Hill Skills course - Day 2 on the Quantock Hills

Back out with the six volunteer rangers from the Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills AONB services today delivering day 2 of their 'Hill Skills' course for Wet and High Adventures. 

We headed to the Quantock Hills today for a full day practical session which started and finished from Triscombe on the western side of the hills.

Todays route covered 18km taking in Wills Neck (highest point on the Quantocks), the managed forests of Cockercombe and Ramscombe and the northern commons around Black Hill.

The weather continued with blue skies and great visibility but once again struggled to get above freezing. This gave us the opportunity to look at appropriate clothing and the benefits of layering, especially during the 'movement on steep ground' part of the day.

Over the course of the day we covered the rest of the hill skills syllabus and continued to work on the basic navigation techniques. 

The day finished with well earned refreshments in the Blue Ball pub in Triscombe.  

Hill Skills course- Day 1 on the Mendip Hills

Today I was working for Wet and High Adventures delivering Day 1 of the Mountain Training 'Hill Skills' course. The candidates are six volunteer rangers from the Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills AONB services who are training to lead walks as part of their role.

We chose to deliver day 1 on the Mendip Hills using Charterhouse Outdoor Centre as our base. The day was broken down into a six hour practical session on the hill followed by 2.5 hours in the classroom covering all of the theory.

The practical session covered basic navigation skills, affects of weather in the hills, the hill and moorland environment and walking pace management. This was delivered while taking in a 16km route over Black Down, around Rowberrow Warren and through Velvet Bottom. 

The classroom session consisted of; a weather lecture, appropriate clothing, footwear and equipment for hill walkers and the use of guidebooks and the internet for researching good days out on the hill.

Although the temperature struggled to get above freezing we were blessed with a beautiful blue sky day with views as far as the Gower and the snow capped Brecon Beacons. 

Clear and Chilly day on the Mendip Hills AONB

 

 

Today I was out on the Mendip Hills with the other half of the Level 3 Outdoor Education students from Bridgwater College. Todays session was a mirror image from last Tuesday's session with the first half. The weather was also similar to last week with blue skies but a chilly north westerly wind.

 

During the 12 kilometre route the students took it in turns to lead a leg consolidating the basic navigation skills from previous weeks. These include: Collecting and Catching Features, Timing, distance, contour interpretation and map to ground recognition. We also spent time looking at more advanced techniques and terminology such as hand railing, aiming off and attack points.

 

Due to recent heavy rain it was hard going in places but all the students coped really well and are now really starting to understand the importance of appropriate clothing and footwear to enjoy the activity.

 

It was great to have Ruth from the college come along for the day to observe my practical teaching to not only give me feedback but to also reflect on her own teaching practices. She's not as old as the photo implies!!



Navigation Training on the Mendip Hills

Back working with the Level 3 Outdoor Education students today working on their navigation skills. 

We headed over to the Mendip Hills AONB for a change of scenery. It was pretty cold in the stiff wind but a blue sky day with good views made it all worth it.

The 12 km circular route took us on through varied terrain from managed woodland, open heathland and farmland. 

During the day the students had plenty of time to practice the basic navigation skills from previous weeks, examples of these include timings, pacing, collecting and catching features.

We also found time to start working on some more advanced techniques such as hand-railing, aiming off and attack points. The students now need to practice these skills and become slick at them in preparation for their land-based outdoor activities module.

A really good day out in the hills.

DAY OFF!! Lets go biking!

Today I was due to head up to Cannock Chase for the Yeti Tribe riders meeting to help out with the guiding but as the weather was not as nice as forecast they chose to only do a morning ride. With a 5 hour round trip to Cannock I chose to give it a miss and head to the Mendip Hills with Kev instead.

We parked at Tynings Farm and headed into Rowberrow Warren to ride the many man made trails in the woods. The weather was stunning and we were glad of the early start.

Having not ridden here very often we spent a lot of time exploring the trail network, some were really good and some a little overgrown.

Upon finding a few nice jumps and drops to play on we sessioned them for a while with some local riders. I managed to get a little video footage using my iPhone. The quality is ok and the new slow-mo option was a bit of fun to test out. The above video is just a quick edit stitching some of the clips together.

A really good morning of riding leaving time left in the Day to pop and see Dad on father's Day!

Supervising Bronze D of E for Somerset Adventures

This weekend I have been working for Somerset Adventures helping to supervise a bronze D of E practise Expedition for the Kings of Wessex school in Cheddar. We had 19 groups in total to manage.

Due to the lack of qualified mini-bus drivers within the staff I spent most of the weekend checkpointing groups, co-ordinating the other staff in my team and ferrying staff between checkpoints. This is the reason for the lack of photos in this post, Sorry!

It was a full on weekend with so many students out and about but all went smoothly due to the great organisation of Robin from Somerset Adventures. I'm looking forward to supervising their assessed expedition in a couple of weeks time.

Expedition Skills on the Mendip Hills AONB

A brief break from Mountain Biking today to be back out with my Level 2 Outdoor Education students delivering Expedition Skills.

We headed to Tynings Farm on the Mendip Hills AONB to start a circular walk of around 10km over the open moorland of Black Down and around the coniferous forest of Rowberrow Warren.

The aim of todays session was to introduce the basic map to ground navigational skills including map symbols, collecting and catching features, map orientation as well as grid and magnetic bearings.

We also spent some time discussing appropriate equipment for the conditions and the extra personal and group equipment needed for a one day expedition on foot.

The students all did really well, more of a test will come next week on the Quantock Hills AONB.

I'm back out on the bike tomorrow on the Quantocks for day three of the FdSc mountain biking sessions.

Mountain Training, 'Hill and Mountain Skills' tutor workshop

Over the last two days I have been in Claverham, North Somerset attending a training workshop to become a tutor for the new Mountain Training Hill and Mountain Skills under the provider-ship of Wet and High adventures.

The Hills and Mountain skills courses are aimed at those wanting a non-assessed training course giving them the skills and confidence to go and enjoy the upland areas of the UK.

The first day was spent indoors at Claverham Village Hall pulling the syllabus apart and designing sessions plans for the 16 hour Hill Skills and the 18 Hour Mountain Skills courses.

Day two took us on a 10km walk around Goblin Combe giving us all a chance to deliver aspects of the syllabus and draw from each others experience.

A good couple of days with some great people. Also a good chance to catch up with a few people that I haven's seen for a long time.

A very soggy day on the Mendip Hills

Today I was again out on the Mendip Hills AONB with Level 3 public services students from Bridgwater College. This time it was the turn of the 'A' Group.

The day was pretty much a mirror image of Wednesday's session with the B's except the weather wasn't as kind to us. Heavy rain and a biting wind on the open moorland gave the students an insight into the importance of bring the right kit and carrying spares. The day finished a little earlier due to cold and wet students but a lesson learned by those who were not quite as prepared.

Only one photo today, my camera decide to give up its battery life in the cold.

Expedition Experience on the Mendip Hills

The Mendip Hills AONB was the venue for todays practical session with the 'B' group from Level 3 public services students from Bridgwater College.

The aim of the day being to introduce basic navigation skills and assess the equipment required for a day walk on the hills. Time was spent in Rowberrow forest and on the open moors of Blackdown. Students learnt to orientate their map and navigate using map to ground. Studying the contour lines and using the features on the map to identify their location. Some time was also spent looking at timing and pacing.