The start of the Easter break saw the Year 10 Silver and Year 12 Gold Duke of Edinburgh participants begin their practice expeditions in the Peak District. They were lucky with the weather and while this certainly helped pupils face the challenges ahead, it was by no means a walk in the park. Epsom students did themselves proud and are now ready for their assessed expeditions in the summer. Well done to all who joined.
The silver participants had the following to say, and we have a more detailed account from James Durup, a Gold participant, below.
- Group N: “The trip’s highlights were the many views we experienced while walking in the beautiful Peak District at such a high altitude.”
- Group J: “The highlight of our trip were the views while walking through the scenic hills on the second day. We had a real sense of achievement while admiring the view ahead of us.”
- Group A: “We really enjoyed taking in the majestic views.”
- Group K: “Our group enjoyed our practice expedition last month. We learnt a lot of new skills such as map reading, orienteering, tent building and much more about camping in the wild.”
- Group I: “I greatly enjoyed getting closer to my friends and I found it a bonding experience.”
James Durup – Lower Sixth Gold Participant:
“Our Gold DofE practice expedition began with a long coach ride from Epsom to Castleton Visitor Centre where we met with our assessor and planned our route to the first campsite close to some stables in Hope Valley with his help.
After reminding ourselves about using OS maps and a compass, as well as navigating through the countryside using natural landmarks and borders, we reached the first campsite after a few hours, pitched our tents and made dinner to prepare for the long day ahead.
Golds did not have to pack up our tents on Day Two of the expedition as we would be returning to the same campsite at the end of the day, which gave us a good start and boosted our morale. As we spent our day navigating from Bamford to Hathersage and along Stanage Edge, our assessor split the navigation tasks and allocated them between the two groups for practice. We traversed through open land which put our map and compass skills to the test. We had to try and follow the contours and ensure that we were constantly observing the surroundings so we would not get lost.
Day Three was more physically demanding than the last. Even though it was cold and wet, we got up early to prepare for the long day which involved climbing through steep and rough terrain close to Mam Tor and Kinder Scout. We pushed through various setbacks such as Jack’s boots having to be duct-taped mid-walk as they had fallen apart, and eventually, we arrived at our final campsite in Newfold Farm, Edale. Here, we got our final checkpoints for the last stretch from our assessor.
The final day had a strong sense of motivation despite our tiredness. We climbed over Rushup Edge and back to Castleton, where we were able to buy food and wait for the bus back to Epsom, concluding the expedition.”
