This weekend, 25 Year 11 girls embarked upon circuits of the Forest of Bowland for their Silver Duke of Edinburgh Practice Expedition. The girls started on Main Street in Grindleton on Friday 20^th April and walked to Waddow Hall Girlguiding Centre where they camped at the end of Day One. It was a lovely sunny day and everyone enjoyed taking in the beautiful scenery whilst walking along the River Ribble. The girls also practised their navigation skills monitored by their DofE leader.

On Saturday, all groups woke early and were soon walking a circular route north of Waddow Hall Campsite. This took them through picturesque villages such as Waddington and West Bradford and finally south along the outskirts of Clitheroe back down to Waddow Hall Campsite. Again, Saturday was a beautifully sunny day and the girls’ enthusiasm and teamwork really stood out. All groups were back at the campsite for 5pm in excellent time.

On Sunday morning, all groups had luckily cooked breakfast and packed away their tents before there was any sign of the rain that had been forecast. Later, there was a strong downpour whilst walking towards Bashall Green but this was was well-timed to find shelter and stop for a hot drink outside Bashall Barn Farm Shop. The rain quickly cleared and the girls used this as an opportunity to dry their waterproofs on the fence before continuing on their walk over Eddiford Bridge back to the campsite for transport back to School.

All girls were a credit to the School and were in very good spirits throughout, despite the very hot weather the first two days and wet weather on Sunday. They displayed an excellent degree of teamwork whilst navigating and even picked up any litter they found whilst on the route to help the environment.

I would like to thank the Withington staff who accompanied us on the trip and Dr Madden for her organisational help. I would also like to thank Dave Holme, Jo Roberts and their team of volunteers from DofE North for leading the training whilst on expedition.

Ms Chantel McGregor, DofE Coordinator