3rd Waterford Troop Blog 2005

Troop Blog 2005

Above: Members of the 3rd Scouts on the summit of Knockanafrinn (755m).

Troop Hike - 11th December 2005

Above: The hike contingent at Carrickavrantry.

The sun was shining for the first morning in a week as we set off on our Christmas hike to the Ballyscanlan Hills which are not far from Tramore in Co. Waterford. Our route took us to Ballscanlan lake first before we headed for Carrickavrantry reservoir in search of a megalithic tomb which we eventually found and which Aidan agreed to get in to. We went to the summit of Carrickavrantry (106 metres) for lunch which included an impressive fry up of burgers, sausages and rashers. Tastiest rashers went to Sarah and Lisa while best burgers went to Stephen and Richard. Best control of a trangia pot badly on fire went to Ian Sinnott who also had a nicely scorched hand.

Above: Richard, Aidan and Sarah balance on a huge tree stump.

Back at Ballyscanlan everyone was eventually caught by the leaders in the game of manhunt but again it was a brave Aidan who snuck past Kevin Butler to strike the barrel in the second challenge. It was a good short hike and everyone was nicely filthy getting back into the cars.

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Troop Overnight - 18th-19th November 2005

Above: Cnoc an Aifrinn in the Comeragh Mountains.

We went to the Rathgormack Hiking Centre. We stayed there on Friday night the 18th of November and returned on Saturday the 19th. We met at the scout hall at 7pm and left for Rathgormack. The accommodation was in doors. The price was 20 euro with food included. We got there at around 8pm. The centre had an indoor climbing wall which we used on Friday night.

Above: Sarah tackles the overhang on the Rathgormack Climbing Wall.

We got up at 9am, had our breakfast and set out for the hike at 11am. We drove to the old scout hut in the forest and started our hike there. We hiked past the lake and up to the highest mountain in the Comeragh Mountains to have a break. It was tiring but it was fun going back down. We got back to the centre at 4pm and were home by 5pm.

Above: Aidan and Cian tackle the steep route up from Loch Mohra.

I thought the overnight was fun and the hostel looked really nice. The TV room was good, the hall was huge and the climbing was good. The kitchen was high tech and up to date and the food was nice too. I thought it was just the right amount who went - 8 scouts and 3 leaders. There was a lot of room in all the rooms so that was good. The hike was fun although I got tired going up and it was cool when we saw a raven when we were at the highest point. Account by Lisa Rea.

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Patrol Leader's Training Course - 5th of November 2005

The Waterford Scout County Patrol Leaders Training Course was held up in the Sacred Heart Scout Hall on Saturday the 5th of November. There were four bases consisting of rescue first aid, initiative tests, knots and lashings and cooking and firelighting.

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Ulster MPC - 21st - 23rd October 2005

The 2005 Ulster Mountain Pursuit Challenge took place from the 21st to the 23rd of October 2005 in the Mourne Mountains in Co. Down. Cian, Stephen and Colm joined Darragh and Eoin from the 7th to make up a team for the event. It was an excellent weekend of mountaineering and which featured a superb horseshoe route in excellent conditions across Slievelamagan, Cove Mountain, Slieve Beg and Ulster's highest mountain, Slieve Donard. You can read the full account with lots of photos here.

Connaught MPC - 23rd - 24th September 2005

The 2005 Connaught Mountain Pursuit Challenge took place from the 23rd to the 25th of September 2005 in the Twelve Bens in Connemara. Cian O'hOgartaigh, Carlos, Stephen O'Rourke, Paul Power and Paschal Guilfoyle made up the team. Reports are that the team had difficulty finding basecamp on the Friday night! The weather was extremely tough on the Saturday and the route was shortened which meant that the team were able to make a getaway on the Saturday evening.

County MPC - 16th - 18th September 2005

The 2005 Waterford Scout County Mountain Pursuit Challenge took place from the 16th to the 18th of September 2005 in the Comeragh Mountains. We had eleven scouts from the troop taking part as well as five leaders. You can read the Expedition Report of the event on our County MPC 2005 page while the County MPC 2005 Gallery page also has an outstanding selection of photographs taken by participants in the event from across the county.

The Big Walk - 28th of August 2005

Pictured above are Stephen Bailey and David Tritschler who were part of the team from the 3rd that helped out at the Group's Big Walk on the new Waterford City Outer Ring Road. Well done also to Sarah Kennedy and Lisa Rea who were at the helm in the camp kitchen and produced the most delicious sausage sandwiches. Thanks also to Cian O'hOgartaigh who was head of campcraft design and resident shopkeeper for the day. There are more details and photos on our Big Walk page.

Troop Hike - 28th of July 2005

We had hoped to combine our hike this week with a bit of a swim but we got the tides wrong and it was a bit wintry anyway. From Woodstown we were headed in search of Creadan Head. Our first stop after nearly being devoured by dogs and passing some strange sculptures was Fornaght Strand which is often called Creadan beach.

We weren't sure if there was a way out onto the head but we jumped over the gate with the "Trespassers will be Prosecuted" sign before heading on to a forest run so as to avoid a herd of cows. Eventually we ended back up in the field with the cows as we headed for the summit of Ceann Chreadain at an impressive 56 metres above sea level. From the top, there was a fantastic view back up Waterford Harbour to Woodstown and Passage East. On the other side we could see Duncannon and Black Point as well as the whole length of the Hook Peninsula including the creepy Loftus Hall. We could also see along to Ardnamult head and Dunmore East from where a few hardy sailors were making the most of the strong winds in the bay.

Above: The Creadan Head Herd check us out with Dunmore East in the background.

A little known story about Creadan Head is that it was used for the landing of slaves from the sailing ships of the mid 19th century. The slave ships would sail north from Africa to catch the west-bound ocean currents of the North Atlantic but, before the long voyage across the sea, they would stock up on provisions at Waterford Port. It would not be feasible to enter the port with the human cargo and the slaves would have been held in cramped conditions for the voyage north, so would need to be given fresh air and exercise before the long westward journey. Thus, they disembarked at Creadan Head, where it was easy to guard them as the peninsula was also a natural prison compound. Then, the ships would continue to Waterford to prepare for the Americas voyage and collect the slaves on the way back to sea. Apparently the local name for Creadan Head used to be 'Cnoc na Daoine Goirme' although this is not used on the Ordnance Survey map. It's an impressive spot and is certainly well worth a visit. On the way back we also learnt that donkeys like Red Bull.

Troop Hike - 21st of July 2005

It was a small crowd that turned up in the churchyard in Portlaw for a short evening troop hike. There was no stopping us however and we headed off into the forest, through the mad flying ants, past the abandoned cars and on up the hill. Stephen decided that a short cut was in order and took us up through an area of felled forest after which we eventually had to fight our way through some really dense forest. He was awarded best troop shortcut of the year so far. On the way down we met Sid who was late and back in the carpark was David with his Dad who were even later. There really is "always one".

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Annual Camp - 30th June - 3rd July 2005

The small village of Castlecove in Co. Kerry was the venue for our Annual Camp 2005. Highlights included high speed zapcatting, rafting, climbing, air rifle shooting and a visit to the mysterious Staigue Fort. You can read a full account with loads of photos on our Camp 2005 page.

Above: Cian rockclimbs during Camp 2005 in Co. Kerry.

County Challenge Weekend - 17th - 19th June 2005

Above: Our team on the County Challenge Weekend held at Inistiogue.

The second Waterford Scout County Challenge Weekend took place at Inistiogue in Co. Kilkenny and it was a great weekend. Our PL, Stephen O'Rourke received the accolade of best PL of the competition. A full account and lots of photos are available on our County Challenge 2005 page.

Above: David, Ciaran, Stephen and Emlyn on the 2005 Waterford Scout County Challenge Weekend at Inistiogue.

Waterford City Troop Hike - 2nd June 2005

We decided that it was time to investigate how the construction of the new Outer Ring Road around Waterford City was going. It would be our only chance to get across it before the cars take over. Being built at a cost of €31.7m, it is supposed to transform Waterford. The road will unite the Dunmore Road with the Cork Road and, in turn, link in with the city-by-pass. We met at the WLRFM offices near Ardkeen and began our traverse from the Williamstown Road. From there we headed across to the airport road and then on to the old Tramore Road at Couse. We continued on through to the main Tramore Road at Ballindud, passed under the new bridge carrying the Lacken Road and from there, hit the Kilbarry Road north of the Six Cross Roads. We had originally planned to head inland from there but we just had to take the uphill to the Ballycashin Road at Butlerstown and finally arrived on the Cork Road. From there we hiked backed in to the RSC.

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Firelighting Skills Night - 26th May 2005

That greatest of scouting skills is really put to to the test after a few days rain. The rules were no firelighters, no meths, just whatever timber you could find at our campsite in Faithlegg and ten dry matches. Three patrols went head to head to see who could get a good fire going. It was tough going - many sources of firewood were attempted to get the fires going - it was slow. Stephen O'Rourke's patrol created a good fire in the end but it came kicking and screaming into the world. Paul Power's team coaxed the makings of a good fire to life but they lost control and it ended in a miserable smoky whimper and despite much wheezing and willing by Cian his fire never amounted to much more than a smoky haze.

Above: Leigh finally coaxes his fire to life.

In fairness to the leaders - Guinter and Colm, they were not to be outdone and created a model fire. "It was as if Baden Powell himself had descended to light the fire" they were heard to remark although there was mutterings from Paschal about them showing off! Anyway it can be done - build your raft of timber, start small and dry, build on it slowly, very slowly, use your lungs carefully and watch it every step of the way. We finished off with a game of manhunt where the lads couldn't even find Stephen and Paul to give them a good hiding.

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County Tramboree - 29th April - 1st May 2005

The Waterford Scout County Tramboree kicked off at the Tramore racecourse on the Friday evening. It took us a while to get the tents sorted out but we just about managed to get them up and had a few games ahead of the rain. We fried up sausages for the supper before battening down the hatches for a very rainy night.

It was misty and foggy the next morning but we were up early as we had to be on the prom for 9.30am for the paddle boats. Remarkably nobody sank and after plenty of messing we had lunch at the T Bay surf centre before our surfing lesson at 2.30pm.

Everybody gave it a good effort and agreed that we would have to do it again. We had to dash across the town to the pier for the kayaking which was good but just didn't last long enough. We hiked or hitched our way back to the racecourse for dinner which was a very impressive mince stew. After taking it easy for a while, Sid and Colm eventually got the fire going for the campfire. In fairness to them they created a great sized fire out of damp timber. The tough campfire audience headed to the disco for a while after that and a feed of Tramore chips finished off the night. we didn't have much of a lie in the next morning as we had to be in Splashworld for ten which was a good craic. Overall it was a good weekend - thanks to Tom O'Neill and all the other organisers.

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County Fun Weekend - 4th - 6th February 2005

The Waterford Scout County Fun Weekend took place at Mount Mellary on the 4th, 5th and 6th of February. We left for Mellary on Friday at 7.30pm. When we got to Mellary we unpacked and settled in. When we were all ready we went down to the half acre. We got divided into different groups and started playing group games. When we were all finished we went outside and had a campfire and we sang songs. After an hour we were done and we went up to our rooms. The next morning we had to get up at 8.30am (but we all stayed in bed until 9.00am). We then had our breakfast and got to wander around for a while. At 11 we had to go up to the half acre again so that we could split up into our groups and go on a hike. We got a map of Mellary with places marked on it and a bucket so that we could put in evidence of the places we visited. To get the evidence we had to go to the places marked on the map and when we got there we had to do a task. We had until half five to do 15 tasks and we were all very tired when it was over.

Above: Lisa with her team on the County Fun Weekend.

When we came back we had a rest for a while. Then we got changed and done up for battle of the bands. There was four bands but only one winner. At 9 'o clock we had a disco until 1.00am and then we had to go back to bed. When we got up the next day we were sad because it was our last day. We got to mess around for a bit. We got back in our groups and played some games and before we knew it, it was half past two and we went home. We had a great time. Account by Lisa and Sarah.

Troop Hike - 30th January 2005

Our first troop hike of 2005 was us head to the Comeraghs to take on the classic circuit of Coumshingaun. Just six brave scouts accompanied by Paschal, Ian and Colm set out from the car park for what is one of Ireland's most breathtaking short mountain circuits. The first ascent was tough going with Colm setting a challenging pace but eventually everyone caught up for the few tricky sections on the ridge. It was very windy and cold - good conditions for a proper winter hike. Cian discovered that despite the length of his hair a hat is still required, although he had to make do with a neck gaiter. We had lunch right on the edge of the cliff of course and from our perch on the southwest side of the like we could just about make out the lake in the mist below us.

After lunch we continued on across the top of the cliff before veering back in towards the lake. We finally got some decent views for the tough ascent down to the lake. The first descenders managed to get out onto the newly named "Tea and Coffee" island. From the lake we descended back into Kilclooney Wood where the last of the Christmas party stock was devoured. Paschal reckons we have found a good potential team for this year's MPCs and Sionnachs.