Further to previous articles from our Silver Award DofE students, we are delighted to share with you three accounts from Bronze Award pupils who embarked on the recent qualifier expedition in the Peak District.

ANNABELLE R 9CS

In May this year we embarked on our first Duke of Edinburgh expedition for our Bronze award.

Since October we had been busy completing the other sections of the challenge: volunteering, skills and physical activities. We had regular meetings at school to help support us through the process and work towards the main event… the qualifier expedition!

At the end of January we all took part in a two day training session at Queenswood which involved a lot of walking, getting muddy, laughing and learning vital camping skills. This was also a great opportunity to break in our new shiny walking boots ready for the adventure ahead of us.

In May we finally set off on the coach for the Peak District, fully loaded down with our rucksacks and snack bags! We settled in after a quick pizza supper for one night in the youth hostel before setting out early Saturday morning in our groups for a 2-day hike. Luckily our group had spent a bit of time beforehand planning our route and organised and planned out all our meals together. Even so, once you get your tent and cooking equipment you still have a HUGE amount to carry!

We were very lucky to have great weather and needed more of the SPF than the waterproofs! It was hard work and a challenge to be cut off from technology for a few days but great fun and there were a lot of laughs. The real bonus was that we made it… without getting too lost!

SAHI K 9H

On the 17-19th of May, Year 9’s went on their Bronze DofE Qualifier Expedition. It was an incredible experience, where we all learnt many new skills and put our previously learnt skills from the training days into practice. From cooking to putting up tents, we found our way around different problems which allowed us to immerse ourselves in the full experience even further.

First of all, on Friday the 17th, after swiftly finishing the school day, we left Queenswood and made our way on the three-hour coach journey to Ilam Hall, in Ashbourne. We played some card games, sang songs, and then suddenly we arrived at the Hall. We had a very exciting pizza night, with drinks and lots and lots of pizza! We cleaned up, and went up to our rooms to get ready for the next day.

On Saturday the 18th, we all got ready to walk to the campsite. Before that, we enjoyed a hearty and delicious breakfast at the Hall, and some of us, including myself, took the chance to walk around the grounds. They were very beautiful and there were many different sights to see. Finally, it was time for the expedition to start. We brought down our expedition rucksacks, adjusted them to our shoulders, and filled up our waters before we left the Hall and began to walk to the campsite.

The walk started off smoothly, we were heading in the right direction, which, to our shock, was a steepening hill, and not too soon after, we met our first hurdle. After climbing all the way up the hill, we realised that the ‘pathway’ marked on the map was actually a private gate, which one of our training instructors warned us could happen during our training. Therefore, we had to find a way to work around the problem, and find another way out of the hill. We looked around further and we found another gate through the field! We edged through the field, and also said hello to some lovely sheep who were grazing in the field.

We kept going further on until we had made it near the campsite. There were times when we went the wrong way or turned in the wrong direction, but we still pushed through and managed to find the vast area of trees and ground near the campsite. To tell the truth, we did get lost a couple of times and ran the wrong way, but in the end, we reached the Big Hillsdale Farm, which was where we were going to be setting up camp for the night.

We set up our tents, made a very delicious dinner of noodles, and headed into bed. Surprisingly, it was quite comfortable! The sleeping bags were very soft and warm. We woke up at around 6:45-7:00 the next morning, and we got ready to cook breakfast. Now, this is where we had to change our plans. Originally, we were going to make pancakes, but they ended up sticking to the pan and we had to go to plan B. Luckily we had brought some processed sausages and I had brought some tortilla wraps, so we boiled the sausages, wrapped them up and had a delicious breakfast.

Then it was time to set off on the second day of the expedition. We packed up our tents, pots and pans, and got our rucksacks ready to set off. The second day was fairly simple as our route took us along the river, which was easy to follow and took us to the end point (Hulme End) quite quickly. Our aim was to get there fast, so we tried to minimise our short breaks and took one long break in the middle, resting fully before setting off again.

We finally made it to the end! We sat in the sun, had some ice cream, and waited for the other groups to arrive before heading back home. It was a very fun and exciting experience which I think we all enjoyed! Thank you to all the assessors and teachers leading the expedition - we really appreciated your help, especially when you supplied us with some sugary snacks on the way for energy (they were very delicious)!

LUCIENNE M 9H

Friday 17 May 2024

On Friday we left at 4:30 to go to the Peak District, we travelled by coach. We played music along the way. Some people slept, some played card games, some watched a movie; we all kept ourselves entertained for the long journey.

Once we arrived at Ilam Hall, a beautiful Youth Hostel, we had a Dominos Pizza night, which was very tasty then handed in our phones. We got ready for bed and had a good night's sleep before tomorrow's long walk.

Saturday 18 May 2024

We woke up at 7:00AM and had a lovely breakfast at the hostel and then went outside to put our tents and emergency equipment into our bags and gather our compasses and maps. After that we set off on our route and started off by walking around the hostel around a scenic route, spotting hundreds of sheep along the way. We walked up and down big hills, through rivers and had to walk through many fields, full with cows and sheep. The nature was so pretty and the sights were mesmerising. We stopped for lunch at an abandoned church which was very cool to look around and then we set off. Our group arrived at the campsite at 4:30, however some groups arrived at 9PM! We made dinner then relaxed in our tents and quickly fell asleep after the long day.

Sunday 19 May 2024

On Sunday we woke up early and cooked ourselves breakfast in the morning and then bright and early to avoid the summer heat and getting back home too late. We walked through Wetton, in a valley, up some very big hills and then up Ecton hill which is 369 metres tall! We finally arrived at the end point and got some ice cream which was delicious at around 1:30PM. We got back on the bus and ended our trip by arriving back at Queenswood at around 7:00 PM.