Bugle football Tournament had returned to its spiritual home at Treverbyn playing field this year and the gallant heroes of first Sticker Scouts arrived on Saturday morning to battle for the much coveted trophy.
3 Sticker Scouts Chris, Liam and Zack were joined by a couple of conscripts: Tyler from St. Stephen and Kieran from
2nd St.
Austell. Ben had been handed the sheepskin coat of manager and played for the team in goal making up the 6 players.
There were 6 teams and the tournament was arranged in a league so each team would play 5 matches. Thankfully Paul explained this to me several times and then I was able to follow what was going on.
Sticker’s first match was a crushing early defeat at the hands of Bugle Scouts. Our tactic of not putting any players in the oppositions half did not pay off. Zack, in goal, keeping the score respectable. It was a tough blow and the victorious singing of the bugle leaders will ring in my ears for many seasons to come.
Or second match was a 0-0 draw against the mighty Polkerris Scouts. Ben switched with Zack to take the goalies gloves creating a mean partnership upfront between Zack and Kieran. Several chances were missed on each side but some stern words from the manager after the first match saw better marking and even some running after the ball.
We had several games to recuperate before our 3rd match against the reds of Par. Thanks to an excellent partnership between Zack and the Barbarian Kieran it was a feast of Sticker goals as we roared to a massive and insurmountable 2-0 victory. Chris nearly made it 3 in the second half with an uphill strike from the halfway line. Liam discovered his form and developed an uncompromising defensive style.
Sticker’s fourth match was surrounded by behind the scenes anguish for our visitor Tyler as he was pitted against his home team St. Stephen. The Blues had sailed to the top of the leader board but were stopped in their tracks by an early goal from the goliaths of the Sticker Carrots, Kieran slicing an easy ball past the grasping keeper. St. Stephens pulled one back later in the half and with a handball creating a penalty it looked like we would concede again and finish 2-1 down. Ben dug deep and deserved every bit of his hero status pulling off a massive save to keep it 1-1 at the end of the 1st half. An almost instantaneous downhill goal caught Sticker napping as the whistle blew to kick off the second half. With literally an uphill climb to recover it looked all over and despite a brave fight and solid defending between the Chris – Liam partnership at the rear, we couldn’t pull it back.
Game 5 belonged to Liam and Chris as defending proved crucial in the match against
2nd St.
Austell. Liam showing full commitment time and again blocking 2nd’s crosses into the box, Chris clearing well, knocked balls up the line to an exhausted Zack. Several times it looked hopeful but in the end we agreed a draw was the fair result on the day and it was 0-0 as the proud warriors shook hands.
St. Stephen were crowned champions narrowly and controversially beating Bugle in a tense “Golden Goal” final. Par took away the award for best dressed team and it looks like Sticker will need another year to get that fourth stamp on the winner’s trophy. They may not have been tournament victors but never before, in any time or in any place has the human spirit been so tested and a team of heroes answered the call with such a mighty roar.
Well done to the Sticker Carrots and to all who took part.
Follow the link below to download the permission form which you must bring along on Friday for the Camel Trail walk and sleepover. Please also remember to bring the kit discussed on Friday!
Fill this in and bring it along on Friday. We meet at the usual time at the hut, pick up is 9am on Saturday morning and there is no cost for this event.
Camp began, as it often does, meeting Paul in the foyer of the labyrinth that it ASDA. Many men have been lost to its maze of aisles and they can still be seen today wandering listlessly desperately trying to find fabric softener or Dolmio pasta sauce. Fortunately, Paul had brought a secret weapon – his girlfriend Claire. Armed with specialist knowledge and the largest trolley we could find, within an hour we had knocked off all the items on our list and made it to the checkout.
Honorary mention goes to the ASDA worker who was able to remain calm when trying to explain to two clueless men how to make batter mix for Sunday’s tea:
“Excuse me, sorry to bother you but do you know how to make batter mix for ‘Toad in the hole’?”
“Err… why do you want to make that?”
“Well we want to make ‘Toad in the hole’ and don’t know how to make the batter mix.”
“Right well you can buy batter mix”
“Yes but we’d like to make it”
“Oh… ok well it’s the same as pancake mix.”
“Brilliant! How do you make pancake mix…?”
After an hour and a half we were free and had chance to put up the store tent, flag pole and our own tents before the Scout’s arrived. We had flag break and the Scouts set about putting up their own patrol tent and dining shelter. Even though there were only four of them, they managed both of these things without any help (except to lift it) and by 8pm both were done and by 9pm all their kit was laid out and their cooking kit organised. We were very impressed.
While the Scouts played a widegame we ate tea and then made the kids’ supper: camp doughnuts and hot chocolate. A hot topic of conversation between the Scouts was whether or not jam counted as one of your ‘five a day’? A hot topic of conversation between Paul and I was whether loading the kids up with sugar before sending them off to bed was the best plan for a restful night’s sleep? As it happens, I’d recommend it as by 11pm all was quiet and Paul and I were able to turn in before midnight – almost unheard of!
Saturday
I was woken up at 6.20am by a bloomin’ wood pigeon! This great outdoors lark isn’t all it’s cracked up to be you know! Still as I made a cup of tea the strangest thing happened, the sky gradually lightened and then the sun rose from below the horizon in a sort of arc across the sky. Paul later explained to me that this is known as “Morning”. I don’t plan on seeing it again but it was worth it for a one off.
Paul and I made cooked breakfast for the Scouts while they finished off their area and collected wood. The ASDA beans we had were the most disgusting things ever and not worth the extra 3 pence per tin we had splashed out on upgrading from ‘smart price’.
After breakfast Paul and I taught the Scouts how to safely use, store and carry hand axes and the bowsaws and handsaws that we use on camp. We also ran through knife safety and use and our group’s rules about using and carrying all those things. We then all prepared the wood for the fires and Paul and I showed the Scouts how to light fires with tinder. (I showed them how dried grass is next to useless for doing this while Paul showed them how one match can be used to light a fire using wood shavings.) The Scouts also managed to light their fire with one match and within minutes had a roaring fire going.
We cook on embers rather than flames so while the fires died down we made our own burgers and bread. The burgers we wrapped and cooked in cabbage leaves which we had never tried before (and it showed) but the bread which we cooked in an oven on the fire rose brilliantly and tasted fantastic.
After lunch the Scouts had chance to ‘chill out’ as it was probably the hottest day this year and after collecting some more wood we set about making tea at about 4pm. Ben and Paul fried the chicken pieces while the other Scouts had the best job of peeling potatoes! We roasted the chicken and potatoes in a camp oven while the scouts made stuffing and Paul and I prepared the veg. Tea was delicious (even if we did say so ourselves) and Chris managed seconds of his main course, a second bread roll and then seconds of angel delight and cake!
The Scouts washed up while Paul and I were…err…drinking tea and then we played cricket until dusk. The Scouts sorted their walking gear and we had a brief introduction to map work ready for the moor on Sunday. Paul and I were both really impressed with how well they listened and they picked up 6 figure grid references quickly which can be a tricky concept. We made them hot chocolate and we ate cake before the scouts went off to bed and Paul and I set about attempting to eat an entire cheese and biscuit selection in one go!
Sunday
6.40 am! If I ever catch that woodpigeon I’m going to clobber it to death with a frying pan! Still it was a beautiful morning following rain in the night and the Scouts made breakfast, Tom frying a mean rasher of bacon! I passed on the beans. Washing up was done and we left for the moor by 9am.
We were joined on the moor by Jeremy, the Scout’s moorland walking assessor who was assessing my application for a walking permit. All went well thanks to the Scout’s superb behaviour and interest and we had a good morning’s navigation over looked by Rough Tor and Brown Willy and then lunch at ‘King Arthur’s Hall’. One disappointment was that the man I had hired to pretend to be Merlin didn’t show up but we got over it and after lunch we walked up Alex Tor nearby and strolled back to the car.
We got back to Sticker late in the afternoon and the Scout’s set about preparing wood for cooking tea. They did this without help this time, Zack managing to build a good fire. Paul and I experimented with batter mix until we had something which looked edible while Tom fried the sausages and Zack and Chris chopped veg. Paul and Ben made peach crumble for pudding. My wife Katie arrived to visit and helped us to polish off two enormous ‘Toad in the holes’ cooked in the camp oven and then a delicious crumble. Paul and I both agreed it was one of the best meals we have eaten on camp.
We played cricket until dark and then Paul led a campfire encouraging the Scouts to choose their favourite songs. Ben led us in a song he had learned in France which was really funny and then Paul taught us a song he had picked up from the jamboree.
We had cake and hot chocolate while Paul and I talked to the Scouts about Scouting all those many many years ago when we were Scouts and told them stories of how Scouting started and who Baden Powell was. They seemed interested but it’s often difficult to tell! We were impressed and amazed by the Scout’s being asleep by 10.30pm and the day’s walking clearly had an effect (either that or they were remembering our stories!). Paul and I attempted to finish off the rest of the cheese and biscuits and to decide conclusively whether ‘Fawlty
Towers’ was better than ‘Blackadder’. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what we decided…
Monday
Despite being allowed a lie in, the Scouts were up before we were, chopping wood ready for breakfast. It was a lot more difficult lighting damp wood (as I hope they will remember!) but they managed to get a fire going and while Paul and I swept the hut and packed away some of the leftovers the Scouts cooked breakfast. We ate eggy bread watched by the wood pigeon who should consider himself very lucky I can’t climb telegraph poles!
We gave all the cooking equipment a good clean ready for the next camp and the Scouts packed away their tents. Chris managed to make an oven dish look cleaner than before we used it taking off goodness knows how many camp’s dirt and the weather blessed us by drying all the canvas. We packed everything away and were almost ready for 12pm when the parents arrived.
Paul and I had a great weekend. I hope that the Scouts did as well and that they learned plenty. They worked hard and well as a team, at points you’d never have believed there were only four of them everything got done so well. We are already looking forward to the next camp – Tim
