Congratulations must be recorded here to our AVSL Bill Spear on his engagement and marriage in July this year to Rebecca Cooper. Rebecca is daughter to JYC, reknowned biology teacher and erstwhile Scout Leader of the STR Senior Scout Unit. We wish Bill & Rebecca all future happiness together!
Fibreglass canoe construction became the 'in' project during the summer term & holidays and visitors to the hut left dizzy from the thick heady aromas of resin. Our target is to compete with the new craft in the Boston Marathon next term. Meanwhile much splashing along the canal in the existing - now refitted - wooden craft served as training and a pleasant way to spend a warm summer's evening!
Wales proved a popular destination for us with revisits to Bodesi and the National Park working under the guidance of ex-unit member Simon Lapington on path maintenance and litter picking duties - not to mention lugging heavy fence posts up into the higher reaches of the park. Needless to say opportunities to ascend the many Snowdonia peaks were gleefully accepted. In most cases ...
For the second year running we came away with a winner's trophy from the Black Mountains hiking competition - much to the annoyance of all the Welsh units seeing 'their' silverware heading over the Marches in English hands!!
Glen Trool in the Scottish Southern Uplands provided a very damp centre of operations for our second summer expedition - rain, floods, man-eating midges, angry swarms of wasps, a run-in with the local constabulary in Castle Douglas and great views from the inside of clouds when we did venture up to the peaks. Our only respite from the wet was on the sands of Girvan, playing beach footie and crazy golf. An earlier than scheduled retreat south took us into the Lake District to climb Skiddaw with the VSL - or practice canoe rolls in the chilly waters of Derwentwater leaving a drenched and shivering Wally & Paul needing urgent warmth. The local campsite was sympathetic but annoyingly unhelpful so Phil knocked on the door of a nearby little cottage where a little white haired lady took pity on the shivering and now near hypothermic pair. She took very good care of them both - remedies involving warm towels, sitting in front of a blazing fire while clothes dried on the rack and liberal warming mugs of rum-laced tea! Meanwhile Phil - brilliantly aided by Paul's French exchange companion who hadn't fallen in! - retrieved and secured the canoes and most of the sodden kit bags, before setting out to walk all the way around the lake to where the climbers had parked up the van. Fortunately their return from a successful ascent shortly coincided with his arrival and within an hour, canoes re-stowed, the now dry and thoroughly warm dippers were collected with many much appreciated thanks for their guardian grey-haired angel.
Venture 44 Edition 25 (published August 1977, Editor: Rob Dalton) - A Walk in the Black Mountains (Rob Dalton), Notes & News (VSL), Sponsored Sunday (Pete Green), Dean Walk Excavation (Mark Bennett), 'Shirley Williams, Education, Etc' (Mark Evans), From All Points, How the West Wasn't Won (Pete Irvine)
Venture 44 Edition 24 (published March 1977, Editor: FH) - Notes & News, District 5-a-side (Paul Calver), Cotswold Marathon (Wally Champion), Midland Mystery (Jon May), From All Corners, University Challenge (Rob Pragnell)
Venture 44 Edition 23 (published January 1977, Editor: Pete Bright) - Editorial & VSL Notes, North Wales Summer 1976 (Ian Fletcher), 'A Nice Hike Except ...' (Simon Weston), Post Scriptum (Steve Davies)
Venture 44 Edition 22 (published December 1976, Editor: VSL) - Island Venture Special Edition