Miss HODGETT’S group – Sunbeams
The coach journey was very tiring, then everyone had to sit through a load of meetings about the drying rooms and the kit. After dinner, we all had to go get our kit and then Miss Hodgett wrote down all the codes in the coats, fleeces , waterproof trousers and boots.
Some people were angry that they had to go on a walk after dark. We split into two groups. The one I was in went along the lake. Mr White made us turn all our torches off, and there were some scary bits, like when we all stood on the weak bridge and there were some slippery rocks which we had to climb down in the dark.
Mr White and Keith told us about the Lady of the Lake, which is a Welsh myth about a woman who used to row across the lake to see her boyfriend. One day, the boat sank and she drowned. If you see her on the lake (all glowing and white and scary), then you have to propose marriage to the person you’re with. In the end, everyone was scared of her instead, and we all kept screaming.
We mostly had to have our torches off. Craig’s shoelaces kept coming undone (we had to stop, shout at everyone about the lack of team work and “man down”).
When we got to another part of the lake, there was a small slate house. Mr White told us about a toll keeper who would make sure people wouldn’t steal the slate from inside the mountain. If they did, he’d run out and slam the gate.
Keith slammed the gate in the dark and everyone screamed.
Highlight: Ed fell into the marsh. There were wooden walk ways, splitting in two directions and he fell between them.
Soon, we had to climb up some rocks (I shone my torch up, caught a load of sheep and their eyes looked like lazers. It was horrible) to the castle. Mr White said something about the layout and strategy, then he let us go up the steps. I was at the back, making patterns on the ground with my torch and everyone started screaming again. The other group had come around the other way and scared our group.
When they’d left, we all tried to go up to the top of the castle. Some people say there was a spider but I wasn’t concentrating. Mr White tried to tell us more and Craig held up a coffee cup he’d found and said there was another ghost.
The rest of the walk was pretty boring. We had to stop even more. I stayed in the back (we said it was because if everyone else died, we’d be able to run). Soon, we got back, with more biscuits. The girls in my room were angry because they said eleven minutes wasn’t long enough to get ready for bed. In the end, we did sleep (Lily is really loud and the bunk is creaky).
Next day.
We set off our long walk up and down the mountain at 9:30 we arrived at our mountain destination at about 10:00 it was very tiring but exciting as we managed to get all weather conditions in one including very strong winds lots of hail snow and rain the steep hills very made with slate which was very slippery and made our journey tricky and hard. Our instructor was called Jez and he was very helpful and kind. Most of the way up we all talked about Welsh and mountains we’d been on. Our team’s the Sunbeams. He said we all had to smile and bring sunbeams.
Half way up, it started hailing. And it rained really hard. Soon, it got harder as we went past a marshy bit and a huge lake. When you looked back, the view was very pretty and all the sunlight was coming down. You could also see more hail coming.
We were “scrambling” up a zig zag bit and the hail got worse. Sometimes, we’d stop to have a drink. It got really cold, and it got harder.
When we got the ridge, we stopped for ages. You could see the shadows of the clouds, and a few peaks. We were almost in the clouds, and we could see all the way to the sea. The next part was really hard, with the hail getting worse and a huge steep part of the rocks. Miss Hodgett told us that there was a bog, which a girl fell into a few years ago up to her armpits. At some points, we had to brace ourselves against the rock. It was freezing. I don’t know how the wild horses survive. When we got to the top, everyone ran around screaming and eating food. We got a few group photos and then started down. This was better—the rain and hail stopped, everyone started running down. Esme had been feeling sick, so a few people stayed behind. A few ran on really far ahead.
I (Hannah) was walking down the very steep hill and came across a deep and disgusting muddy bog it was horrible i walked over to it not knowing how deep it was going to be and fell into it and was covered in mud it was cold and wet.