealt with. Also the fire brigade was nearby and we spoke to them on our return. This was a highly unusual situation and won't affect our decision to use this tor in future.

If you would like more information about this please contact us.

Lost Property

• Berghaus Leather boots size 9.5 with black Mountain Hardware gaiters and some wet white socks
• Blue daps/plimsoles, H&M, size 40 (EU)
• Blue plastic Lucozade bottle
• Black Mountainlife gloves, size xl
• 1 grey Mountainlife fleece glove
• 2 red spoons
• 1 spoon/pen-knife/fork tool
• silver metal pot handle
• Blue Unicol fleece hat