On my trip to the New Forest last May with the Sea Cadets there were a few unusual and beautiful sights to be found.
Many of the wildflowers in the New Forest get cropped back by all the animals grazing but looking closely I found some lovely Bugle, Tormentil and Lousewort.
Cool Colours
I spotted a log pile of conifer wood and a number of the trunks were made up of two trunks merged together. Quite a weird sight to see what looked like weird robotic eyes looking out at you as you passed by.
Tree Eyes
While walking around we came across two Holly trees that were joined together by a horizontal trunk. It made for the perfect seat.
Also I spotted what looked like a small vole rummaging around in the grass (bottom left). He spotted me and played dead so letting me get up real close.
And as usual there were plenty of bracket fungus to be seen across the whole forest.
Micro and Macro
Since it was May there were plenty of seedlings around. There were plenty of Beech seedlings on the ground but I did spot one snuggled into a hollow at the base of an Oak tree. It looked lovely however not a good place in the long term I think.
We had great weather all weekend at Ferny Crofts campsite and as well as running the usual camping courses for the cadets we managed to fit in some Basic Expedition Leader (BEL) and Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) training.
A great weekend
The gentleman you can see playing golf with some pony poo is Chief Petty Officer Paul Townsend of City of London Sea Cadets. Paul has managed this weekend for a number of years now and it is one of the main weekends in the units diaries.
We had a great time navigating in the woods, playing woodland Jenga with logs, arm wrestling or just helping each other along.
Serious Fun
The temperature was well into the late 20,s so some of the cadets took it upon themselves to cool things down.
Silly Fun
We met up with the BEL staff monitoring the DofE groups along the way, helped each other and learnt a thing or two from the staff.
Learning and Safety
One of the things I like about this weekend is that we get excellent cooking from our very own RAF chef Simon. Simon has the uncanny knack of taking a few basic ingredients and turning them into a delightful meal.
Good food
In the evening I lit a Finnish candle and I managed to get some amazing Fire Faces from it. How many can you spot?
Woodland TV
The Sunday is a day of stances. The BEL students ran a variety of classes such as camping kit, compass work, food and first aid.
Sunday Stances
Charlie had a great morning teaching the cadets how to use both modern and traditional firesteels.
Fire steels – Modern and Old
In no time he had them blowing tinder bundles into flame.
Flammage
Once the fire was going well Simon had the cadets making the best Shmores (melted marshmallows and biscuits) you could imagine. I managed to get myself a decent sized one eventually.
Shmores
There were a lot more activities going on incling the Atlatl being run by the DON Lt Cdr Mark Macey (I am sure Mark is a secret bushcrafter at heart), running the DofE, campfire cooking and volleyball.
A busy morning
While we were doing all this a group of cadets with Paul were performing an honour guard at Boldre church for the HMS Hood Remembrance Service.
I have never gotten to this service as I have always been running the camp activities but every year I love to see the pictures of the guard.
HMS Hood Service
That was the end of another great weekend so here is to another great one next year.
