Weston School outing to Herbert Forest – August 2012

Maurice  and I  did the trip today(the first actually into the forest )and it went very well with one hitch . Arrangements at the school worked smoothly – the children were ready and we were away by 12.40. We had 8 children between 11  and 13 , one teacher , Karen , and 2 parents including as I found out the daughter of the great Ian Roger who I have heard so much about. We arrived at the forest gate about 20 minutes later and then both Maurice and I  spent 5 minutes underneath it to no avail . The key simply wouldn’t turn far enough. So we abandoned Hoods  and returned to the Swallows carpark .

Maurice did some basics to start with on safety and watching out for stinging nettles and bush lawyer and then we got them to orientate the map  and we were off. The track is good with only a few muddy patches. There is one fallen tree right at the start but the kids just leapt over it .  We pointed out a few things on the way up but the decibel level was not exactly conducive to bird watching . Still there was no doubt they were having fun and especially so at the caves  where we had a quick drink and  more of Maurice’s barley sugars . Our time  was good so we set off back down the otherside of the loop in nice sunshine. A couple of them slipped over in the mud and fell into the gorse  much to the  amusement of the rest .

Just before the carpark  they all decided to test their whistles . I can tell you ….they worked . All very worthwhile , enjoyable and some learning . Back at the school 2.55 and perfect timing for the school bus.   Steve